How Art and Soul Art Therapy in Madison, CT is Approaching the AI Paradox: Part Two, Benefits of AI (?)

The Benefits of AI

Like nuclear power, the merits of AI to the human species are not black and white. They are grey. Perhaps even moreso than most any other technology because AI calls into question what it means to be human. As we are faced with the ethics of AI usage (and in the field of therapy, boy do we focus a LOT on ethics), we sadly can't simply say "I shall be ethical and not use AI." Because it's not that simple. So after a great deal of thought (and sleepless nights), these are the stances that Art and Soul Art Therapy has taken on AI:

Using AI to Write Session Notes

Writing notes has always been, for the therapist, that grudgingly completed task that is necessary, but much of the time doesn't FEEL necessary. For all the thousands of pages of notes I have ever written after each client session, I would say that I refer back to them less than 1% of the time because my brain tends to remember pretty well what happened last session. And yet, we still need them because we never know which case will require us to research the actual details of the case history, or specific quotes shared in therapy, or satisy an insurance inquiry. As the primary mentor of our therapy collective, I was also constantly having to hound other clinicians to "PLEASE write your notes!!!!"

So. I made the decision to utilize an AI device called PLAUD to help me write my notes. Plaud records my sessions (with consent given from clients), and is currently certified by six different privacy standards, HIPAA being just one of them. With the session recorded, it then generates a note based on my existing style of note-writing for me to review. I review each note before approving it, file it, and save some time. But what we DO with our saved time is more important than just saving it, and I give that time back to my clients. With their partnership in agreement, my clients and I choose to utilize AI to allow more session time for our face-to-face connection. The human connection, rather than being diminished is, in the case of AI here, amplified. No jobs are lost, and notes are in accurately and on-time. There is still an environmental impact, but because it is text-based, the impact is minimized. And because there can still be a loss of skill if a therapist leans on this tool, I inform my student clinicians that they will not get to use a device until they have completed their schooling. Some opt to never use one, and that is A-OK, too!

Supplements to Therapy Let's be honest, the time that any person (client or therapist) can spend in therapy is limited. Some of that is due to insurance restrictions (damn them to hell!), and some is due to our own busy schedules. There are some clients who choose to use their time in session only covering the challenges that have all recently cropped up in the past week, leaving no time to work on the underlying patterns that are causing these ongoing problems. (Note: Some clients also do this to avoid working on the deeper issues in therapy.) But the goal of therapy is to be out of it. At least for a time, until life throws you a new curveball. And no one is leaving therapy anytime soon if they can only focus on reviewing the past week at each weekly session.

There are some AI apps that have been created in partnership with human therapists to help navigate the day-to-day stressors, freeing up the therapy session to focus on the bigger issues at hand. One such app is Rosebud, a journaling app that offers feedback in a number of styles of therapy. It asks follow-up questions, analyzes patterns, and can be there at 3am when your brain is spiraling and your therapist is sleeping. Rosebud is not a therapist, and it can't help you in a crisis, or treat your trauma. But it can be a sounding board, and it has a bit more safeguards put in place than the run-of-the-mill generative AI bots out there so it is LESS likely to do harm.

AI to Boost SEO: If You Can't Beat 'Em... Then What?

Ugh. This is one that I am really wrestling with. I have no doubt that the clinicians in our office are excellent at their chosen styles of therapy. I have no doubt that clients that receive services from us are benefitting and healing. And yet... online referrals continue to plummet. (Above are our actual numbers from our account on Psychology Today).

There are many reasons why referrals are plummeting: we are out of the shadow of COVID 19, larger platforms run by venture capitalists such as Grow Therapy, Betterhelp and others have flooded referral sites with their marketing, and AI can provide some basic supports (when not making things MUCH worse for people's mental health).

Despite how successful and skilled our clinicians are, we can't help people if no one knows about us. And this comes down to the almighty SEO ranking, at least on-line. For better or for worse, many people seek out a therapist using the internet to help them get connected. My website development widgets are all humming eagerly with guidance and offerings to have AI help write blog posts, develop images, cram the words " therapy", "mental health", "Connecticut", "CT" and "near me" into every other sentence.

If I do this, I gut the "soul" of Art and Soul. If I don't Art and Soul Art Therapy might as well not exist. What to do?

I don't know if this is the right decision, but I am seeing how I can best navigate this new world with its new tech, without selling out the very things that make us human. Maybe I will let AI take a crack at providing some material in the name of boosting our SEO. But I need to make it clear what I have produced and what is strictly for marketing.

What I definitely plan to do is get out there and pound the pavement once again. Meeting people and making those human connections is what has and will always generate the best referrals. We all know that not all humans are worthy of our trust, but a trustworthy human beats a bot in terms of desirability any day of the week.