After almost a year of constructive therapy, I broke up with my therapist<\/a> because she suggested I use ChatGPT. Yes, you read that right. We spent our last session talking about new coping strategies. \u201cI know a lot of therapists are probably against AI,\u201d she said, \u201cbut I\u2019ve found it pretty useful in my personal life.\u201d Her reasoning was that, since a tool like ChatGPT acts like an echo chamber, if I were to write down whatever I was anxious about, maybe reading how AI spits things back out will help me \u201csnap out of it.\u201d On the one hand, I understood her intention. But I still couldn\u2019t believe the recommendation had left her mouth.<\/p>\n If it wasn\u2019t already obvious, I hate AI. With a passion. As a writer who comes from a family of many<\/em> teachers, I\u2019ve seen firsthand how the outsourcing of certain tasks to AI has devalued the creative spaces<\/a> I belong to and, quite frankly, made us lazier<\/a>. I do have to use certain AI automations at my job\u2013and I\u2019m lucky enough to have supervisors that don\u2019t force me to use it more than what\u2019s required\u2013but if it were up to me, I wouldn\u2019t touch it at all.<\/p>\n Despite my personal values around AI, I still found myself questioning whether I was being irrational for ghosting<\/a> my therapist over this. I liked working with her up until now, and I could always just ignore this one bit of advice, right? But the longer I thought about it, my questions became so much bigger than myself. Are other therapists recommending AI to their clients? Will AI platforms take over the mental health industry, just as they have so many others? I sat down with three licensed therapists to get their thoughts on AI and settle the debate once and for all: Is using ChatGPT a terrible idea, or can it be beneficial?<\/strong><\/p>\n At The Everygirl, we believe that wellness advice should be grounded in accurate, science-backed information to ensure our readers can make informed decisions about their health and well-being. That\u2019s why we prioritize consulting trusted, credible experts\u2014so every piece of content is both reliable and empowering.<\/em><\/p>\n KAYLEE BULLEN, LCSW<\/p>\n Kaylee Bullen is a licensed therapist specializing in OCD and anxiety, and the owner of a multi-state group therapy practice. Through her clinical work and her social media, she is dedicated to destigmatizing mental health and helping people better understand and live alongside their anxiety and intrusive thoughts. Kaylee is licensed to practice in Michigan, California, and Louisiana.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n Debbie Missud, LMHC-D<\/p>\n Debbie Missud is a licensed psychotherapist, author, consultant, and founder of The Manhattan Psychotherapy Collective, a New York City group practice specializing in trauma-informed care for women. Beyond the therapy room, she\u2019s a mental health educator known as @therapydebbie, where she blends clinical expertise with humor and humanity to make complex concepts around mental health and healing feel relatable and accessible.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n Madeleine Dale, LPC, LMHC<\/p>\n Madeleine Dale is the owner and founder of Tuesday Counseling, PLLC and a Licensed Professional Counselor in New York City. Madeleine offers an inclusive and affirming space for all genders, sexualities, and racial ethnicities. She has extensive training in LGBTQIA+ affirming counseling and trauma-informed therapy modalities (IFS, EMDR, etc).<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n Quick answer, based on the experts I spoke with: Yes. Using an AI tool like ChatGPT or Claude can be (best case) unhelpful, or (worst case) dangerous. Here\u2019s why:<\/p>\n I recognize that I\u2019m biased here, but my biggest issue with AI being used or recommended in therapy is the nature of what gets shared. Sessions with a therapist are supposed to be a safe space, but there\u2019s no real safety if you use AI\u2013and no way of knowing who has access to whatever you disclose on a platform like ChatGPT. Kaylee Bullen, a licensed OCD and anxiety therapist, expressed a similar feeling. \u201cThe way mental health is viewed in our society and in our government, I am very cautious of integrating any AI [into sessions]\u2026 there\u2019s so much vulnerable information that is wrapped up in therapy and in treatment, it just feels so invasive.\u201d<\/p>\n From the other side of the couch, Madeleine Dale, a licensed counselor in New York, said that her issue with using AI in therapy is as much of a trust issue for her clients as it is for her. \u201cIf a client is telling me [they\u2019re] getting a lot of helpful insights from AI, it would make me wonder if maybe I\u2019m just not the right fit for this person, if they have needs they don\u2019t feel safe bringing to me.\u201d While it can be extremely difficult or emotional to open up about mental health struggles, therapy allows you a level of privacy that AI can\u2019t promise, and the right therapist will have the knowledge and training to help you heal.<\/p>\n Conversations online<\/a> and professional research<\/a> both suggest that AI addiction is becoming more and more prevalent. This is incredibly dangerous for a number of reasons, but especially in a therapy context. Debbie Missud, LMHC-D, specializes in complex trauma and anxiety and is all too familiar with how a reliance on AI affects her clients. \u201cIt\u2019s fostering dependence on something external,\u201d she said. \u201cSome of our trauma responses can be a lack of confidence in yourself and needing to seek reassurance from everybody else around you, so you turn to AI. But AI is biased towards you. It will not challenge you.\u201d<\/p>\n This design poses a particular danger to people dealing with something like OCD, which thrives on reassurance seeking. \u201cAI tools like ChatGPT and Claude are designed to keep you coming back,\u201d Bullen added. \u201cThey\u2019re designed to do exactly what we don\u2019t want for OCD and high anxiety, which is to keep you engaged in this thought loop.\u201d Unlike a therapist, who can help you learn to challenge and overcome any unhelpful thoughts or beliefs, AI is more likely to validate those beliefs and keep you stuck. That validation might make you feel better at first, but it never lasts for long.<\/p>\n \u201cChatGPT and Claude are designed to keep you coming back\u2026exactly what we don\u2019t want for OCD and high anxiety.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n While nobody I spoke to directly recommended using AI in your mental health journey, they did note a few ways that they\u2019ve seen clients use it as a supplement to their sessions in a helpful way. One such example was researching mental health concepts. \u201cMy clients aren\u2019t necessarily using AI as a replacement therapist, but if they need to talk through something objectively, they\u2019ll often use AI to help them check the facts of a situation,\u201d Missud said. It would be better to use AI to help you understand a particular concept that you\u2019re discussing in your therapy sessions, rather than asking anything personal. Just be sure you\u2019re fact-checking whatever answers AI gives you. Think: it could be helpful as a research tool in addition<\/em> to therapy, not as therapy itself.<\/p>\n In therapy, this idea is called harm reduction<\/a>, which teaches you to reduce the negative effects of problematic behavior instead of going completely \u201ccold turkey.\u201d Bullen looks at her clients\u2019 reliance on AI with a harm reduction approach. \u201cWith how OCD and anxiety work, there is such a strong urge to have certainty and find answers,\u201d she said. \u201cSo how can we let ChatGPT know that you have OCD so it doesn\u2019t reassure you constantly [to the point] it becomes compulsive, or stops the conversation?\u201d Ideally, though, she added that her job is to reduce a client\u2019s turning to AI so much that it isn\u2019t needed at all. <\/p>\n One conversation that popped up in my interviews was that a potential benefit to using AI for therapy is that it may democratize mental health assistance, as not everyone has consistent access to therapy. Many therapists are out-of-network with insurance providers, if they take insurance at all. \u201cThere is such a barrier to entry, and accessible care is really hard to find, especially quality accessible care,\u201d Dale said. It isn\u2019t hard to see why AI might pose a particular draw to people seeking therapy services who aren\u2019t able to afford them. But AI is still far from the only available option. \u201cThat\u2019s a big reason why, ethically, we are very strongly encouraged to offer pro bono sessions, or a sliding scale payment. I would so much rather someone get quality accessible care than turn to something that I don\u2019t trust,\u201d Dale added.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re already using ChatGPT to talk through your feelings, don\u2019t assume your therapist is judging you for it\u2014but that doesn\u2019t mean they recommend it, either. Ideally, working with an actual therapist will help you think deeper about why you turn to AI when you\u2019re anxious or depressed so that you aren\u2019t relying on AI anymore, something that all three of the experts I spoke with expressed is becoming increasingly common.<\/p>\n AI is capable of many things, and there may be ways to use it as a tool alongside therapy, but it just can\u2019t compete with the relationship, nuance, and individualized care you get from a human therapist. \u201cAt the end of the day, research has shown<\/a> time and time again that the best predictor of outcome in therapy is your relationship with your therapist,\u201d Missud said. \u201cYou don\u2019t have a relationship with AI.\u201d And let\u2019s keep it that way.<\/p>\n ABOUT THE AUTHOR<\/p>\n Hannah is an Ann Arbor-based writer with a bachelor\u2019s in English and writing from the University of Michigan. Outside of The Everygirl, Hannah has written for The Michigan Daily, where she also served as an editor. She currently works at an independent bookstore and is interning for a literary agency.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\nExperts Consulted<\/span><\/h2>\n
![\"Kaylee](\"https:\/\/media.theeverygirl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/b3288255-777f-4162-b4f3-57cb461b2b9f_1080x1080.jpeg\")
\n <\/div>\n![\"Debbie](\"https:\/\/media.theeverygirl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/c6dbd156-3d46-4364-9b21-7e272b29c444-e1789491457500.jpg\")
\n <\/div>\n![\"Madeleine](\"https:\/\/media.theeverygirl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/MadeleineDerryberry8-e1789493254317.webp\")
\n <\/div>\nSo, is it actually bad to use ChatGPT as a therapist?<\/span><\/h2>\n
Therapy involves so much vulnerable information<\/span><\/h3>\n
AI can reinforce the exact thought patterns therapy is supposed to challenge<\/span><\/h3>\n
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Are there healthy ways to use ChatGPT for your mental health?<\/span><\/h2>\n
To understand concepts, not diagnose yourself<\/span><\/h3>\n
To give itself boundaries (yes, really)<\/span><\/h3>\n
But what if ChatGPT is the only \u201ctherapy\u201d I can afford?<\/span><\/h2>\n
The bottom line: Can ChatGPT replace a therapist?<\/span><\/h2>\n
![\"Hannah](\"https:\/\/media.theeverygirl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Hannah-Carapellotti-Headshot-TEG.jpg\")
\n <\/div>\nHannah Carapellotti, Contributing Writer<\/span><\/h3>\n
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