ChatGPT, your therapist?

It's no secret that ChatGPT and AI are everywhere. Many people are turning to them to learn, create and understand themselves.

When you’re awake at 2 a.m., heart racing, mind spinning, trying to make sense of why you can’t seem to calm down or why everything feels too heavy, it can feel comforting to type into a chatbox and finally feel heard. For a moment, it feels like someone (or something) truly understands you.

And while that comfort is real, it’s important to understand where AI ends… and where real human healing begins.

Don't get me wrong.. I love a good Chat conversation.

It helps me brainstorm ideas, craft kind email responses (especially on the days I’m tempted to send something a little too honest), and find inspiration when I’m stuck.

But just like most things in the mental health field, AI should be used as a tool - not as your therapist.

Do you know why a therapist chose to become a therapist?

You might be surprised, but no, therapists don’t choose this profession for the money or the prestige.

We do it because we care.

It's because therapists have a desire to help other people.

Because we want to sit beside people as they find their way back to themselves.

A therapist offers something that no computer, algorithm, or software can replicate: human presence.

You’ve probably said it before, “No one understands me. No one knows what I’ve been through.”

Well, my friend, while AI can process and your words. AI can't attune to your nervous system. It can't sense body language, your sighs, your silent eye-rolls. It can't see the tears or the share of energy when you are struggling with your pain.

So no, I may not have been right next to you when you found out your partner of five years had been cheating on you.

I may not have been the first person you called when you learned that one of your parents had passed away.

I wasn’t there when someone took advantage of you at a party.

But I can tell you this, I’ve had my own set of lived experiences that you weren’t present for either.

I’ve known my own versions of trauma, abuse, neglect, abandonment, pain, hurt, and loss.

And just because you weren’t there for my experiences doesn’t mean I believe you can’t relate or understand or at least have an idea of what I’ve walked through.

The difference is, you told (well, typed) AI what is going on, how you're feeling, or maybe even what happened to you in that experience.

Have you told anyone else?

Have you shared the intimate details with a therapist? A friend? A safe person?

Probably not.

And even if you have, what version have you told them?

The safe, Dr. Seuss, PG version - that makes it sound like this terrible, awful thing happened to you, but you're fine now, totally healed, and you don't need to talk about it to anyone, anymore.

Ya...... how's that going?

If you need support, if you need someone to listen - that is OKAY.

But, you might be telling the wrong audience.

AI should be used to explore resources, therapists, support, or tools that can give you better insight. It can inspire you to bring conversations into therapy. Maybe help to find the words you haven't been able to say.

But, when the pain runs that deep, when you truly need to be seen, heard and understood - trust me, my friend, you need to tell your story to a real person.

Healing happens through connection and mutual understanding.

There are people who will listen.

There are people who want to know your story.

There are people who care about you - who see you, who can tell you're hurting.

So, start talking, not typing.