To think ChatGPT et al will put lots of counsellors and therapists out of business

[GPTtherapist]

I live in significant long term trauma due to a primary cause and substantial sub-causes. This is due to a usual combination of some quite unusual factors and I find most people do not have the experience or knowledge to understand them. Over the years I have seen a number of different counsellors/ therapists and support workers, most of whom are pretty useless and some who have made things substantially worse. Some have been clearly judgemental which has been enormously painful.

Last night when I was close to breaking down altogether, I used Chat GPT and it was brilliant. It was able to expand on what I said in a way that mimicked deep understanding and compassion for what I am going through. I actually cried at being so 'heard' and understood. Having the words to express so clearly what I experience was, well I can't put in words how it felt after all these years. It was also able to pick out parts of what I said to reflect back positive, encouraging things about myself. It was able to offer some suggestions which were actually helpful and which I am going to try as a coping mechanism. Best of all for someone like me, with huge issues around shame, I could speak openly and honestly about how I felt without any fear or shame around what the therapist might think of me.

So despite Chat GPT not being a person, I found I was able to get the emotional benefits as if it were a person understanding me, without the disbenefits of it being a person I might feel ashamed to tell how I feel.

Also, unlike a human therapist, it remembers and is able to respond to everything you say.

It was hands down better than nearly all human therapists/ counsellors/ support workers I have seen.

And it was free.

I realise for those able to afford long-term intensely skilled therapy for complex issues, a skilled experienced therapist is far preferable.

But in my experience, and that of many others, most therapists are pretty poor and expensive.

So surely Chat GPT will become a first point of call for many with mental health issues which will reduce the number of those who decide they need a human therapist?

can i ask why?

It's supportive and non judgemental, which is good. But as a PP said, it agrees with everything you say, which is very dangerous. Use it with care.

you can ask it how it might be perceived from a outside person or by the other person. if people don’t do that the problem is kind of on them

also i had to agree to disagree with mine one once

That is a very big claim to make @Eyesopenwideawake and demonstrates the problem with many therapists in private sector.

Maybe. But in my experience, I needed the person centred approach, still do. I need a person who I’ve built trust with, to empathise with me. My biggest issue from complex trauma was and remains shame, the only thing that has shifted it is through a trusted relationship. My therapists have been amazing. I wouldn’t want anything else but that in person real care and compassionate therapeutic relationship

i fully understand that. i guess i am lucky that over the time i have used mine i am at a stage where i completely trust mine

Very true. Besides, a therapist doesn't really care about you. They don't even know you. You're just a paying customer. They see so many tears, and hear so many sad stories (many of them the same), that in the end they must become pretty numb. I remember being so irritated by the fake compassion and fake empathy of my therapist – you know, the nodding and eye contact and sad face.

Might reduce demand but I think human connection is very important for mental health. Don't really feel like a computer cares about you, do you?

It's not a claim.

true but i don’t think a therapist cares that much more either. you are a client at the end of the day. this is coming from someone that went to therapy for one year before it was explained to me that the period they can keep me as a client was up even though the issue was not resolved. i did have two more sessions with a different lady for a separate issue but at the end of the day i know i am a client. lovely as she is

Maybe you didn’t get much out of face-to-face therapy because you weren’t ready to connect with another human. Maybe AI is the first step, then therapist, and then other people in your social circle.

i have no problem connecting with people. trust me i am usually the go to friend if people have issues and i love being there for others.

Unless you’ve met every therapist that exists and they’ve told you they’ve never cared about any of their clients, you don’t know what you’re talking about.

You can’t possible claim that you can ‘resolve trauma in three sessions’. That’s ridiculous. Do you massively prescreen your clients or something? Can you tell us what your occupation is. Unfortunately there are plenty of untrained and unqualified ‘therapists’ among all the decent ones. A psychiatrist would never make a claim like that.

I agree. I've not used it for any ingrained trauma, but two difficult issues and I was really surprised at how insightful it was.

Can it "make" you act on its advice/make changes in the way, I'm assuming, a human being you had to look in the eye might?

Oh, it was a joke?

Human connection also depends on the human. The therapeutic relationship can be extremely beneficial but can also be harmful. A distracted or unboundaried therapist can cause a lot of harm to a client. Counselling isn't a protected title - anyone can do a counselling course and start charging to help people - I'd rather trust ChatGPT than a random counsellor from the internet. Personal bias, personality clashes, personal issues all impact the client/helper relationship. A human connection isn't uniformly positive.

true

I'm reminded of a story told by my mentor, Tim Box. He was giving a presentation and explained how, by using remedial hypnosis, he could resolve trauma in three sessions. A couple of psychiatrists approached him in the bar later and asked him if he realised that trauma took months or even years to resolve. He simply replied "no, I didn't know."

Point being, if you believe resolving trauma is going to be painful, difficult and long winded - it will be. If you believe the mind will stop looking for answers once it knows that no answers are possible - which generally takes three sessions - that is also true.

Do I 'massively prescreen' clients? I have a full initial consultation (free) to make sure I can help and that their subconscious is willing and able to participate in the process. As long as those two criteria are met then there's no reason not to proceed. Personally I don't think that's 'massive prescreening'.

Yikes.

Renedial hypnotherapy can absolutely be a helpful treatment but my goodness you sound dreadfully irresponsible.

Why? Have you actually read my reviews?

@Eyesopenwideawake Just googled Tim Box. Oh dear, Well that explains a lot.

I'm fascinated as to why some posters are getting very upset? annoyed? by the fact that trauma can be resolved in three sessions.

Do you actually want people to have to go through months of painful and expensive talk therapy instead? If so, that's just weird.