ChatGPT is potentially better than therapy

[Givenup2026]

I’ve done therapy before but I’ve also started using ChatGPT for introspection work, and quite frankly I think it’s better than actual therapy.

it focuses my cognitive dissonance in ways that are easy to digest.

The downside is that ChatGPT basically says “you do you boo” when maybe “thought correcting” is needed.

that was my experience today after having a therapist and then ChatGPT back to back, and definitely the latter was more helpful.

Exactly I use it as an “exploration” device which what therapy can be.

Aww isn’t it such a useful tool 🙄

It seems a lot of people heavily reliant on AI think they’re smarter and more efficient than the average person but I think it tends to be the opposite.

I cannot see much of an "exploration" in the example either. The first screenshot is rephrasing your words and telling you how very self-aware you are which is actually not evident from your prompt, your text could equally be a result of a delusion. However, as the AI answer is punctuated with flattery, you happily consume it. We cannot possibly tell from the screenshot if AI is leading you deeper into a delusion but we cannot exclude this possibility either as the AI answer is only one of many potential scenarios but is being presented to you as the only truth which is misleading.

The second screenshot is mostly a banality and I wouldn't call it an exploration either. I'm not saying AI cannot be used for some sort of exploration, but your screenshots are not the best example of it.

Proper therapeutical exploration is not necessarily getting more information about various theoretical concepts and viewing the situation from different points, it's more to do with confronting uncomfortable phenomena of inner life and dealing with them which can be really hard and people would normally avoid it as much as they can. AI helps a lot in this avoidance, a good therapist would not let a client run around in circles.

I would also add therapy is more about transformation that cannot happen without initial exploration of course, but an exploration per se without any resolve, healing and growth can be even harmful in therapy.

You would need like 30 screenshots to get the whole narrative, and yes AI is flattering by design, but “how does that make you feel” or even “there’s nothing wrong about how you feel” are similar in many, many ways.

I thought my whole life that there had to be something wrong with me, because of my life experiences which kind of but not really.

Years upon years of therapy and countless therapists have never made me “improve”. It was only after I reached introspection and Socratic dialogue in my own head that I started to look at me through that lense.

Also apart from maybe one therapist (that one that told me I was too insightful for what was on offer), nobody else has actually gotten me so to speak.

Socratic dialogue is almost impossible to do without a partner as we are confined within our own consciousness and cannot really challenge anything in it ourselves, it's inherently human condition.

AI is the opposite to what is needed for Socratic dialogue :)

I think it does have its uses. You can engage whenever something pops up or you want to reflect on something. It does package up your thoughts and ideas nicely for you, which is what a good therapist can do too.
The main use is for you to work through your own thoughts. But that’s where the usefulness ends. It doesn’t prompt you to explore further, it doesn’t go deeper into your thoughts and it doesn’t challenge you.
There’s validation, which is useful and soothing but there’s no progress, it doesn’t show you different angles or explore possible goals when you’re ready.
A good therapist can do that.
Human connection is so important for our wellbeing, we’re chemically wired for it. We can’t lose that by relying on ai and expect humanity to not be impacted negatively l.

That’s awful. I’m going through a particularly difficult time right now and Chat GPT asks me if I’m safe and gives me the number of the Samaritans/999 etc.

It depends if you have multiple personalities you totally can ;)

No. It’s dangerous.
If you need to talk, find a human

If you have multiple personalities, you need psychiatry not therapy :)

In all seriousness a therapist thought I was schizophrenic (and horrified to an extent) when it turns out I just have a very vivid imagination with some synethesia sprinkled on top.

There are lots of complex conditions and very few specialists are good at differential diagnostics.

I think the key word here is "good".

Unfortunately there are a some bad, and even more mediocre therapists. I absolutely think chat gpt could be overall more useful than some therapists, in the way that a friend or even a random person off the street might actually give better advice than a qualified professional.

Personally I don’t think she was curious enough. If she had asked the correct questions (or simply more questions!) it wouldn’t had been that hard.

The nhs have a whole heap of my info and have treated me appallingly so that’s the least of my worries!

Sometimes it depends on the therapeutic framework, some therapies would avoid guiding the client too much by asking too many questions and would pay more attention to spontaneous production and non verbal/para verbal signs. Every therapy has its limitations.

Individual expertise is also limited of course, it's such a vast area of knowledge no one would be able to excel at everything.

Of course, but it gets to a point where you have to wonder if ultimately it’s a waste of resources for everyone involved.

I’ve seen so many that you would have thought at least someone would have been to “help”.

Objectively, my MH has actually drastically improved since I stopped regular therapy.

I'm not saying it doesn’t work, but at some point you have to cut your losses.

I'm obviously still willing to give it a go, but I’m more pragmatic and realistic about what it actually does for me, which is not a lot (IME).

Objectively, my MH has actually drastically improved since I stopped regular therapy.

This is partially what I was referring to when I said an exploration without transformation can be harmful.

If one has no major issues affecting everyday life and adaptation to changing circumstances, one doesn't really need therapy.

I’m in fully agreement with you there.

However, there have been two things at play in my case.

a) If I told my whole life story and how my brain/thought process work I think it’s a “safe” conclusion that I probably could use some therapy.

b) I drank the Kool aid that anybody can go to therapy and there doesn’t need to be anything “wrong” in the first place.

A few of the people that I’ve seen (all within the NHS) have admitted that there’s nothing within their scope to help me. However, and most importantly nobody has ever admitted that I’m probably better off without /don’t need it. (Apart perhaps from that therapist that said that I was already insightful/introspective enough).

The question should always be what do you want from therapy? The work should align.

I have had some great advice from Chat GPT but I have already had a lot of therapy which was invaluable. I think it can be a good add on but not a replacement.

I’ve tried different use cases:

Two were used pre-emptively (once for PND, and one for when I got made redundant).

At least once I’ve tried to use it to understand myself better.

One definitely evolved into a “paid friend/listening ear” of sorts.

The PND one (after a fairly decent experience with the screener) told me she had no idea how to help me and signed me off.

My DH has said it’s the most pointless exercise because I’m always asking questions for things that I already know the answer for. I originally disagreed with him, but not anymore.

With business chat gpt always tells me I’m rights and my ideas are fantastic and spot on. When I’ve used it for relationship therapy and parenting supporting it will tell me when I’m wrong and pull me up on things I do and say that arent great.

The thing is, very good therapy isn't available to everyone. I has CBT therapy earlier in the year, which was very much "paint by numbers". The therapist took a personal call halfway through my final session and then just finished the session saying "yeah more self care needed". Gee, thanks. That's really helped. I ended the course of treatment after that.

I've had excellent EMDR therapy as well and i know that chat gpt is no substitute for that. But i have used it to support myself in the processing that happens after EMDR, which can stir up some very difficult feelings and without a therapist, and without any friends and family who i can open up to, where else would those feelings go? It's like interactive journaling. I'm aware that it's telling me what it thinks i want to hear - which is very helpful because often ill have a gut feeling of "no, that's wrong" which can lead to further digging into why i feel the way i do. It's accelerated the progress im making in therapy but isn't a replacement for it.

I will say that many, many people don't have friends and family and can't access therapy. Who should they speak to in a society where nobody really cares about each other anymore? Nobody else wants to sit and help me process my trauma from 10 years ago. So if that's what I've got available, that's what I'll use. If ever i express that I'm having difficulty coping, it will post the number for the Samaritans/shout and tell me to go to A&E for crisis care.