How to Use AI for Your Mental Health
The Sagent Behavioral Health providers consulted for this article on using AI for your mental health are Dr. Karin Ryan, LP and Brett Cushing, LMFT, hosts of the Everyday Therapy Podcast.
These days, it feels like everyone is using AI-powered tools like ChatGPT and Claude to improve parts of their lives, and mental health is no exception. In fact, recent studies find that people are using AI-powered chatbots for therapy and companionship more than anything else. And while AI can’t replace human-focused mental health care, recent evidence suggests that you can use AI to support your mental health in conjunction with traditional mental health services.
In this article, we’ll share three concrete ways that two of our licensed therapists recommend using AI for your mental health.
Related: AI Therapy vs Human Care: What You Need to Know
How to Approach Using AI for Your Mental Health
Before diving into specific recommendations, let's cover how licensed therapists approach using AI for mental health. The key principle: AI cannot replace therapy, but it can effectively supplement it.
"There's a difference between AI that augments therapy and AI that tries to replace a therapist,” Brett Cushing, LMFT, explains. “Some AI tools can be really helpful for patients, but I think we need to be cautious about trying to replace your therapy with AI."
Additionally, they also recommend an attitude of “cautious optimism” toward using AI for mental health support. "We’re spending a lot of time thinking about how we use AI wisely,” Dr. Karin Ryan, LP, says. “Many of us in the mental health field are excited about it, and we’re also trying to be ethical and thoughtful about how we recommend patients use AI.”
As previous articles have noted, there are still a lot of unknown factors about artificial intelligence, and there are also privacy and safety concerns, with documented examples of AI therapy bots encouraging risky behavior or even suicide. As with many new technologies and innovations, it’s generally recommended to use these tools carefully, thoughtfully, and under the supervision of a licensed mental health provider.
With that foundation in mind, let's explore three specific ways Dr. Ryan and Brett recommend using AI to support your mental health.
Using AI for Validating Your Mental Health Journey
According to both Brett and Dr. Ryan, one of the things that AI is best at is providing validation – making you feel like your struggles are real, important, and normal. “AI does a really good job of providing validation,” says Dr. Ryan, noting that it will often provide validating statements like “that sounds really hard,” “you’re not alone in this,” or “a lot of people struggle with this.”
Brett agrees, saying that validation is a crucial part of the therapy process, and it’s one that sometimes therapists may not spend a lot of time on. “Good therapy should provide two things: validation of your experiences and struggles and the tools and insights you need to make a change,” he says. “And sometimes as therapists, we want so much for our clients to improve and heal that we go to the 'tools and insights' step too quickly without providing enough validation.”
Related: Can Group Therapy Help with Loneliness?
Mood-Tracking, Journaling, and More
The second way you can use AI for your mental health is through mood-tracking and interactive journaling. “Personally, I’m very inclined to have my clients use AI to help them track their moods, thoughts, behaviors, and use it to keep learning more about themselves,” Brett says.
Using an AI-powered tool on a daily basis to track not just your mood, but also your behaviors - like sleep patterns, social activities, caffeine intake, or stress levels - can give you valuable insights to bring to your next therapy session. As Dr. Ryan notes, AI can help you see connections you might miss: “AI can step back and really look at it accurately and say, I'm wondering if your sleep patterns have played a role in your irritability this week.”
Many people come to their therapy sessions each week and answer the question, “How was your week?” without being able to truly recall how the last seven days went. Sometimes, people’s minds go blank.
But when you use AI as an interactive journal or mood-tracker app, you’ll have a clearer picture of all the things you’ve been working through in the past week and can have a more fruitful conversation with your therapist.
Related: 10 Tips to Make Therapy More Effective
Get Mental Health Tools and Techniques in the Moment
Third, you can use AI to get in-the-moment support to help you apply what you’re learning in therapy to a challenging emotion or situation. While therapists often teach patients mental exercises and coping skills during sessions, they can't be available 24/7 to help practice them in real situations—but AI can.
“There’s work we do in session with our clients, and then there’s the work our clients do outside of our sessions, where they’re applying what they’ve learned to real-life situations,” says Dr. Ryan. “It can be really beneficial for them to have these AI resources to go to when they need help implementing those skills we’ve been working on together.”
Brett echoes this sentiment, saying that patients can turn to AI to get ideas on a coping skill they can use when they’re struggling with their mental health. “They can ask the chatbot, ‘What’s a mindfulness exercise I can do right now?’ or ‘What’s a DBT skill that can help me bring down my emotional intensity right now?’ and have that support right at their fingertips throughout the week.”
Related: 4 Anxiety-Related Negative Thought Patterns
Looking for More Support?
If you’re interested in starting therapy or getting some mental health support outside of AI tools, please reach out. Whether you're experiencing anxiety, depression, trauma, relationship challenges, or other mental health concerns, we’re here to help. Our caring professionals work with you to develop personalized treatment plans that address your specific situations and goals.
Call 1-844-NYSTROM or request an appointment online to get help today!
