{"id":4145,"date":"2025-11-05T10:30:03","date_gmt":"2025-11-05T02:30:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rainyjames.com\/?p=4145"},"modified":"2025-11-05T14:40:59","modified_gmt":"2025-11-05T06:40:59","slug":"chatbots-are-replacing-therapists-faster-than-anyone-expected","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rainyjames.com\/?p=4145","title":{"rendered":"Chatbots are replacing therapists faster than anyone expected"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

While<\/strong> we’re not short on<\/strong> divisive<\/strong> topics in 2025, there are valid <\/strong>reasons as to<\/strong> why
we’re turning to chatbots for emotional support \u2013 and why people are also very
much against <\/strong>it. So how willing are you to embrace <\/strong>this new form of therapy<\/strong>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the technology developing and evolving<\/strong> faster than the academic community <\/strong>can study and publish evidence <\/strong>based studies on it, there’s nonetheless <\/strong>a
growing body of<\/strong> expert commentary <\/strong>surrounding AI large language models
(LLM) and their ability \u2013 or lack thereof \u2013 in replacing real, human, trained
psychologists<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Much like <\/strong>the broad reasons<\/strong> people use chatbots, employing them<\/strong> as a digital
therapist is also multifaceted<\/strong>. In-person therapy<\/strong> is prohibitive<\/strong>, often to the segments of society<\/strong> that need it most \u2013 a session<\/strong> costs between US$100-$300 and wait times to even see someone and hope they’re a good fit<\/strong> can be months, something that’s worsened following the pandemic<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Online counseling with a human on the other end <\/strong>of the phone or laptop is
somewhat more accessible<\/strong>, but a monthly subscription can be in excess of<\/strong> $400.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For many, however, a chatbot offers an outlet for<\/strong> raw, honest discussion and
reflection<\/strong>, which \u2013 for now \u2013 may be more beneficial than nothing<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Chatbots can provide a sense of anonymity <\/strong>and confidentiality<\/strong>, which can
foster trust<\/strong> among individuals <\/strong>who may be hesitant<\/strong> to seek in-person help for their
mental health concerns<\/strong>,” noted researchers in this 2023 paper. “Furthermore, these
chatbots can help reduce the stigma surrounding mental health and make it
easier for individuals who experience anxiety when visiting therapists.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

therapist<\/strong> \/\u02c8\u03b8er\u0259p\u026ast\/ \u6cbb\u7597\u5e08
While <\/strong>\u201c\u5c3d\u7ba1\u3001\u867d\u7136\u201d\uff0c\u5f15\u5bfc\u8ba9\u6b65\u4ece\u53e5
short on<\/strong> \u7f3a\u4e4f
divisive<\/strong> \/d\u026a\u02c8va\u026as\u026av\/ adj. \u5206\u88c2\u7684\uff1b\u5f15\u8d77\u5206\u6b67\u7684\uff1b\u9020\u6210\u4e0d\u548c\u7684

valid <\/strong>\/\u02c8v\u00e6l\u026ad\/ adj. \u5408\u7406\u7684\uff1b\u8ba4\u53ef\u7684\uff1b\u6709\u6839\u636e\u7684\uff1b\u786e\u51ff\u7684\uff1b\u7b26\u5408\u903b\u8f91\u7684\uff1b\u7cfb\u7edf\u8ba4\u53ef\u7684
as to<\/strong> \u5f15\u51fa \u201c\u539f\u56e0\u6240\u6d89\u53ca\u7684\u5177\u4f53\u5185\u5bb9\u201d\uff0c\u6bd4 \u201cabout\u201d \u66f4\u6b63\u5f0f\uff0c
against <\/strong>\u53cd\u5bf9
therapy<\/strong> \/\u02c8\u03b8er\u0259pi\/ n. \u6cbb\u7597\uff1b\u7597\u6cd5

embrace <\/strong>\/\u026am\u02c8bre\u026as\/ \u63a5\u7eb3\u3001\u62e5\u62b1
evolving<\/strong> \/i\u02c8v\u0251\u02d0lv\u026a\u014b\/ v. \u8fdb\u5316\uff1b\u9010\u6e10\u6f14\u53d8\uff1b
academic community <\/strong> \/\u02cc\u00e6k\u0259\u02c8dem\u026ak\/ \/k\u0259\u02c8mju\u02d0n\u0259ti\/ \u5b66\u672f\u754c
evidence<\/strong> \u8bc1\u636e
publish… on it<\/strong> \u201c\u53d1\u8868\u5173\u4e8e\u5b83\uff08\u6280\u672f\uff09\u7684\uff08\u7814\u7a76\u6210\u679c\uff09

nonetheless<\/strong> \/\u02ccn\u028cn\u00f0\u0259\u02c8les\/ \u201c\u5c3d\u7ba1\u5982\u6b64\u3001\u7136\u800c\u201d
a growing body of<\/strong> \u65e5\u76ca\u589e\u591a\u7684\u3001\u8d8a\u6765\u8d8a\u591a\u7684 \uff0c\u6bd4 \u201cmore and more\u201d \u66f4\u4e66\u9762\u5316
expert commentary<\/strong> \u4e13\u5bb6\u8bc4\u8bba \/\u02c8k\u0251\u02d0m\u0259nteri\/
lack thereof<\/strong> \/\u02cc\u00f0er\u02c8\u028cv\/ \u201c\uff08\u76f8\u5e94\u80fd\u529b\u7684\uff09\u7f3a\u4e4f\u201d\uff0cthereof \u6307\u201cability\u201d

trained psychologists<\/strong> \u53d7\u8fc7\u4e13\u4e1a\u8bad\u7ec3\u7684\u5fc3\u7406\u5b66\u5bb6
Much like<\/strong> \u548c\u2026\u2026 \u5f88\u50cf\u3001\u4e0e\u2026\u2026 \u7c7b\u4f3c\u201d\uff0c\u6bd4 \u201cLike\u201d \u66f4\u5f3a\u8c03 \u201c\u76f8\u4f3c\u7a0b\u5ea6\u9ad8\u201d
broad reasons<\/strong> \u201c\u666e\u904d\u539f\u56e0\u3001\u5e7f\u6cdb\u539f\u56e0\u201d
multifaceted<\/strong> \/\u02ccm\u028clti\u02c8f\u00e6s\u026at\u026ad\/ \u591a\u9762\u7684\u3001\u590d\u6742\u7684

employing them<\/strong> \u5229\u7528\u3001\u4f7f\u7528 \u4ed6\u4eec
In-person therapy<\/strong> \u9762\u5bf9\u9762\u6cbb\u7597
prohibitiv<\/strong> \/pr\u0259\u02c8h\u026ab\u0259t\u026av\/ adj. \u7981\u6b62\u6027\u7684
segments of society<\/strong> \/se\u0261\u02c8ments\/ \u201c\u793e\u4f1a\u7fa4\u4f53\u201d

session<\/strong> \uff08\u4e00\u6b21\uff09\u6cbb\u7597\u8bfe\u7a0b\u201d
a good fit<\/strong>\uff1a\u201c\uff08\u53cc\u65b9\uff09\u9002\u914d\u3001\u5408\u62cd
worsened\u00a0<\/strong> \/\u02c8w\u025c\u02d0rsnd\/ \u60c5\u51b5\u53d8\u66f4\u7cdf
Online counseling<\/strong> \u201c\u7ebf\u4e0a\u54a8\u8be2\u201d

with a human on the other end<\/strong> \u201c\u53e6\u4e00\u7aef\u662f\u771f\u4eba\u201d
somewhat more accessible<\/strong> \u7a0d\u5fae\u66f4\u5bb9\u6613\u83b7\u53d6 somewhat \u7a0d\u5fae accessible \u6613\u83b7\u53d6\u7684
in excess of<\/strong> \/\u026ak\u02c8ses\/\uff08\u8d85\u8fc7\uff09\u66ff\u4ee3 \u201cmore than\u201d
offers an outlet for<\/strong>\uff1a\u201c\u4e3a\u2026\u2026 \u63d0\u4f9b\u6e20\u9053 \/ \u51fa\u53e3\u201d\uff0c\uff0c\u201coutlet \u201c\u91ca\u653e\u60c5\u7eea\u3001\u7f13\u89e3\u538b\u529b\u201d

raw, honest discussion and reflection<\/strong> \u201c\u5766\u8bda\u7684\u4ea4\u6d41\u4e0e\u53cd\u601d\u201d raw\u201d\uff08\u672a\u7ecf\u4fee\u9970\u7684\uff09\u5f3a\u8c03 \u201c\u771f\u5b9e\u4e0d\u4f2a\u88c5\u201d\uff0c
more beneficial than nothing<\/strong>\uff1a\u201c\u804a\u80dc\u4e8e\u65e0\u201d\uff0c \u201c\u6709\u603b\u6bd4\u6ca1\u6709\u597d\u201d
anonymity<\/strong> \/\u02cc\u00e6n\u0259\u02c8n\u026am\u0259ti\/ \u533f\u540d\u6027\u3001\u533f\u540d\u72b6\u6001
confidentiality<\/strong> \/\u02cck\u0251\u02d0nf\u026a\u02ccden\u0283i\u02c8\u00e6l\u0259ti\/ \u4fdd\u5bc6\u6027

foster trust<\/strong> \/\u02c8f\u0251\u02d0st\u0259r\/ \u57f9\u517b\u4fe1\u4efb\u3001\u5efa\u7acb\u4fe1\u4efb
hesitant<\/strong> \/\u02c8hez\u026at\u0259nt\/ \u72b9\u8c6b\u7684\u3001\u8fdf\u7591\u7684 , \u4e0d\u60c5\u613f\u7684
individuals <\/strong>\/\u02cc\u026and\u0259\u02c8v\u026ad\u0292\u0259w\u0259lz\/ n. \u4e2a\u4eba
seek in-person help for their mental health concerns<\/strong> \u4e3a\u81ea\u8eab\u5fc3\u7406\u5065\u5eb7\u95ee\u9898\u5bfb\u6c42\u9762\u5bf9\u9762\u5e2e\u52a9

furthermore <\/strong>\u6b64\u5916
stigma\u00a0<\/strong> \/\u02c8st\u026a\u0261m\u0259\/ \u6c61\u540d\uff08\u8d1f\u9762\u6807\u7b7e\u4e0e\u504f\u89c1\uff09<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While we’re not short on divisive topics in 2025, there are valid reasons as to whywe’re turning to chatbots for emotional support \u2013 and why people are also verymuch against it. So how willing are you to embrace this new form of therapy? With the technology developing and evolving faster than the academic community can […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[31,43,29],"class_list":["post-4145","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english","tag-english","tag-essay","tag-29"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rainyjames.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4145","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rainyjames.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rainyjames.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rainyjames.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rainyjames.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4145"}],"version-history":[{"count":73,"href":"https:\/\/www.rainyjames.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4145\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4241,"href":"https:\/\/www.rainyjames.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4145\/revisions\/4241"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rainyjames.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rainyjames.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4145"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rainyjames.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}