AI Practice Policy 

  Policy: Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in and Around Psychotherapy

1. Purpose and Philosophy

The therapeutic relationship relies on human connection, genuine empathy, emotional attunement, and professional clinical judgment. While consumer Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools such as ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini are increasingly accessible, they are general-purpose technology platforms, not healthcare providers or licensed mental health professionals. This policy outlines our practice's framework regarding the use of AI tools in conjunction with your therapeutic work.

2. Understanding the Limitations of Consumer AI Tools

If you utilize AI models for journaling, processing emotions, seeking coping skills, or exploring psychological concepts, it is vital to understand their limitations:

• Lack of Clinical Context: AI models do not know your history, trauma background, relational patterns, or nuanced clinical presentation. Their responses are algorithmic predictions based on text patterns, not professional insight.

• Risk of Misinformation or "Hallucinations": AI tools can produce confident, plausible-sounding advice that may be clinically inaccurate, inappropriate, or harmful to your specific mental health goals.

• Reinforcing Unhelpful Cycles: Relying on an AI to soothe anxiety or unpack distress can inadvertently reinforce avoidance, compulsive reassurance-seeking, or rumination, bypassing the deeper work required for genuine healing.

• Absence of Crisis Safeguards: Consumer AI platforms lack the rigorous, real-time safety protocols and legal duties of care required during acute mental health crises or safety emergencies.

3. Privacy, Confidentiality, and Data Risks

Consumer AI applications are generally not HIPAA-compliant or designed to safeguard protected health information (PHI).

• Pasting details about your personal life, therapy sessions, emotional struggles, or diagnostic thoughts into a public AI platform means that your private data may be stored on third-party servers and potentially used to train future model versions.

• We strongly advise against inputting sensitive personal details or confidential session content into consumer AI models to protect your personal privacy.

4. Bringing Outside AI Discussions into the Session Policy Requirement:

If you use AI tools outside of session to explore topics related to your mental health, emotions, or therapy, you are strongly encouraged—and expected—to bring those discussions into your actual therapy sessions.

Why This Is Clinically Important:

• Bridging the Gap: AI interactions happen in an echo chamber driven by your prompt inputs. Bringing these conversations into therapy allows your clinician to evaluate what the AI suggested, correct any flawed psychoeducation, and anchor the insights in reality.

• Uncovering Hidden Patterns: What you choose to type into an AI tool, or the kind of validation you seek from it, often provides profound clinical material. Exploring these prompts can reveal underlying assumptions, emotional blocks, or unmet relational needs.

• Preserving the Therapeutic Frame: Therapy works because it is relational and dialogic. Relying on an algorithm outside of therapy to process feelings can create a "bypass" effect. Bringing those thoughts back to your therapist ensures that your growth happens within a safe, authentic, and clinically guided framework.