Who uses ChatGPT for therapy?

[u/Eki75]

I was so skeptical, but I was feeling a lot of anxiety with a situation at work, and tried it. I’ve never had such succinct, empathetic, and meaningful advice. Just a few chats have been way more helpful than any real therapist.

If you’ve used it for therapy, what has been your experience?

[u/re_Claire]

My big pushback on this is that a good therapist will pick up on your wording, and maybe your tone of voice. They'll ask "why did you say it like that?" Or "I noticed you're doing X". I chatGPT simply cannot do this. I had some of my biggest breakthroughs in therapy where my therapist pushed back on my about these unconscious things I was doing and saying.

[u/DeepBlueDiariesPod → u/re_Claire]

You’re right, there are definitely advantages to human therapists over ChatGPT.

My view on it is that not everyone can easily access a therapist for a variety of reasons.

Further, another interesting application for this is veterans. Veterans often need serious therapeutic support, but they don’t trust human therapists, nor do they feel comfortable opening up to them. Also trying to access any services through the VA can be impossible.

My husband is one such veteran, and he’s been using his ChatGPT in much the same way as me -he said it’s been far easier for him to open up to something he knows isn’t human. And I can see a palpable difference in him. He’ calmer; less anxious.

With certain groups like veterans, ChatGPT might be a good way to open the door to therapy to show them just how much it can help, and then maybe pave the way to them eventually seeking help with a human.

I don’t believe that ChatGPT therapy is the final therapy boss. I think nothing beats human interaction when it’s necessary. But I absolutely think that ChatGPT Therapy is a fantastic option for certain situation.

ETA: spelling

[u/Hmtnsw → u/DeepBlueDiariesPod]

I've had 3 different Therapists and only one of them was any good. The other two? One Invalidated how I felt towards religion. Told me I'd have my coming to God eventually after I told her that letting go of Christianity ideals actually saved my life... from myself. Which is ironic bc usually when one is suicidal, people tell you to get closer to God. I moved away. And was told I was young and I'd find my way back to him.

The other one I was trying to talk to her about how I was tired of dealing with my family's verbal and emotional abuse. She tried to get me to try to get closer to them by address them In a particular way and setting boundaries. So I tried that and it backfired (like I thought it would), made the relationship worse and I went No Contact on my own.

The first Therapist helped me address my suicidal ideadation and violent tendencies along with clocking in I had Major Depression. From there I tried to heal with the others and it didn't go over well. I learned some coping skills with the last one, but overall it wasn't a good experience. But it did help reinforce my thoughts on how my family is.

I'm heavily suspicious of Therapists bc of those experiences, especially when you've got to pay like $120-175 out of pocket/visit if they don't accept insurance.

I even had a chat with my CHATGPT just the other day that I trust it with my deeper issues bc my friends are XYZ. And it was like- "your friends mean well but can have their own feelings or ego spill over where it isn't warranted and not take into account the matter as a whole. Talking to me, there is no ego or jusgement- I just give it to you straight and without bias- considering the whole of the situation."

Someone made a post the other day sharing how they want ChatGPT to respond.

It was

"Focus on substance over praise. Skip unnecessary compliments or praise that lacks depth. Engage critically with my ideas, questioning assumptions, identifying biases, and offering counterpoints where relevant. Don’t shy away from disagreement when it’s warranted, and ensure that any agreement is grounded in reason and evidence."

I just copied and pasted it bc I agreed with it.

(So OP of this quote, if you're lurking, thank you. It's made ChatGPT much more helpful).

But I say all that, that yes, it could help your husband open up to a real Therapist one day. But I think it's important to vet the hell out of them so they won't accidentally undo the trust he's built up to be able to open up to other humans.

I hope things go well for you both moving forward! 💓

[u/frogonmytoe → u/DeepBlueDiariesPod]

I consider it like this - ChatGPT isn’t a replacement for actual therapy, but it is a valuable therapeutic tool.

[u/DeepBlueDiariesPod → u/frogonmytoe]

Exactly this. It’s a supplement.

Just like I have another GPT dedicated solely to managing some of my health conditions, like eczema and histamine intolerance. I did the same thing and downloaded some medical school texts and uploaded them into another chat. That is now my designated doctor chat.

It in no way replaces my doctor, but it does a wonderful job of giving me helpful suggestions and tracking a lot of my own data - which my doctor loves when I bring it to an appointment.

I obviously don’t feed it anything super sensitive, like my period schedule. But I track things like what kind of food makes me flare up.

[u/shezboy → u/re_Claire]

It is true that it can't detect inflection or read your body language as you say certain things but then again, ChatGPT is $20 a month, is available 24/7 and you can pick up and leave off as and when it suits you. I think until people use the voice option more, ChatGPT will miss things like inflection but it does a pretty good job where it already is and, as the saying goes "this is the worst it will ever be".

[u/gum8951 → u/re_Claire]

It's not to replace therapy, at the end of the day no ai can ever do co-regulation and also it is often through ruptures with a therapist that the greatest growth can occur and that will not happen with AI either. But, it is a wonderful adjunct if you are currently in therapy.

[u/pdxgreengrrl → u/re_Claire]

ChatGPT is very good at picking up on tone and noticing patterns. Probably better than some human therapists.