How Does AI Mental Health Support Compare To Traditional Therapy?

Why would anyone bother with traditional therapy when there is instant artificial intelligence (AI) mental health support available, often for free, via an app on the phone in our pocket? In this post I will attempt to explore the various pros and cons of psychotherapy or counselling compared to that offered by AI.

Is Traditional Therapy Worth It?

Engaging in therapy is a major commitment in terms of time, money and effort. I see it as an investment in oneself. Therapy can be challenging work and is rarely a quick fix. It often involves exploring the corners of our lives we are most reluctant to look at in order to bring about necessary change. However, the rewards of successful therapy might include:

• stronger personal relationships

• less anxiety

• more willingness to take responsibility

• the ability to better balance our needs against those of others

• a greater awareness of our feelings and bodies

• acceptance of situations we cannot change.

It’s All About The Relationship

Research (Flückiger et al, 2018)  over the years has consistently shown that it is the quality of the relationship between therapist and client that directly contributes to the success of individual psychotherapy. In my experience, a strong collaborative alliance built on mutual trust and respect provides the safe space in which to talk openly about what is troubling us in our lives and to experiment with new ways of being in the world.

The Therapist As Fallible Human Being

In my early years of working in private practice I struggled to tolerate my own inevitable missteps, dodgy timing or general minor screw ups. I feared forgetting something a client had told me, challenging too much or not challenging enough, repeating myself, not grasping the significance or emotional message behind what someone was telling me straight off, stuffing up on my admin and so on.

Now that I have experience behind me, I have learnt that when things go a bit wrong in therapy, so long as they can be talked about and repaired quickly and honestly, these ruptures are often what strengthen the therapeutic relationship. And a stronger therapeutic relationship means more likelihood that we can reduce anxiety and make changes in our lives for the better.

What Can AI Offer in Terms of Support?

AI mental health support is readily available virtually wherever we are and with an often instant response. It is also anonymous. However, will AI pick up that our anxiety symptoms are getting worse over time? Or that a particular aspect of our lives is conspicuous by its absence from our conversation? Will it know when to refer to a GP or mental health crisis team? And will it help us make healthy connections to other human beings through the experience of building a solid therapeutic relationship with a real person that can withstand a wide range of feelings, clashes in needs, minor irritations, loss and laughter.

To Conclude

There is no doubt that therapy with a qualified practitioner is expensive and that not everyone will have the means – or space in their schedule - to afford it at a time when they actually need it. For those who can, it seems there is a case for combining the depth and nuance of traditional therapy with good quality AI mental health support. Once a week we talk with a living breathing human being who is kind and curious. This trained and experienced therapist will also (hopefully!) be boundaried, appropriately challenging, without agenda and come with large dollops of humility and - perhaps most importantly of all - humour. This last probably not an AI strong point.

For the time in between sessions and after therapy is over it might be reassuring for some of us to know that we have an AI ‘therapist in our pocket’ who might be able to help with simple decision-making and encouragement which is both settling and soothing in the moment.

I freely admit to being biased towards traditional therapy. However, at the same time I believe that, like self-help books, AI can be a useful support tool when it comes to improving and sustaining our mental health.

For more information or to arrange an initial consultation, please send me a message via my Contact page.

Copyright Caroline Clarke, July 2025. This blog post was written without the help of AI!

Postscript: article in The Guardian from August 2025 , 'Sliding into an Abyss' Experts Warn Over Rising Use of AI for Mental Health Support.

Photo by Yura Fresh on Unsplash

Ref:

Flückiger, C; Del Re, A; Wampold, B; Horvath, A. (2018) The alliance in adult psychotherapy: A meta-analytic synthesis. Psychotherapy, Vol. 55, No. 4, pp 316-340. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29792475/