Guest Article

Robots Replacing Therapists Is No Longer Science Fiction

Alejandro Pina, LMFT

If you thought cars couldn’t drive without humans, have I got bad news for you!  If you thought robots couldn’t roll down a sidewalk to deliver food, I’ve got more bad news. And if you thought people wouldn’t divulge all their pain and problems to a ChatBot, seeking the same kind of therapy therapists are advertising, I’ve got even more bad news.

This article is going to be a lot of bad Mental Health Industry news. But I promise in the end, there will be a very tangible and simple solution that will be 100% effective.

First, let’s try to connect the dots of all the bad news. 

The Billionaire Class has blatantly taken control of our current Administration. They funded Silicon Valley’s efforts to produce those driver-less cars, ChatBots, and Delivery Robots I mentioned. The Billionaire Class gains profits by devaluing and erasing workers.

The Department of Education no longer wants to call Social Work a Professional Degree, or consider Counseling Programs as Professional Programs.

Unfortunately, Mental Health Workers don’t have a national union. Associations like, CAMFT try to help, but there’s only so many rights the worker can obtain without a general strike. 

The fractured state of our industry is evident in the success of The Billionaire Class Health Insurance Industry’s terms that have been easily forced unto The Mental Health Industry. Our most prevalent option to respond to their terms has been to avoid accepting insurance, which hasn’t solved anything.

The Billionaire Class destroys so they can heroically save, and their Silicon Valley puppet is wearing a cape. 

First, they implemented, “therapy” platforms like, Headspace and Alma to take control of their own Health Insurance terms as the middle-man, working directly with the population that uses their Health Insurance while also, “hiring” the therapists themselves. 

And now, Big Tech knows; less people use insurance, out-of-pocket costs are high, and Mental Health coverage is limited. The perfect opportunity to sell AI Therapy.

The number one use of ChatGPT is, “therapy.” And that’s free. Here are the AI Therapy Companies looking for profit: 

Abby - Your AI Therapist, Ash - AI for Mental Health, TherapyWithAI - Free AI Therapy, EarKick - Personal AI Chat Bot for Self-Care, Freudly: AI Therapy Sessions

BetterHelp, a Tech Company that is the Uber of our industry, advertising on Spotify, Podcasts, Tik-Tok, etc., are selling a suspiciously low, monthly-subscription fee for, “therapy.” They have as much interest in Human-Therapists as Uber has in drivers. 

The most successful of the AI Therapy Bots mentioned above will be bought by BetterHelp to replace their hired therapists, following the same game plan Uber has with the winning driver-less car systems currently being tested.

Some of you might know that California and Illinois have passed forms of legislation in hopes to limit AI use in the Mental Health Industry. 

Unfortunately, the legal system in America has not been at its’ best in serving the needs of the people. A woman’s right to choose has already been stripped away, and other human rights in the LGBT community have been decimated. 

In 2023, the Federal Trade Commission fined BetterHelp 7.8 Million Dollars for selling customer’s sensitive data. But don’t worry, BetterHelp is fine, currently operating here, and in Canada, Australia, Germany, France, The UK, The Netherlands, and intends to reach 200 countries.

Silicon Valley has no limits. All the legislation in America will not stop them from continuing their behavior in the rest of the world. The Billionaire Class prepares budgets for class action lawsuits; being fined is part of their trade.         

So where’s the hopeful solution I promised? We’re getting there. Most of the dots have been connected, here’s the last one:

Silicon Valley does not have a product that can replace us. They have Yes-Bots.

Artificial Intelligence is still Science Fiction. Yes-Bots sound better sold as, “Intelligent.” A “search engine” can’t make a train move because it isn’t actually an, “engine,” it just scans data. This is all a marketing ploy. The same way “CocaCola” sounds better than, “corn syrup in water.”

We can’t stop Silicon Valley from selling their Yes-Bots, but we can hold them accountable for the dangerous idea they’re selling.

Silicon Valley is promoting a new definition of, “therapy” where The Therapeutic Relationship doesn’t exist and the Human-Therapist isn’t involved. 

They are redefining what “therapy” is, and what they are selling isn’t therapy.

That’s where we come in. 

The Therapeutic Relationship is the number one predictor of positive outcomes in treatment. 

We know that. 

The public doesn’t. 

And the Billionaire Class, along with their Silicon Valley puppet, doesn’t want this information getting around.

There is no Therapy without Human-Therapists providing the Therapeutic Relationship. 

We are irreplaceable, as long as the public believes in The Therapeutic Relationship.

Promoting the Therapeutic Relationship will be 100% effective in devaluing Silicon Valley Yes-Bots, because their Yes-Bots aren’t Human.

But the solution only works if each of us, and all our associations, and everyone in the Health Care Industry, Internationally, actively re-educates the public on what The Therapeutic Relationship is, and why therapy with a Human-Therapist is their best option.

And if we all can’t unite to do that, I’ve got a feeling I’m gonna have more bad news for you.

Alejandro Pina, LMFT, is an EFT-Trained Couples Therapist with a master’s of science in counseling psychology. He is in private practice online, Feeling Understood Couples Counseling, and specializes in teaching couples how to enhance support within a relationship and learn effective communication to build mutual understanding and care. Alejandro is an Inclusive Therapist providing LGBTQ Affirming and Latinx Therapy, and works with interracial couples who may struggle with cultural differences. Websites: Human-Therapist.org FeelUnderstood.com