My patients use ChatGPT for therapy. Now I use it too | Sarah Dargouth
TL;DR
Clinical psychologist Sarah Darghouth describes how patients already use ChatGPT and Claude as therapy companions for breakup decisions, partner conflicts and fast emotional interpretation. She flags concrete risks: misinformation, heightened anxiety, isolation, possible reinforcement of delusional thinking, suicidal ideation and the upload of deeply private life details to big tech systems.
Nauti's Take
This is sharper than the usual panic story about AI in therapy because Darghouth exposes her own contradiction: she warns patients while using the tool herself. That is where the real issue starts.
The risk is not only that ChatGPT can give bad advice, but that it is increasingly good at simulating order, warmth and certainty on demand. For short-term relief, that can help.
For real therapy, that very cleanliness can become the trap.
Briefingshow
The piece hits a live fault line: AI therapy is not just a product pitch, it is already entering real therapy rooms. The question shifts from whether people will use it to how professionals handle it without minimizing risk, privacy loss and dependency. The most important tension is between scalable instant support and the slow, uncomfortable work of human healing.
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