My patients use ChatGPT for therapy. Now I use it too | Sarah Dargouth
TL;DR
Clinical psychologist Sarah Darghouth writes in The Guardian that patients now bring ChatGPT into therapy sessions for relationship decisions, conflict repair and fast emotional framing. She flags concrete risks: worsened anxiety, false information, isolation, delusional beliefs, suicidal thinking and the upload of intimate life details to big tech systems. Darghouth also admits she used ChatGPT herself during a difficult parenting moment because its immediate, calm support helped in practice.
Nauti's Take
The sharpest point is not that ChatGPT can produce useful therapy-like responses. That was predictable.
The harder insight is that people in distress may prefer an instant, polished answer over a slower human encounter. For mental-health AI products, that is not a UX victory; it creates a duty to set limits.
If a system simulates care, it also needs to know when to step back and point people to real help.
Briefingshow
The piece moves the debate beyond the simple question of whether AI therapy is good or bad. Darghouth describes the uncomfortable middle ground: people already use chatbots because they are available, structured and comforting. That makes it urgent for therapists, platforms and users to define where quick support ends and clinical responsibility begins.
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