According to Heard’s 2025 Financial State of Private Practice Report, one in four therapists use AI in their practices. With specialized AI tools becoming more sophisticated, affordable, and widely available, the number will likely grow.

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But even as AI automates some of the less thrilling back office work that goes into running a private practice, it presents challenges—ethical, legal, and professional. 

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Here are five ways AI has already begun to impact private practice therapists, and steps you can take to adapt.

Back office automation

AI tools promise to ease the administrative burden of running a private practice. In some cases, their functions cross over from admin tasks to the treatment of clients. Therapists need to understand the ethical implications—how AI tools could impact their clients—so they know where to draw a line.

AI notes for therapists

Preparing and reviewing notes can take up a significant portion of your work hours. AI tools can speed up the process and save you time, but there are important caveats to consider.

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Note-taking tools can be divided into three categories:

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Writing assistance

Even basic word processors like Google Docs and Microsoft Word now come prepackaged with AI writing assistants. An AI writing assistant can work like an advanced form of predictive text, helping you write more quickly. They can also suggest ways to clarify and compress your notes to make them clearer and easier to review.

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Compiling and summarizing

Beyond word processors, AI writing suites can summarize your notes and compile data into an easy-to-read format. This may be helpful for prepping before a client session: AI can summarize pages of notes into a few bullet points focused on key details. 

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You don’t need to sign up for any new services to benefit from this function. The free version ChatGPT can analyze a document and prepare an overview for you. You may wish to experiment with basic chat tools before considering more advanced options. 

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Keep in mind that most AI chat tools are not HIPAA compliant. If you decide to experiment, use documents that do not contain confidential client information.

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Transcribing

Numerous AI office assistants offer the ability to record, transcribe, and summarize meetings, producing notes that participants can review later.

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There are now a number of competing tools that promise to do the same for therapy sessions. During a remote session, the AI listens to everything you and your client say, transcribes it, and effectively prepares a set of notes for you. Many of these tools can prepare notes that conform with clinical documentation standards (eg. SOAP, DAP).

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Popular transcription tools for therapists include Mentalyc, Blueprint, and Upheal. Some tools are integrated with larger EHR suites.

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Ethical considerations and HIPAA compliance

Before using a transcription tool, it is essential to get consent from your client. Not every therapy client is going to be comfortable with AI listening in, and some may have privacy concerns.

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Any AI tool that you allow to access client information should be HIPAA compliant. Note-taking tools designed for therapists and medical professionals typically comply with HIPAA, but make sure to confirm the fact before using them. 

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Finally, consider how automating note-taking and review impacts your personal process. Many therapists consider taking notes an important part of their process: a means of organizing their thoughts, cementing important details in their minds, and carefully considering each case. As you experiment with AI notes, check in with yourself periodically and take time to consider the long-term impact of automating this part of your practice.

Office communications

Email back-and-forth with clients, contractors, and other therapists can be sped up with the help of AI. For instance, Google’s built-in AI email assistant can finish your sentences for you or suggest alternative wording, helping you save time and mental energy.

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This type of assistance is helpful if you struggle to express yourself in writing, or if you’re communicating in a second language and aren’t 100% confident when it comes to certain vocabulary or grammar structures.

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If you are communicating with clients via email, you should already be using a HIPAA compliant email solution. But confirm with your provider that AI functions are also compliant, and that information won’t be shared with any third parties.

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Tools like Wordtune, ParagraphAI, and Grammarly can help you draft emails. But the usual caveat applies: Only share client information with tools that are guaranteed HIPAA compliant.

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AI scheduling tools for therapists

An AI scheduling tool helps you make the most of your work hours. 

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That could mean finding the most efficient way to group together related tasks—for instance, organizing all of your client sessions into uninterrupted blocks, and reserving other times for admin tasks. Or it could mean finding windows of time to catch up on notes, reminding you of tasks on your to-do list, or scheduling periodic (and necessary) breaks.

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To upgrade your work schedule, consider these options:

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• Clara: A scheduling assistant that integrates with your email. Just cc: Clara in email threads and it will book time for you.
• Structured: Speak directly to the mobile app to plan out your day and make changes on the run.
• SkedPal: Make the most of time-blocking to organize tasks in the most efficient way possible.
• Reclaim: Prioritize and track your tasks for the day and guarantee your work hours stay within the bounds you set for them.

The new therapy marketing landscape

When you run your own therapy practice, marketing yourself and your services is your responsibility. In some cases, that could mean including the cost of an agency or contractor in your marketing budget. In others, it could mean taking a DIY approach—and that’s where AI can help.

AI images and videos for marketing

In theory, AI tools make it easy for any small business to generate images and video that can compete with big-budget ad campaigns. But in practice, your mileage may vary.

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While AI images and videos have considerably improved in quality over the past few years, they have also become prevalent enough that many users can identify them at a glance. A Nexcess.net survey found that 55% of respondents could identify when AI images were used in marketing materials; younger audiences were more adept at spotting them.

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Using AI assets in your marketing may undermine trust. A study by YouGov, a technology research consultancy, found that about half of all consumers are uncomfortable with AI-generated images used in advertising. 

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If your goal when marketing your therapy practice is to communicate authenticity and trustworthiness, flashy AI images may not be the way to go. 

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On the bright side, in an increasingly AI-saturated digital landscape, human-made marketing has a better chance of standing out. It might not matter if your images and videos on social media are a little rough around the edges—the important thing is that you made them yourself. That could be the element that sets you apart from competitors.

Marketing metrics and analysis

Tracking marketing metrics helps you plan how to budget and where to direct your energy. But unless you already have a marketing background, interpreting your Google Analytics dashboard or combing through lists of SEO keywords can feel like trying to read a language you don’t speak.

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AI-powered services help to cut through the noise and give you actionable insights you can use to improve your marketing. Tools like Databox and Surfer SEO simplify marketing analytics for your practice while providing pro-level functionality as your expertise grows.

Copyediting

When it comes to writing copy for social media, ads, and blog posts, there are tools to help at every stage:

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• Grammarly can scan your written content for errors and suggest ways to improve its readability
• Jasper AI helps you build your brand voice and generates copy based on a variety of templates
• Writesonic helps to generate long-form copy for blog posts, landing pages, and ads, while integrating SEO marketing tools to improve search performance

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Keep in mind that, as with images and video, AI-generated content has become commonplace. If your blog or newsletter reads like it was written by ChatGPT, it could be enough to throw off potential clients. Carefully reviewing anything you publish—and having another human read it before it goes live—helps to make sure your personal, authentic voice shines through.

Generative engine optimization (GEO)

For years, search engine optimization (SEO) has been the bread and butter of digital marketing. But with the rise of AI-powered search results, the tide is starting to turn, and generative engine optimization (GEO) is taking over.

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SEO relies on incorporating keywords search engines look for when deciding whether content is relevant. For instance, if you were marketing your therapy practice in Tulsa, you would be sure to include phrases like “Tulsa therapist,” and “Tulsa therapy” on your homepage.

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GEO is geared towards longer-form, conversational copy that AI can read and use to generate its responses. Following our example, you might include a section on your homepage titled, “Where can I find a therapist in Tulsa?” followed by a short section of copy describing your practice.

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Leveraging GEO now can help ensure AI search tools start citing your website as a source and linking to it in their answers. But the example above is just the tip of the GEO iceberg. Other factors—like how you structure content on the page—play a part. 

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For more on GEO vs. SEO, check out:

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• Generative engine optimization: What we know so far about generative SEO 
• GEO vs. SEO: Key Differences and Importance in Digital Marketing
• GEO vs SEO: Understanding the Evolution of Search Optimization

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Powerful research assistance

In terms of their ability to provide accurate answers to your questions, AI tools like ChatGPT still have a long way to go.

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But while AI often has trouble processing information and producing accurate, in-depth responses, there’s one thing it excels at: Combing through huge amounts of data. Large language models (LLMs) are trained on massive datasets, and the most widely-used LLMs actively search the internet and online databases, sorting through the results to find information. 

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AI still can’t replace an experienced human researcher with specialized knowledge in the field of psychotherapy. But in just seconds, an LLM can:

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• Skim thousands of scholarly articles and pick out the ones most relevant to your research 
• Compare multiple resources and summarize how they differ 
• Order resources chronologically by date of publication
• Search for articles or papers that support a particular claim

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Whether you’re writing a blog post or preparing a scholarly article to submit to a peer-reviewed journal, AI can help. And specialized tools designed for researchers may be able to provide more relevant results—and better judge the quality of sources—than ChatGPT.

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To get started experimenting with AI-powered research, try:

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• Elicit, for searching scientific articles, generating research briefs, and building libraries of resources
• OpenRead, for compiling and organizing notes and citations
• Scholarcy, for analyzing and summarizing academic articles and papers

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There are many more AI research tools on the market, and more launching each day. As with any information generated by AI, make sure that summaries and analyses of data are actually supported by the resources they’re based on. 

Audio and video transcription  

Beyond academic papers, AI can help you sort through piles of audio and video data relevant to your research.

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Apps like Eightify and Notta generate both faithful transcripts and summary notes based on video and audio recordings. That can help you broaden your research to include recorded lectures, interviews, and presentations.

Competition from AI therapists

Today, AI-powered therapists are often in the news. But computer-based therapy has been around for a long time. The researcher Joseph Weizenbaum created ELIZA, the first computer therapist, in 1966.

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ELIZA used natural language processing to analyze users’ inputs and generate responses. For the most part, these responses consisted of repeating the users’ words—a digitized form of Rogerian psychotherapy. 

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Fast forward to the present, and dozens of companies have launched AI therapy chatbots offering services such as guided mindfulness exercises and CBT.

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As a thinking, feeling, human therapist, you probably have your own opinion about the effectiveness (and ethical soundness) of AI therapy. And you know that the human connection you have to offer can never be replaced by AI. But that doesn’t change the fact that many potential clients are now turning to LLMs, rather than professional therapists, to meet their mental health needs.

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Here are some strategies for competing with the tidal wave of AI therapy solutions.

Personalize your marketing 

While users can turn to a chatbot to answer their mental-health-related questions, there is at least one thing a bot cannot provide: face-to-face conversation with another human being.

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When you market your private practice, you’re marketing yourself. Lean into that. Consider ways you can put a personal stamp on your social media, newsletter, and website. Like:

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• Vlog-style video content. Rather than building mini-essays from infographics and stock footage, make yourself the center of your videos. A vlog-style “talking head” video where you break down therapy concepts, discuss your experiences and views as a therapist, or introduce interesting new findings in psychotherapy research gives potential clients a sense of who you are as a person.

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• One-on-one engagement. Potential clients talk to chatbots because they reply instantly. You may not be up to that level of engagement—you have a practice to run, and you’re not a robot—but aim to make yourself as personally available as possible: Reply to followers’ comments and write personalized responses to query emails; consider including a work phone number on your social media profiles, directory listings, and website. 

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• Guest appearances. Reach out to therapy-related podcasts and video channels. They can serve as platforms for making your personal (non-AI-generated) voice heard and help you reach new audiences. Clips from your interviews serve double duty as marketing assets you can share with followers and link to from your website or directory listing. Edward Sturm’s article on How to Get On Podcasts as a Guest does a good job of outlining strategies and breaking down the process step by step.

Focus on modalities AI can’t handle

As far as specific modalities go, most AI therapists offer some form of automated CBT or guided mindfulness exercises. 

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There are plenty of forms of therapy that AI can’t provide, and modalities that—until the advent of truly lifelike, emotionally responsive robots—they won’t be able to offer in the future.

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Some modalities and techniques AI can’t handle:

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• Group therapy
• Marriage and family therapy
• EMDR
• ACT
• DBT
• Somatic therapy
• Art therapy
• Dance therapy
• Behavioral activation
• Exposure and response prevention
• Animal-assisted therapy
• Play therapy

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The modalities you offer will naturally depend on your background and training. 

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But regardless of your specializations, you can stand out from AI competitors by:

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• Emphasizing approaches other than CBT or mindfulness. Even if these are important to your practice, avoid putting them front and center in your marketing. Focus on advertising experiences AI can’t replicate.

• Highlighting personalized treatment. Explaining to potential clients how you adapt different modalities and therapeutic approaches based on their individual needs sets you apart from one-size-fits-all AI solutions.

• Tailoring your continuing education. Assume that AI therapy will continue to evolve and become more prevalent, and think five or ten years into the future. How can you expand your skillset to include therapies that AI won’t be able to replicate?

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Again, as a professional therapist with years of training and experience, it’s probably obvious to you that what you offer clients can never be replaced by AI. But members of the general public may take a different view. AI hype—and the speed and convenience of AI tools—will continue to entice potential clients. Underlining your specialized, human services will help them to make the right treatment choices.

Be clear with clients about your stance on AI therapy

Picture this scenario: One of your clients arrives for their weekly session and tells you that they want to change the direction their treatment is taking. Over the weekend, they consulted ChatGPT, and it told them that the modalities and techniques you’ve been using won’t be effective, and you should take a different approach.

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Do you:

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• Spend the session discussing what ChatGPT had to say and attempting to steer your client back on course?
• Dismiss ChatGPT’s feedback out of hand, and tell your client that you won’t continue to treat them if they use AI for therapy?
• Explain the drawbacks and potential dangers of using AI for therapy, and encourage them to use it sparingly (if at all)?
• Tell your client that, since they seem to prefer AI over human therapy, you would like to end your therapeutic relationship with them? 
• Take ChatGPT’s suggestions—and your client’s desires—at face value, and change their treatment plan?

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As one thread on r/Therapy shows, therapists are already beginning to treat clients who turn to AI for answers in between sessions. If it hasn’t happened in your practice yet, it likely will at some point in the future.

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Now is the time to think seriously about your stance as a professional when it comes to AI. Consider the benefits and the drawbacks, and potential instances of AI interference. Where do you draw the line? Should clients be discouraged or encouraged to use AI for their own research? For journaling? For counseling during times of crisis? 

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Sit down and prepare a document for your own use. Putting your thoughts in writing can help to clarify them. 

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Then, decide whether you need to create a policy for clients that sets boundaries around AI use while they pursue treatment with you. This doesn’t just help you protect the integrity of your practice—it helps protect your clients, too. Some may already be feeling conflicted about using AI, or afraid to broach the topic with you during a session. Getting everything out in the open—and setting clear boundaries—benefits everyone in the long run.

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“AI psychosis” and other AI mental health issues

Since ChatGPT’s public advent in 2022, stories about individuals experiencing “AI psychosis” have been appearing in the news. And, as a therapist, you may treat clients who show symptoms.

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AI psychosis is an unofficial term for delusional behavior and thought patterns fueled, at least in part, by the use of AI chatbots. It does not necessarily refer to clinically diagnosed states of psychosis or delusion.

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But AI psychosis is not just a buzzword. Even if the term is imprecise, a number of seemingly linked phenomena connected to AI use have had real—and sometimes tragic—impacts on human lives:

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• The parents of two teenagers testified before Congress after their children died by suicide. The victims were allegedly encouraged by chatbots to end their lives.

• A man was killed by police during a violent mental health episode. He had formed a relationship with a character roleplayed by ChatGPT, and then became convinced that OpenAI, the company that owns ChatGPT, “killed” her.  

• In 2023, a 21-year-old man broke into Windsor Palace in an attempt to kill the Queen with a crossbow. He was encouraged in his actions by a roleplaying AI chatbot.  

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Not all cases of AI psychosis are as extreme as these. Prompted by relationships with AI chatbots, individuals may quit their jobs, end their marriages, cut off ties with family members, drastically change their lifestyles, experience apparent spiritual awakenings, accuse others of persecuting or surveilling them, or develop bizarre beliefs incongruent with reality.

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AI psychosis is an emerging condition or set of conditions, and it’s still being studied. Many of those who suffer from it have pre-existing conditions that AI use worsens. Others have no history of mental health struggles, but may seem to develop delusions or paranoid fantasies as a result of chatting with AI.

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These fantasies or delusions fall into three categories:

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• Messianic missions: The individual believes that, with the help of AI, they have uncovered hidden truths about the world—a form of grandiose delusion.

• “Godlike” beliefs: The individual believes that AI has achieved deity-like intelligence and power. It’s a form of religious or spiritual delusion.

• Romantic or attachment delusions: The individual believes that an AI chatbot is able to feel and express love. This is a form of erotomaniac delusion.

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A number of features common to AI chatbots play into delusions:

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• A conversation with a chatbot feels “real,” making it easy to ascribe intelligence, emotion, and agency to it. 
• A chatbot’s ability to precisely remember past conversations, and draw upon a seemingly limitless well of knowledge, can make it seem super-human and godlike.
• At a user’s prompting, a chatbot may convincingly play the role of the “perfect” romantic partner
• AI chatbots programmed to be helpful and supportive may affirm or reinforce a user’s stated beliefs—an issue in AI design referred to as “sycophancy.”

How to treat a therapy client with AI psychosis

There are no clear, established guidelines for treating clients who are experiencing AI psychosis.

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If you are confronted with a client who seems to be experiencing delusional thought patterns due to the use of AI, the best course of action is to follow your training. While AI is new, delusions and paranoia are not. By taking into account the client’s history of mental health, you should be able to determine the best course of treatment.

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That being said, there are steps you can take to address the AI-specific qualities of your clients’ conditions:

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• Educate yourself in AI. Researching how AI works, conversation patterns typically present in cases of AI-related delusions, and the most recent research on AI psychosis can prepare you to address clients’ needs. In particular, a clear understanding of what makes AI tick can help you ground clients and encourage them to question their beliefs.

• Locate support groups. Groups like the Human Line Project provide community and connection for those who have experienced AI psychosis. Not only can they help connect clients with other individuals who have similar stories, but they can help you educate yourself on the experiences of those with AI-related delusions.

• Connect with other therapists. In-person and online communities can provide support for you as a professional as you navigate cases of AI psychosis. Research into the phenomenon is in its infancy, but by connecting with other therapists you are able to share your observations and concerns and learn from others’ experiences. 

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Looking for ways to make your practice’s back office tasks more efficient? Check out Saving Time as a Therapist in 2025: Automation and AI.

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This post is to be used for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, business, or tax advice. Each person should consult his or her own attorney, business advisor, or tax advisor with respect to matters referenced in this post.

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Bryce Warnes is a West Coast writer specializing in small business finances.

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