A.I. -- May I?
Dr. Jenn, a licensed psychotherapist in three US time zones, has unveiled her distinctive approach to therapy. Operating exclusively through telehealth due to necessity and circumstance Dr. Jenn is dedicated to delivering holistic care, prioritizing the well-being of individuals over profit derived from their struggles.... more
A.I. -- May I?
In a former life I taught social work education.
This was particularly challenging in 2016 as Midwest state specific policies got thrown across our desks.
Should students have guns on campus and in class?
Am I, as an instructor, free (enough) to ask if they have one?
Yes on the former?
No on the latter?
We struggled-- debating merits of self-protection.
Licensed as a mental health professional in three separate time zones within the United States--I am a curious professional once more.
We’d all managed to survive both pandemic and post pandemic processes. Yes, hard, but we’ve (been doing) ‘hard things.’
Eyes ahead.
After surviving meet up's with managed care in the mid 1990’s I was well equipped to speak cognitive behavioral interventions and bring solution focused strategies to the table. Managed care paid for a handful of appointments -- whether your house burned down or not. “Time” in clinical care mattered and client's lost a ton of it.
Now, even more so with a new(er) twist.
Running towards measures of sustainability (here’s a big sticker to put on the floor -- six feet apart) we are saying one thing. Seeing another online. Reading Feeling Hearing and Understanding less and less. While telehealth provided a flexibility Survival demanded – the world, at large, kept burning.
Within a culture of cognitive dissonance - patients attempt to metabolize complex grief by sending memes of egg prices or congress members asleep. They adhere to adaptive office demands with a game face ‘on’ via intermittent remote scheduling options. Various parenting challenges involving social and economic barriers remain unabated. If it’s not the quality of the education, it’s the property taxes.
I ask, ultimately, what is the nature of our Soul’s purpose and why would therapist’s care beyond the practical scope of any garden variety bio psycho social assessment? Reading through articles on AI and psychology, I see groups gathering information on verbal and auditory processes, facial movements with an operating assumption – we need it. The mental health field – needs it. The decision was made.
Mental health people professionals, ‘need’ AI.
I’m asking us to make sure we consider the depths of our convictions specific to AI and it’s presence in our clinical conversations.
Are we “just” brain waves of manipulated electrical impulses and as such need to welcome the presence of AI just hangin’ out?
Is that all we are -- an extension someone else designed?
Must hearts simply ignore disruption signaling “shenanigans!!” when told AI showed up in the appointment “to help”.
Are providers needing to warm up first so client’s feel less chill against metal?
Do we simply manage the brain much like the kidney or lung?
Are we merely hooked up to the Servers of Corporations and “confirmed” via Metrics made by smarter think tanks?
When we ‘”see” AI as a professional contender – particularly if they include both diagnosis and recommendations, I reserve concern. Clearly large groups believe humans failed.
Have industry standards become so lowered, due to the mechanistic pressures of reimbursement protocols, our burnout and compassion fatigue took over and said, “Fine, fine. We don’t care. We’ve been doing this since telephone poles were invented. We cry Uncle. You win. Sure, sure, they look like they might need some addiction work. Great idea. Wouldn’t have thought of it. Thanks for hearing, seeing and suggesting that while I was talking with the person.”
And that’s the goal. Teaching mental health providers that the system makes clinical suggestions tantamount to independent and licensed clinical authority.
Some programs will prompts professionals to consider eligibility of services “needed” when, upon review, determines high level inaccuracy. A detriment to the patient – should a provider have pursued that line of questioning. “Wait, what? Now you think I might have a substance abuse problem or disorder? You want me to take some additional assessments? Why?”
A provider must understand the scope of dual diagnosis-- or any proper addiction diagnosis—via credentialed pathways.
Consider the vulnerability of a new therapist trained solely on video interface. Strategies for ensuring accuracy indefinitely compromised by distance and absent of shared electromagnetic field. If I were to ask her how she ‘felt’ her client’s experience – would she know what I mean?
Is this “the sell”?
Paperwork “distracts” -- let something else “listen” while you do “the work”?
Isn’t that “the work”?
To listen?
What are providers doing with those thoughts?
Where are those ideas noted?
What is the clear objective for treatment?
Ease of suffering?
Overall metrics and performance?
The patient’s metrics?
The provider’s metrics?
The performance of both?
To who?
What is the Metric of Soul?
(I asked Siri and it sent me to a consulting firm.)
Do Priests or Attorney’s seek AI for help with determination of sin, law and documentation?
Are not all three disciplines weighted with anchors of promised confidentiality?
Consider this scenario:
Missed call last spring. A Tuesday. Recognizable number. County sheriff. This time they’ve found Carl’s son. It’s been one year and four months since that night. His partner finally said it’s either talk with someone or pack up because they’re “done” with this version of you. You’re c-suite level leadership. He tried a chat bot last fall after drinks. It was awful. He schedules an appointment and sits in front of a computer screen half hoping the provider doesn’t show.
It’s.
so.
hard.
Or is this aspect of care delegated only to those who can no longer afford in person help?
Did AI already ‘know’ that when selling convenience to angel investors?
I wonder if competencies required for therapeutic relevancy might surprise us all.
Perhaps consider Nature.
See how the Tree grows.
For what is deemed ‘helpful’ may not always help.
And what is listening may not always understand.
AI might be “here to stay”.
But it doesn’t need to be sitting in on the conversation about your mother.
Even if you want it to.
