57. Smart Ways of Integrating AI in Your Private Practice

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Smart Ways of Integrating AI in Your Private Practice

Are your clients showing up with AI-generated advice from ChatGPT? Or are you wondering how to get found by potential clients using AI tools? In this episode of Run Your Private Practice with AI, I’m sharing smart ways of integrating AI in your private practice, both in your clinical work and your online presence.

I’m seeing a big trend among therapists. Clients are showing up in sessions talking about advice they got from AI, and some therapists are even being discovered through content that shows up in ChatGPT results. The truth is that how we respond to clients’ interest in AI really matters, so I’m walking you through how to meet those moments with curiosity and connection instead of defensiveness or fear.

AI Tips You Don’t Want to Miss:

  • What is Ask Engine Optimization, and how it’s different from traditional SEO
  • 7 ways to respond when clients bring ChatGPT advice into session
  • Tips to deconstruct AI responses with clients and check for emotional residue
  • Why reaffirming your human connection is more important than ever

Mentioned in this episode:

Connect with me:

Sponsored by Alma: www.helloalma.com/kym
Sponsored by Berries: www.heyberries.com/therapists

Transcript:

[00:00:00] Kym: Hey guys. So what I’m seeing right now, trending, like in the AI mental health world is a lot of therapists saying a couple of things. One is somebody just scheduled an appointment with me and they say they, they found me on ChatGPT

[00:00:14] there’s something called Ask engine optimization that is different than SEO and that’s how a lot of people are, getting found on ChatGPT. They’re consistently publishing content like blog posts and that sort of thing.

[00:00:29] That’s ask engine optimization instead. So it’s starting a blog post with a question that somebody might type into ChatGPT or even Google. So having that question being like your header or your topic is getting a lot of people traction over in ChatGPT. And also there’s a form you can fill out.

[00:00:49] I’ll have to get the link for you. There’s a form literally that you can fill out and submit to open ai, giving them permission to bring your information onto their platform. So I’ll have to go get the link for you and share it with you all because that is another way that people are doing this.

[00:01:05] And it’s like a questionnaire basically. You know, saying what type of industry you’re in, links, that kind of thing. And it actually allows you to submit it to open AI as like a source or a recommendation. So I’ll get that link for you and put it under this video when I’m finished. The other trend that I’m seeing is clients coming into sessions saying, I asked AI about this, or I talked to AI about this.

[00:01:28] So I’m seeing two things. I’m seeing therapists that are super curious about it and wanna engage with their clients about it. And then I’m seeing therapists, right? We’re not perfect that are getting defensive about it or, you know, um. up in arms that people are using ChatGPT for advice versus their therapeutic advice, which I think is like a really critical mistake that you would make as a therapist, because obviously people are gonna come and use AI all the time and they’re gonna be coming in and talking to you about it in a session.

[00:01:58] So I feel like if you’re gonna get defensive or feel like you’re being replaced by a chatbot, one you are, and two, it’s a real thing and people are gonna Be bringing this into the therapy room.

[00:02:09] and if you’re listening to this on the podcast, I’ve put down in the show notes seven things that you can do to normalize this, to talk about this behavior and help integrate it into the therapy room instead of trying to reject it or be defensive about somebody using ai.

[00:02:24] Because they’re going to, they’re already using it. I think OpenAI has over a million hits a year, like one point or a day, 1.5 million hits a day from people using it. And a lot of people are seeking like instant, quick advice from ChatGPT and other ai. So.

[00:02:41] What do I wanna talk about right, is one, normalizing their curiosity.

[00:02:47] Okay. So saying something like, it makes a lot of sense that you turn to ai, it’s fast, it’s private, it’s always available. Let’s look at what it gave you together. So integrating it in normalizing it. Of course you looked at it like you were in distress right Now. Why don’t we go over what it, what it said to you and kind of analyze the feedback it gave you.

[00:03:07] So approaching it that way, stay curious, not clinical at first. So, a way that you can talk about this or, or just stay curious about it, is what prompted you to ask that question or that topic. So it’s like an open-ended question, basically saying like, what was going on at that time that you thought you needed to ask.

[00:03:24] a chat bot about, advice or whatever they were asking about. So, learning what emotional need or cognitive process led them there and it helps you contextualize the role that the model is playing in their life is a clinical way to address that. To give you some ideas about it.

[00:03:39] Another thing is deconstruct the output that it gave you together there in the session. So doing it, you know, working through it together. Okay, it said this, Hmm, from my clinical perspective, maybe, you know, I would view it this way or that way and kind of deconstructing it together. So saying something like, let’s read that response and check out how it lands for you.

[00:04:00] What felt helpful? What felt off in the response that it gave you. So, kind of going through it together like that, deconstructing it.

[00:04:07] AI is like a feedback loop, right? So it gives you what it thinks you wanna hear based on what it already knows about you. So going over it with the client and saying, okay, is it just like kind of giving you like. A pat answer that it would give everybody, or do you think this is really taking into account the fact that you have childhood sexual abuse or you’ve got this or that going on, or you know, your husband’s an alcoholic or whatever, does, does this chat bot know all of those details to be able to give you this advice? So kind of going through it that way and holding up a mirror to say, let’s really look at this advice that it’s giving to you and analyze it a little bit from a clinical lens.

[00:04:43] Check for emotional residue. So how did it feel to read that? Were you encouraged? Did you feel dismissed? Did you feel confused by the answer? So kind of going and checking in with them to just like get like a, yeah, like an emotional check from it. Okay, you got this feedback. Now what? Now what are you gonna do with it? You’ve got nobody to like bounce it off of or process the information with. So kind of approaching it that way.

[00:05:07] Another thing that you could do is address attachment or dependence on AI gently. I firmly believe the next edition of the DSM whenever that is, we’re gonna see some sort of like AI dependency or addiction or something like that coming with this AI wave that we’re dealing with right now. I really. Expect to see that. I haven’t read any research on it, but I see it all over the place.

[00:05:32] People becoming more and more dependent on it. One, to think for them, two, to give them advice, three to like guide them through their lives. So doing kind of a reality check around. Okay. Nice that you’re using it for all of these different things, but what about trusting your gut or your own intuition or your own thought processes about it?

[00:05:52] Did you stop to like, just see how you feel about it or think about some of the tools that we’ve been working on that help you process things that are going on in your life. Did you try to do any of those tools first and sort of addressing that and assessing that and making sure that um, you know, our clients aren’t becoming dependent on AI to like run their lives basically.

[00:06:11] And then lastly, reaffirming your role as a human guide. So it’s saying something like, it’s great that you’re curious and exploring new tools. What we do here is still grounded in connection. Reflection in your lived experience. And basically, you know, we’re saying that’s not something AI can like intuit or know about or like hold that, knowledge that we have about our clients, like, oh yeah, but what about the time your grandmother did blah, blah blah. this situation reminds me of how you felt when your grandmother said that. Like that kind of thing. Like having that deep knowing and knowledge about our clients, that intimacy that we’ve learned them over, you know, all the time we spent with them and that sort of thing.

[00:06:51] And that we’ve got this like unique insight into what might be going on with them versus AI that’s sort of doing this surface-y kind of thing with them. So reaffirming that human connection and like, yeah, but I know you and you know, you and AI can’t. Possibly know the history of depth of everything that you’ve been through, all these experiences that have shaped who you are as a human, that kind of thing.

[00:07:13] Okay, so let me know what you think about that. Are your clients already coming to you and talking about AI in session? I really think approaching it from like a loving, authentic, Curious perspective is the way we need to handle this as clinicians. That’s just my opinion. Some of you might be like, hell no, I’m not going to talk about AI in my sessions, and you know, that’s up to you.

[00:07:34] But I just thought I would give you some tips, pointers on ways to handle it when it does come into sessions. I hope you find that helpful and let me know what you think. okay, talk to you later. Bye.