Psychotherapists have two main rivals: mood-altering substances and AI. I will address the main advantages and disadvantages of each rival.

Mood-altering substances like alcohol are cheap, readily available, and socially acceptable. They help a person feel better, less bad, or numb. Using them does not involve much risk of feeling ashamed or feeling like a failure. There is no self-disclosure or talking about troubling emotions.

Downside: Use may lead to addiction and ruin. Use as a coping method often has serious behavioral and physiological side-effects in the short-term. No real problems solved. 

AI is always available and free. AI has a vast amount of knowledge and can quickly provide both supportive statements and good advice. There is no human at the end who might judge; there is little risk of feeling ashamed or weak. AI is thought to be confidential. 

Downside: To be useful, AI requires thoughtful questions. Support is not from a human. AI misses nonverbal information from the person. AI generally does not give assignments and may not maintain continuity over a course of treatment. AI cannot take lifesaving actions in a crisis or refer a person to specialized treatment, e.g., placement in a psychiatric unit. 

For psychotherapists to compete effectively against these rivals, it must do what?

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez 🇨🇦 on Unsplash