Therapy Talk is back! Johanne speaks with psychologist and researcher Lea Schäfer about how AI is showing up in therapy – for clients, therapists, and the future of mental health care. They explore the promises, pitfalls, and ethical questions of bringing technology into the therapeutic space.

Full conversation here.

*The BDI (Beck Depression Inventory) was first published in 1961 by Dr. Aaron T. Beck.

LinkedIn

linkedin.com/in/lea-schäfer-1b3894103?originalSubdomain=de

ResearchGate

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Lea-Schaefer-10

Literature

Schäfer, L. M., Krause, T., & Köhler, S. (2025). Exploring user characteristics, motives, and expectations and the therapeutic alliance in the mental health conversational AI Clare®: a baseline study. Frontiers in Digital Health, 7, 1576135.

https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/digital-health/articles/10.3389/fdgth.2025.1576135/full

Schäfer, Lea Maria. "Künstliche Intelligenz als Dritte Instanz in der Psychotherapie: Wie eine sinnvolle Integration von Künstlicher Intelligenz in den psychotherapeutischen Binnenraum aussehen könnte". Was machen Digitalisierung und Künstliche Intelligenz mit der Psychotherapie?: Einwürfe und Provokationen, edited by Bert te Wildt, Gerhard Lauer and Robin Schmidt, Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter Oldenbourg, 2024, pp. 111-128. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111509341-007