Don’t be turned off ChatGPT for personal work. It’s a powerful tool that can support you in your mental health work. There are many more issues and caveats not mentioned, so it’s important to consult with a therapist before you delve in.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you provide examples of prompts to use?
- “You are a therapist using Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction. Ask me about my social anxiety. I’d like some strategies to help keep me grounded.”
- “Tell me about different types of therapeutic approaches for depression. Provide evidence-based self-help and self-care strategies for depression”.
- “You are a therapist experienced in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. Ask me questions that will help me manage an urge to drink alcohol”.
- “You are an internal family systems therapist. Ask me some questions to help me assess the fears of [protector part]”.
- “You are a family therapist providing education to a parent. Help me come up with some ideas for a morning routine for my 15-year-old son who gets stuck using his PlayStation.”
Can you provide other general recommendations?
- Begin using ChatGPT with something you are familiar with about yourself that doesn’t pose a risk of triggering you.
- Consider the environment you’re in. Is it an appropriate time and place (eg: domestic violence).
- Asking ChatGPT direct therapeutic questions is better suited to those with experience in personal work.
- People beginning their personal work journey would more safely benefit from asking ChatGPT on how to ask better prompts.
- Before using ChatGPT, ask yourself whether you have the willingness, ability, capacity, and supports to enter this question and face the experience that might come from it.
- Don’t use ChatGPT for anything that carries a strong emotional charge. The risks can outweigh the benefits.
- Use ChatGPT’s responses as a guide only. Be mindful that ChatGPT can respond with unhelpful, harmful, or incorrect answers.
- You may need to ask ChatGPT questions in a different way. Educate yourself on using ChatGPT prompts – you can find useful tutorials on YouTube.
Learn more by chatting with me.
[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]Benefits of ChatGPT for Mental Health
ChatGPT can be extremely helpful for exploring new directions in personal work, discovering new depths, and approaching your work from different angles. Its usefulness depends on your awareness of artificial intelligence prompts, self and environmental awareness, understanding risk, knowledge of beneficial questions, as well as awareness of safety concerns (discussed later). It’s also extremely useful for carers and parents looking for new or structured support ideas.
ChatGPT Can’t Replace a Therapist
ChatGPT is not a replacement for a therapist. One of a therapist’s main jobs is using the therapist-client connection to create a space that supports you to feel safe, supported, dignified, inspired, and empowered. This is foundational to all good therapy. Research also suggests that up to 85% of positive outcomes in therapy are based on the relationship with the therapist.
Mental Health Risks and Limitations of ChatGPT
ChatGPT can’t take your history, understand your triggers, assess risk, use pacing, consider family dynamics, pick up on nuance, and navigate the plethora of complexities that therapists are trained for. Even if you have some experience in personal work, there’s also a risk of activating a previously unconscious part of yourself. You could re/experience trauma, grief, and attachment injuries without the support of a qualified therapist to support you and help get you unstuck.
How ChatGPT Can Reinforce Harmful Beliefs
Asking ChatGPT questions could also provide responses that reinforce harmful ideas. For example, asking ChatGPT how to manage your anxiety might reinforce the idea that the anxiety is ‘your problem’, where it’s actually caused by coercive control and invisible entrapments of an abusive partner.
Lack of Responsibility in Mental Health and Behaviour
You may ask questions focusing on managing another person’s behaviours, where it’s actually your own shame, resistance, judgements, expectations, and lack of responsibility that need work. You may also unwittingly reinforce an unconscious unhelpful belief, such looking to ‘fix’ yourself because, deep down, there’s a part of you that feels broken and not good enough.
Importance of Prompt Quality
ChatGPT only works as well as your prompts (aka questions). If you ask overly basic questions, you will likely receive an overly general response. Very careful thought and attention need to be considered in framing safe and helpful prompts.
Final Thought: Use With Care
Don’t be turned off ChatGPT for personal work. It’s a powerful tool that can support you in your mental health work. There are many more issues and caveats not mentioned, so it’s important to consult with a therapist before you delve in.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you provide examples of prompts to use?
- “You are a therapist using Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction. Ask me about my social anxiety. I’d like some strategies to help keep me grounded.”
- “Tell me about different types of therapeutic approaches for depression. Provide evidence-based self-help and self-care strategies for depression”.
- “You are a therapist experienced in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. Ask me questions that will help me manage an urge to drink alcohol”.
- “You are an internal family systems therapist. Ask me some questions to help me assess the fears of [protector part]”.
- “You are a family therapist providing education to a parent. Help me come up with some ideas for a morning routine for my 15-year-old son who gets stuck using his PlayStation.”
Can you provide other general recommendations?
- Begin using ChatGPT with something you are familiar with about yourself that doesn’t pose a risk of triggering you.
- Consider the environment you’re in. Is it an appropriate time and place (eg: domestic violence).
- Asking ChatGPT direct therapeutic questions is better suited to those with experience in personal work.
- People beginning their personal work journey would more safely benefit from asking ChatGPT on how to ask better prompts.
- Before using ChatGPT, ask yourself whether you have the willingness, ability, capacity, and supports to enter this question and face the experience that might come from it.
- Don’t use ChatGPT for anything that carries a strong emotional charge. The risks can outweigh the benefits.
- Use ChatGPT’s responses as a guide only. Be mindful that ChatGPT can respond with unhelpful, harmful, or incorrect answers.
- You may need to ask ChatGPT questions in a different way. Educate yourself on using ChatGPT prompts – you can find useful tutorials on YouTube.
Learn more by chatting with me.
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