I recently read an NPR article by Windsor Johnston about the rising use of AI tools in therapy practices. According her reporting many therapists now use these tools to record sessions, create transcripts, and draft notes, helping them spend less time on documentation. While this can cut down on administrative tasks, Johnston questions whether something valuable may be lost as technology takes on a larger role.
Here are the main points from the article:
- When technology changes the feel of a session: Johnston starts with the story of Molly Quinn, who noticed something unusual during a therapy appointment. Instead of taking notes, her therapist had an iPad set up to record the conversation. The experience left Quinn uncomfortable. “I felt completely violated,” she told NPR, adding that she later found a new therapist and requested that not to use AI in their conference.
- What these tools do: One company, Berries, records the conversation, transcribes it, and drafts a clinical note. The therapist can edit it, revise it, discard it, or save it to the medical record. Berries Co-CEO Tal Salman told NPR the tool is “designed to reduce administrative burden without interfering with the therapeutic experience itself.” Berries says audio is deleted after processing, transcripts sit on HIPAA-compliant U.S. servers, and therapy content is not used to train its models.
- Why therapists use them? For many clinicians, the biggest benefit is cutting down on documentation time. Kym Tolson, known online as “The Traveling Therapist,” estimates that therapists spend roughly 10 hours each week on administrative tasks, with much of that time devoted to writing notes. She uses AI tools in her own practice, although NPR notes that she is also a paid consultant for Berries.
- The privacy concer: Privacy remains a major concern for many. Experts interviewed by NPR point out that HIPAA compliance does not eliminate the risk of data breaches. Therapy sessions often contain highly personal information, making any recording especially sensitive. For some clients, that risk alone raises concerns about having their conversations captured and stored.
- Why consent matter? At the center of the discussion is a simple question: do clients know what is being recorded, and have they agreed to it? For Quinn, the problem went beyond the technology itself. She felt that a personal boundary had been crossed. Her experience highlights why transparency and clear consent remain such important parts of the conversation.
In the end, the article highlights two very different perspectives. For therapists, AI tools can ease the burden of paperwork and save valuable time. For some clients, they can make a private session feel less personal. Johnston suggests that much of the tension can be avoided with a simple practice: making sure clients are informed and agree before the technology is used.
Acknowledgement: This summary was generated using AI writing tools as part of my AI Explorations process. For more, see the original article listed below.