How can therapists use AI to save time without losing the human touch that clients need most? Are you struggling to come up with some good prompts and want a few to get started with? How can we get involved in the AI conversation to shape how it serves our practices and clients?
In this podcast episode, Joe Sanok discusses 15 surprising ways to use AI in your counseling private practice.
Podcast Sponsor: JotPsych
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In This Podcast
* The biggest issue with AI? Perfection
* Client session and clinical work AI ideas
* Business-related practice management AI ideas
* Thinking strategically with AI
The biggest issue with AI? Perfection
One of the biggest problems with AI is that it’s too perfect. People can spot an AI email, they can spot an AI landing page. You need to have a person go through it, look at how you speak, and then train the AI to speak like you. (Joe Sanok)
You need to humanize the work that you create with AI, because it is too perfect.
No one naturally speaks or writes in the way AI does, so if you don’t change it, people can spot it a mile away. You can train your AI models to learn from your way of speaking.
Another thing you can do is to give a role to the AI that you want it to answer your question from. Is the AI a colleague, a client, another expert? Asking the AI to respond to your prompt or question with an assumed role is going to give it a tighter angle to respond in, which increases your chances of a more accurate answer.
Do you want [the AI] to act like an attorney in Michigan? Do you want it to act like an accountant? Do you want it to act like you? Giving it some context is really helpful. (Joe Sanok)
You can then take what you learn and verify it with a person who is an expert themselves in that field or industry.
Client session and clinical work AI ideas
1 – Turn bulleted notes into full soap notes.
Prompt: “Think like a licensed therapist writing soap notes for a [state]-based private practice … Turn these bullet points into professional, insurance-ready notes. Keep the notes consistent and the client identifiers removed.”
2 – Create treatment plans that will pass insurance audits.
Prompt: “Think like an IFS supervisor. Tell me what assumptions you’ll make … Write a treatment plan for a generalized anxiety disorder using CBT and mindfulness-based interventions with goals and expected outcomes.”
3 – Build client homework between sessions.
Prompt: “Think like a trauma-informed therapist specializing in self-compassion. Create five reflective journal prompts and three grounding exercises for a client processing trauma.”
4 – Summarize sessions for client followups.
Prompt: “Think like a compassionate therapist. Write a brief, strength-based summary for a client after session, include two reminders, one affirmation,
