By Wendy L. Patrick, Photo: Silvia/Pixabay, Psychology Today, September 29, 2023
Most people are familiar with the use of website chatbots to assist customers with questions that arise when navigating online, including activities like booking travel, researching issues, and other common virtual endeavors. But what about when an individual in crisis needs “someone” to talk to?
Researchers have already been actively exploring the use of artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots within digital mental health interventions. There has also been a recent increase in both the use and acceptance of chatbots to help survivors of abuse, disaster, and other calamities work through the painful consequences of trauma.
Confiding in an Artificial Confidant
Trauma victims experience a wide range of physical and emotional outcomes that can, fortunately, be improved through trauma-informed counseling and therapy within both an individual and group context. Most people envision trauma-informed care as involving a face-to-face session or a compassionate support group meeting with a circular gathering of other survivors. Yet a growing number of people are finding support from artificial counselors—to whom some of them feel more comfortable disclosing explosive, embarrassing, shameful, or other highly sensitive details, research explains.
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