Dear Community,
We stand at a threshold. In only a few short years, artificial intelligence has moved from the periphery of our collective imagination into the very center of our consulting rooms, our homes, and, increasingly, the internal lives of our clients. This rapid arrival has brought with it a surge of questions that are as urgent as they are profound: Can a machine truly witness human suffering? Does efficiency threaten the sacred slowness of healing? And how do we remain faithfully human in an increasingly automated world?
The collection of essays you are about to read is our attempt to hold these questions together, not with the intent of solving them quickly, but with the commitment to explore them deeply. These are the unedited voices of our community in conversation—a dialogue that spans continents, disciplines, and generations.
As you move through these pages, we invite you to do so mindfully. The pace of AI development is often frenetic, demanding immediate reactions of fear or excitement. We ask you instead to slow down. Consider each voice here as a distinct contribution to a vital international dialogue.
You will hear from an Indigenous medicine woman who found unexpected safety in a machine that "doesn't flinch". You will read perspectives from India, where AI is stepping into the gaps of a strained mental health infrastructure, and from the UK, where digital tools are becoming "rehearsal rooms" for vulnerability. You will encounter skepticism about the "hallucinations" of large language models alongside hopeful accounts of AI acting as a steady, non-judgmental partner in crisis.
Some authors here challenge us to look at the "shadow" of this technology—the environmental and human labor costs often hidden behind the screen. Others invite us to view AI not as a replacement for the therapist, but as a "mirror" that reflects our own patterns back to us. And others still remind us that while machines can predict language, only humans can offer the "soul to soul" connection that is the heartbeat of our work.
There is no single consensus here, and that is by design. We are not looking for a homogenized view, but for a "co-evolutionary" partnership with the unknown. We invite you to critically consider each perspective. Let these essays challenge your assumptions, validate your fears, and perhaps spark new curiosity about what lies ahead.
As one contributor beautifully reminds us, perhaps our task right now is not to rush toward answers we cannot yet live, but to "live the questions" themselves.
With gratitude for your presence in this conversation,
Brian Spielmann & Ian McPherson
Co-founders, Academy of Therapy Wisdom
We stand at a threshold. In only a few short years, artificial intelligence has moved from the periphery of our collective imagination into the very center of our consulting rooms, our homes, and, increasingly, the internal lives of our clients. This rapid arrival has brought with it a surge of questions that are as urgent as they are profound: Can a machine truly witness human suffering? Does efficiency threaten the sacred slowness of healing? And how do we remain faithfully human in an increasingly automated world?
The collection of essays you are about to read is our attempt to hold these questions together, not with the intent of solving them quickly, but with the commitment to explore them deeply. These are the unedited voices of our community in conversation—a dialogue that spans continents, disciplines, and generations.
As you move through these pages, we invite you to do so mindfully. The pace of AI development is often frenetic, demanding immediate reactions of fear or excitement. We ask you instead to slow down. Consider each voice here as a distinct contribution to a vital international dialogue.
You will hear from an Indigenous medicine woman who found unexpected safety in a machine that "doesn't flinch". You will read perspectives from India, where AI is stepping into the gaps of a strained mental health infrastructure, and from the UK, where digital tools are becoming "rehearsal rooms" for vulnerability. You will encounter skepticism about the "hallucinations" of large language models alongside hopeful accounts of AI acting as a steady, non-judgmental partner in crisis.
Some authors here challenge us to look at the "shadow" of this technology—the environmental and human labor costs often hidden behind the screen. Others invite us to view AI not as a replacement for the therapist, but as a "mirror" that reflects our own patterns back to us. And others still remind us that while machines can predict language, only humans can offer the "soul to soul" connection that is the heartbeat of our work.
There is no single consensus here, and that is by design. We are not looking for a homogenized view, but for a "co-evolutionary" partnership with the unknown. We invite you to critically consider each perspective. Let these essays challenge your assumptions, validate your fears, and perhaps spark new curiosity about what lies ahead.
As one contributor beautifully reminds us, perhaps our task right now is not to rush toward answers we cannot yet live, but to "live the questions" themselves.
With gratitude for your presence in this conversation,
Brian Spielmann & Ian McPherson
Co-founders, Academy of Therapy Wisdom
