>Think of a traumatic moment in your past, where you wish you could go back in time and comfort or offer yourself advice. Then imagine yourself stepping into the frame of your memory and giving your younger self the support you needed in that moment (but lacked). This might sound woo-woo, but the efficacy is documented.
This is how the Internal Family Systems psychology technique deals with past trauma and it has been around since the early 1980s. No AI required. To go that deep though, it helps to have a therapist trained in the technique to guide the process.
Yeah, I'm torn here because without a trained therapist supervising this technique can easily trigger a spiral.
But health care costs in the US are extraordinarily steep. Mental health care is often out-of-network, if it's covered at all.
I have a hunch that market demand for AI-guided "mental health wellness exercises" will out pace regulations or ethics. Calm would be the best example of this kind of demand. I wonder if they're talking about this internally, and what line is being drawn.
Therapist costs tend to be capped in a way most US medical care isn’t.
Seeing someone once a week without insurance is on the order of 3,000$ to 7,000$ per year depending on area. Not trivial, but something most people could budget for even if they seek treatment for much of their life.
It’s of course possible to spend more than that, especially in the short term. However, the major costs tend to be people being unable to work or take care of themselves rather than blockbuster drugs, emergency care, or surgery.
If you're upper-middle class or wealthier, I think you're right that the cost can be budgeted.
I just Googled the median US rent ($1,771). Based on that, if you frame the expense as an added 2 - 4 months rent per year, I'm guessing there are a lot of people forgoing therapy because the immediate cost is too high.
I wish I could choose where my taxes were allocated. I'd subsidize cost of therapy.
To really drive this home, one of my own memories is my mom (ashamed, embarrassed, depressed) asking to borrow money from me to pay our bills. I was 9. She had issues, I inherited a few, and I've only recently been able to drop 5-10 dimes on therapy each year to sort it out. Money well spent!
But I wonder how my mom would've fared if even an AI facsimile of therapy were available to her cheap, instead of other cheap coping mechanisms. Churches and drugs are the cheapest coping tools available in the US.
This is how the Internal Family Systems psychology technique deals with past trauma and it has been around since the early 1980s. No AI required. To go that deep though, it helps to have a therapist trained in the technique to guide the process.