If you saw something in the sky that you genuinely could not explain-something now officially categorized as an unidentified anomalous phenomena, or UAP-would you tell your therapist or psychiatrist? For many people, the honest answer is no. Not because they doubt their own perception, but because they worry about what might happen next. They fear being seen as unstable, having the experience reframed as a symptom, or having it documented in a way that could affect future care, employment, or credibility.
Two senior physicians who had read our first book, Rethinking Health Care Ethics (2018), noted that in their clinical work, they inescapably address many ethical problems, large and small, on the spot, in the course of providing patient care. They also observed, however, that the resident bioethicist cautioned, when presented with one of their typical problems, that it would take him days or even weeks to reach a proper solution.
Recently, an acquaintance of an acquaintance (let's call her Dina) heard that I was a therapist and an educator and asked if she could chat with me (she approved this write-up). She shared that she had discovered her therapist was using AI to partially conduct their sessions. While I won't go into how the issue came to light, Dina mentioned that she felt shock and anguish. She was terrified that her protected health information (PHI) and feelings were "out on the internet."