"At the core of therapeutic healing lies something deceptively simple yet psychologically fundamental: the deep sense of knowing that another human being holds you in their mind. This "holding" is not just rational awareness that someone knows your name and background. It represents a bone-deep, visceral knowledge that you exist not just in a vacuum but within someone else's mind and heart-that they know you as an organic, evolving being, that your story is real, valid, and believable, and that you exist."
"More and more, people are turning to artificial intelligence (AI) and large language models (LLMs) for psychological support. The appeal is obvious: AI is always available, and seems nonjudgmental and empathic enough. Even paid versions cost significantly less than therapy, with no waiting lists. We hear horror stories about how it has driven people to psychologically dangerous places, with suicide being one of the outcomes."
Relational healing depends on the visceral knowledge that another human being carries an individual in their mind and heart, validating existence and narrative. Therapists hold clients beyond formal sessions, carrying their stories forward and thereby altering both client and therapist through sustained interpersonal presence. AI and LLMs offer accessibility, affordability, and apparent empathy, making them attractive options for psychological support for those without access to human therapy. AI lacks consciousness and ongoing subjective holding; interactions end when logged off, and AI cannot genuinely carry a person's story or provide the existential assurance of being known by another mind.
Read at Psychology Today
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