A few months ago, a client asked me if I was worried about artificial intelligence taking over my job. She’d seen a viral clip of an AI therapist and felt unsettled.
“How can a machine understand trauma?” she asked.

It’s a fair question, and one I hear more often as tools like ChatGPT, therapy bots, and wellness apps make headlines.

As a licensed therapist and founder of Your Space To Heal and CogAI, I’ll be clear:
AI isn’t here to replace your therapist. But it can help you breathe easier, offload mental clutter, and reduce burnout when used wisely and ethically.

**What AI Can (and Can’t) Do for Mental Wellness**

AI doesn’t “feel” like a human, but it can support your emotional wellbeing.

Today’s AI tools can:

Prompt helpful journaling and reflection.
Send calming reminders or mindfulness cues.
Track emotional patterns over time.
Reduce admin burdens for therapists and wellness professionals.

According to the American Psychological Association, nearly 1 in 4 Americans used a mental health app in 2023, and usage is climbing.
But tools are only as good as the frameworks guiding them.

At CogAI, we’re not building bots to analyze trauma or replace therapy. We create systems that restore capacity for high-performing professionals and clinicians. We protect the people who do the healing work because you can’t pour from an empty cup.

Let’s Talk Privacy, Ethics, and Power

The first question I get from both clients and clinicians is:
“Is it safe?”

And the truth is—safety isn’t just about HIPAA.
It’s about how, why, and for whom these tools were built.

Most AI platforms in the mental health space weren’t created by clinicians. Many aren’t trauma-informed, culturally responsive, or transparent about how data is collected and used. Some mimic care. Others blur the line between support and substitution.

At CogAI, we’re not building tools, we’re building standards.
We guide mental health professionals and organizations in how to integrate AI without compromising trust, ethics, or therapeutic integrity.

Before incorporating any AI-powered mental health tool, ask:

Does this protect client autonomy and consent?
Was this developed with clinical input or just commercial intent?
Does it support the therapeutic process, or try to perform it?

CogAI’s role is to keep care human-first.
We don’t replace therapy. We protect the space it holds.
We don’t reduce clinicians. We reduce burnout.
We don’t collect personal stories. We defend the right to share them safely.

Because AI should never diagnose your grief, analyze your trauma, or interrupt your healing.
It can support the process. But only people—regulated, rested, real people—can hold the weight of healing.

CogAI Supports the Ones Who Carry It All

CogAI is a collective that guides the ethical use of AI in mental health. Our mission is to help clinicians and psychiatrists integrate AI in ways that reduce burnout, protect capacity, and uphold the integrity of human connection.

We offer frameworks, education, and training to help therapists:

Offload repetitive, non-clinical tasks without compromising care.
Create clarity systems that reduce emotional overload.
Stay grounded in ethical, trauma-informed practice while exploring innovation.

Our mission isn’t automation.
It’s restoration.

Burnout among mental health professionals rose more than 20% from 2021 to 2023, according to the National Council for Mental Wellbeing. Often, it’s not the sessions that drain providers, it’s the invisible weight behind them.

That’s what we address: restoring time, capacity, and peace so people can show up as their best selves.

Try This: A Prompt for Clarity (No App Required)

Here’s a question I’ve offered to clients and colleagues alike:

“What part of my mind feels crowded? What can I offload right now?”

Say it aloud. Write it in your notes. Breathe with it.

It’s not therapy but it is a micro-intervention.
A moment of margin. A pattern interrupt. A reset.

That’s the kind of pause CogAI is designed to protect.

Calm in the Age of Code

AI is already part of the mental health landscape. The question is no longer if we’ll use it but how we use it responsibly.

At CogAI, we focus on guiding the ethical integration of AI into mental health practices. We build frameworks and training to help clinicians and organizations reduce burnout, maintain clinical standards, and protect the integrity of the therapeutic process.

Our position is clear:

AI should support, not simulate, care.
It should reduce strain on providers, not increase pressure or blur boundaries.
It must be implemented with clinical oversight, cultural awareness, and informed consent.

If you’re exploring AI in your work, do it intentionally. Set clear boundaries. Choose methods that protect both the provider and the client.

Mental health care must remain human-led. CogAI exists to ensure it stays that way.

Sources

American Psychological Association (2023): Mental Health App Usage Report
National Council for Mental Wellbeing (2023): Provider Burnout Trends

Elizabeth McCoy, LPC-S, is the founder of CogAI, an emerging leader in mental health innovation that equips licensed therapists with ethical, culturally responsive tools to integrate artificial intelligence into clinical spaces. With 10 years in the mental health field, Elizabeth created CogAI in response to the rising fear, confusion, and burnout among healthcare professionals facing rapid technological shifts. Her mission is clear: to protect the sacred work of therapy while training licensed practitioners to use AI ethically, confidently, and with cultural nuance. Through CogAI’s ambassador program, research-driven trainings, and boundary-setting tools, Elizabeth is redefining how technology supports—not replaces—emotional care.

Preparing for a big exam will always involve hard work, but it doesn’t have to feel so stressful that it becomes overwhelming. Often, how effective and enjoyable your revision sessions are will depend on the techniques you choose to use. While it’d be great to have artificial intelligence (AI) do all the learning for you, claiming the work of others as your own will be classed as unethical use of the technology – however, you can use it to create a great study plan that’ll help you to achieve top marks in your exams. In this guide, we share a few of the ways you can use AI to make revision a stress-free experience, whilst also ensuring you don’t break any educational rules.

Effective study schedules

When you’ve got lots on your to-do list, it can be hard to know where to begin. Ineffective time management can really hold you back from completing the bulk of your work – while knowing exactly what you need to do and when you need to do it can help to significantly simplify the learning process by breaking each task down into more manageable chunks. Many students use AI to create personalized schedules that analyze their academic performance and personal preferences to recommend the best times for focusing on specific subjects. AI can also be used to set up automatic study reminders and alerts, to ensure study sessions and important deadlines aren’t missed.

Helpful learning materials

We all learn in different ways, and the study techniques that work for your peers may not always be the best approach for you. By allowing AI access to your study materials like your textbooks and notes, and teaching it your individual learning style, you can have the technology present the content in a format that is easier for you to understand and digest. This could mean asking AI to present written content as a visual resource, such as in a mind map or flashcards, or the opposite – having visual aids summarized in writing. You could also ask AI to convert your written study materials into an audio recording, if you learn best through listening. This will help your revision materials feel more accessible, and will help you retain more information.

Virtual tutoring and instant feedback

Practice tests can be an effective study tool, particularly if you have a peer present who can ask you questions and give feedback on the answers to you. AI makes this process much easier; by acting as a tutor, it can create questions based on your learning materials and then provide you with instant answers and grades – so you can use this method even when you’re studying alone.

Putting theory into practice

Not every exam will be a written one, and some qualifications will require you to demonstrate your practical skills in the subject in order to be awarded a good grade. Unfortunately, many students don’t have access to the equipment and technology they need to practice these skills outside of the classroom, which can put them at a disadvantage. Even those taking written exams can benefit from having more practical, hands-on experience, as putting theory into practice is a great way to solidify your knowledge and help you retain more information.

With AI, you can use virtual reality platforms to simulate any situation in which you’ll need to apply your practical skills. While it may not be the real thing, having access to such a simulation – like a lab, for example – can help you to familiarize yourself with the environment prior to taking your practical exam.

Educational rules to consider

Generally, academic institutions require you to use AI in a way that assists your learning, but doesn’t do the work for you – by relying too heavily on the technology, you’re at risk of plagiarizing the work of others. This can lead to serious consequences, such as having your work disqualified or being expelled from your college, as well as various legal implications and fines for your institution.

To ensure you’re not breaking any educational rules, consider creating an Ethical AI Checklist that includes what needs to be done before you begin an assignment, while you’re working on it, and after you’ve submitted it. For example, it might involve checking that AI use is permitted by your college, ensuring your assignment is written in your own words, and citing AI usage correctly once your work is complete. By having each of these steps written down so that you can tick them off as you go, you can revise with the assurance that you’re using the technology in a way that is helpful, not harmful.

Emily is a student adviser with a passion for technology. She keeps up with the latest AI advancements to coach her students on how best to implement them into their studies. For more content from Emily visit studocu.com.

AI Isn’t Replacing Your Therapist—But It Might Help You Breathe Again By Elizabeth McCoy, LPC-S & Founder of Your Space To Heal & CogAI