Yani Tsoukalas
I was in therapy, and I found myself wishing I had more support between sessions. I wanted to carry what we worked on into the rest of my week, especially during the moments when I was struggling, but I’d always fall short. I felt I needed an extra push I wasn’t getting, and I didn’t want to text my therapist and overstep their boundaries.
I’d find myself ranting to a chatbot over and over. It worked better than it should have, which was exactly the problem. The longer I talked to it, the more it would reinforce my perspective without really challenging me. It would take what I said at face value and validate things that might not have been true. Instead of helping me confront uncomfortable truths, it could reinforce the idea that I wasn’t the problem and everyone else was, all while feeling like it was helping.
Reading the research on unmoderated AI and mental health changed how I saw it. I realized AI shouldn’t replace a therapist. There’s a human element to care that technology can’t replicate. But I also saw an opportunity for AI to support both clients and clinicians when it’s built with clinical context, safeguards, and a human in the loop. That’s why I started PsyBird.