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In Person
Innovations in Mental Health Conference in Minnesota

Algorithms that Listen: Navigating AI, Chatbots & Mental Health

Brent Nelson, MD
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Date & Time

Location

Description

This presentation offers a clear, plain-language overview of the rapidly evolving role of AI, machine learning, and chatbots within the mental health landscape. Dr. Brent G. Nelson explores the "bright spots" of AI, such as care-team efficiency and improved access to support, while providing a necessary deep dive into documented harms and failure modes like "hallucinations" and crisis-handling gaps. Participants will walk away with a practical toolkit of ten essential guardrails and an organizational checklist to ensure that AI serves as a responsible augment to, rather than a replacement for, the crucial human-to-human therapeutic relationship.

Learning Objectives

Participants will be able to:

  • Identify the four primary categories of AI currently utilized in mental health: conversational agents, risk/decision-support models, ambient documentation aids, and well-being/CBT micro-interventions.

  • Evaluate documented ethical and clinical risks associated with Large Language Models (LLMs), including hallucinations, sycophancy, and gaps in managing crisis situations like self-harm.

  • Implement a framework of ten essential guardrails for responsible AI use, prioritizing human-in-the-loop clinical decision-making and default routing to the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

Educational Goal

The educational goal of this workshop is for participants to develop a practical toolkit of ten essential guardrails and an organizational checklist to ensure that AI serves as a responsible augment to, rather than a replacement for, the crucial human-to-human therapeutic relationship.

Target Audience

  • Addiction Professional
  • Counselor
  • Marriage & Family Therapist
  • Psychologist
  • Social Worker

Presenters

Brent Nelson, MD
Dr. Nelson works across Newport Healthcare's inpatient, residential and outpatient programs, identifying opportunities to build leading-edge solutions that advance exceptional clinical care, strengthen operational efficiency, and support long-term financial performance. He previously served as Newport's Chief Medical Information Officer and led the Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) program at our PrairieCare division in Minnesota. Dr. Nelson brings a background in both clinical practice and technology-driven innovation: He spent nine years in software development before earning his medical degree at the University of Minnesota, where he completed a general psychiatry residency and a clinical research fellowship in neuromodulation. After graduating, he served as Executive Director of the TMS program at the University of Minnesota and Minneapolis VA Medical Center. Dr. Nelson is active in treatment advocacy, working to improve access to novel therapies for those on public and low-income medical plans.

Financially Sponsored By

  • Newport Healthcare