Open help menu
On-Demand
Liftoff! Facilitating Successful Launch in Emerging Adults

Echo Chamber or Reflective Lens: AI, Psychotherapy, and Young Adult Mental Health

Molly Pachan, PhD
|

Information

Recorded

  • -

Learning Objectives

Participants will be able to:

  • Identify the at least 2 benefits and at least 2 risks of AI usage for mental health support in young adults.

  • Describe the risk of echo chambers in AI and generic psychotherapy.

  • Explain the concept of Reflective function as an umbrella term.

  • Identify and describe at least 2 ways to infuse mirroring into psychotherapy with AI as a support tool.

Educational Goal

The educational goal of this session is for participants to explore the promise and perils of AI use in young adults, address parallels with AI and psychotherapy, define ways psychotherapy can function in concert with AI to promote healthy functioning.

Description

This presentation explores how AI agents and therapy run a risk to become echo chambers for young adults, reinforcing existing beliefs without fostering growth. It advocates for time-limited, intensive, purpose-driven care that disrupts entrenched patterns and cultivates reflective function. Rooted in psychodynamic principles, reflective function enables young adults to understand themselves and others through mental states, promoting emotional regulation, identity development, and relational depth. In contrast to AI’s simulated empathy, psychotherapy offers a reflective lens that mirrors, challenges, and transforms. Reflective function is the antidote to echo chambers in a digitally saturated world.

Target Audience

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

Presenters

Molly Pachan, PhD
Dr. Pachan is a psychodynamic psychologist with specialties in the evaluation, conceptualization, and treatment of complex comorbid conditions. Her academic interests include the role of AI in mental healthcare, personality disorders, lifespan development, and intercultural psychology.