EFTA CONVERSATION: Family, Psychotherapy and Artificial Intelligence: The Elephant in the Room

With Alex Brailas

Artificial intelligence is rapidly entering everyday life and the relational worlds of families, clients, and therapists. While much of the public debate focuses on whether AI can replace human therapists, less attention has been given to how AI may already be reshaping therapeutic and family systems and relationships in more subtle or hidden ways.

In this discussion, we explore AI not as a tool or a threat per se, but as an inevitable relational presence that is already part of psychotherapeutic systems. Drawing on an exploratory qualitative study in which systemic family therapists interacted with AI in a simulated therapeutic encounter, we examine how AI can evoke experiences of empathy, validation, and reflection, while simultaneously lacking other critical psychotherapeutic affordances. We will also discuss how AI may begin to function as a new “third” within therapeutic and family systems, between client and therapist, within families, or even within the professional community itself.

Rather than offering definite answers or prescriptions, which currently do not exist, this discussion aims to invite collective reflection and dialogue. We will explore together how AI is already present, often implicitly, in therapy and family life, and how systemic thinking might help us navigate these new uncharted and murky waters.

Alex Brailas (PhD) is a psychologist, systems thinking practitioner and group psychotherapist. He works in academia teaching qualitative research methods in psychology. As a qualitative researcher, Alex integrates narrative, creative, multimodal, and appreciative approaches to explore how individuals and communities search for meaning and realize their difficulties, relationships, and hopes for the future. https://abrailas.github.io

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