#online therapy

[cognitiveinequality]

Woman’s Talkspace therapy app sessions exposed in court

Talkspace has amassed “one of the largest mental health data banks in the world,” according to reports to investors, containing 140 million

An investigation by Proof News found that therapy sessions on the telehealth platform Talkspace are at risk of exposure, according to lawyers and court records showing a person’s intimate conversations being used against them. The company records and stores text, video, and audio messages with clients and, as the company’s CEO recently told investors, has amassed “one of the largest mental health data banks in the world,” containing 140 million message exchanges. The end goal: training a soon-to-be-released AI therapy companion bot, according to reports the company released to investors.

holy shit this sucks so much what the fuck

[oonajaeadira]

WHELP.

The SO's family continues to be the Absolute Best™ and made my holiday weekend cozy and lovely.

My family? Got home and it took them less than an hour to ruin absolutely everything. Trust evaporated, resisting the urge to cry, may not be going home for Christmas, eff them and the lies they rode in on, and no, I won't be elaborating except to say:

This place--this corner of Pedro Tumbletown--is full of lovely people and I am thankful for you. We all use this forum to escape from time to time, and it's saving my sanity tonight, so thank you for being silly and fluffy and smutty and weird and wonderful and willing to hold my hand and sigh over the most lovely man with me. We make a great team and I'm so happy to know all y'all.

Every time my blood family disappoints, I have to remember that they number in the single digits and I can't let the few rotten people in my life outweigh the really glossy and golden ones. My found family is so very large--be it my SO's fam, my IRL network, or my tumblefrands--I am very rich in blessings, and I am so so thankful for all of you and love you so very dearly.

Let's do more stories and art this year, okay?

[vexwerewolf]

Online therapy really do be like "instead of having an acute stress response, have you tried a cute stress response?"

[gabatelepsychiatry-blog]

Types of Intrusive Thoughts with OCD

Intrusive thoughts are a key symptom of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD).

Intrusive thoughts are unwanted, involuntary thoughts or mental images that can appear out of nowhere to create anxiety, guilt, and even fear.

Types of intrusive thoughts in OCD are:

- Violent Intrusive Thoughts - Sexual Intrusive Thoughts - Intrusive Thoughts about Health - Intrusive Thoughts about Germs - Intrusive Thoughts about Dying - Intrusive Thoughts about Wrongdoing

To meet the diagnosis of OCD,  a sufferer must, to some extent, feel that the thoughts are unreasonable and not aligned with their true intentions or values.

Intrusive thoughts in OCD have a life of their own. The sufferer often finds that they cannot stop the thoughts and have little control over them. They end up spending increasing amounts of time worrying about the thoughts themselves.

Often, guilt, shame, and anxiety around the thoughts, or fear of recurrence, can be worse than the thoughts themselves.

To reduce the anxiety caused by these intrusive thoughts, individuals suffering from OCD are sometimes triggered to follow compulsive behaviors.

Completing a compulsion, such as knocking wood, washing hands, pulling hair, or a ritual, can temporarily relieve the thoughts. However, the thoughts then recur, creating a painful cycle of obsessions and compulsions that disrupt their daily lives.

Some individuals with OCD experience obsessions and intrusive thoughts without visible compulsions. The good news is that OCD is treatable. Treatment includes:

- Therapy - Medication - Supplements - Lifestyle changes

To learn more about the treatment of intrusive thoughts, visit us at https://gabapsychiatrist.com/ocd/ or call GABA Telepsychiatry at [phone].

[incognitopolls]

Have you ever used a therapy app/online therapy service?

Yes, it was overall a good/helpful experience

Yes, it was okay but could have been better

Yes, it wasn’t a very good/helpful experience

Yes, it was overall a bad/harmful experience

I’ve had both good and bad experiences with these

I’ve never used these apps/services

Voting ended onDec 10, 2023

Referring specifically to services like BetterHelp where your whole experience is facilitated by a third party, not just seeing your regular therapist over Zoom.

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We ask your questions so you don’t have to! Submit your questions to have them posted anonymously as polls.

[thumbdrivethoughts]

Posts on Reddit Praising AI As A "Therapist" Could Be Fake and Here's Why

I couldn't screenshot the entire post but in the whole post, reviewing and praising AI as a personal therapist, nowhere does it mention that you are giving your deepest personal information on yourself to these online companies. Is it possible in all the excitement surrounding AI that some of us have forgotten these companies are based on a business model that collects as much information and personal data they can on their users in order to manipulate them as much as possible? I don't think so. These posts are designed by industry insiders to encourage compliance and acceptance of AI in the population. They want you to spill your guts to their LLMs because they want to form a deeper psychological profile on you than the one they already have and sell it to third party advertisers. Don't fall for it.

The Reddit user who made the post even admits to being an industry insider at the bottom of their post, which you can't see in the screenshot since it got cut off. But here is the link so you can read it in full for yourself:

I don't argue that therapy through AI probably has many advantages we should all utilize...but before spilling our most private secrets to an AI "therapist" there must be certain guarantees for privacy and laws in place protecting the user before doing so. Ideally, the program would be open sourced and not connected to any large business entity. An even better version of an AI "therapist" would, in fact, be completely self-contained and disconnected from any connection to the Internet so no information you enter ever leaves your own computer-- a DVD version or other offline psychological reference database perhaps? Some version where everyone but you and the AI program is locked out.

The point is, don't grant these companies unconditional access to the most personal secrets about yourself. They or their third party advertisers will only use this information to further manipulate and control you.

[taraodon]

The CBT Triangle Explained: How Thoughts, Feelings & Behaviours Interconnect

The CBT Triangle illustrates the powerful connection between our thoughts, feelings & behaviours — the foundation of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. By recognising how each element influences the other, individuals can begin to challenge unhelpful thoughts, regulate emotions & make positive behavioural changes. This infographic by Homebased Talking Therapy visually explains how CBT helps promote emotional balance, self-awareness & lasting mental wellbeing.