{"id":101167724,"date":"2026-10-22T15:26:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-22T13:26:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/natashakohan.com\/is-it-true-that-ai-is-a-genuine-competitor-to-a-psychotherapist\/"},"modified":"2026-10-22T15:52:58","modified_gmt":"2026-10-22T13:52:58","slug":"is-it-true-that-ai-is-a-genuine-competitor-to-a-psychotherapist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/natashakohan.com\/en\/is-it-true-that-ai-is-a-genuine-competitor-to-a-psychotherapist\/","title":{"rendered":"Is it true that AI is a genuine competitor to a psychotherapist?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Every day, I see numerous posts on social media claiming that competition in the field of psychotherapy is extremely high. On one hand, I agree\u2014the number of psychologists is indeed growing rapidly. For instance, the Ukrainian Gestalt community\u2014the one I am most closely connected to\u2014is expanding at an incredible pace. When I first began my training as a Gestalt psychotherapist, the options for Level 1 and Level 2 programs were quite limited. Yet, just six years later, it seems to me that the number of such programs has increased significantly. This may be a subjective observation, but I notice how quickly therapists move on to train as supervisors, and subsequently as trainers. We all know the reason behind this, but the consequence is clear: ever-increasing competition.<\/p>\n\n

At the same time, the demand for psychotherapy services is growing. However, I see a clear imbalance between the scale of this emerging demand and the available supply. In my own subjective view, competition among psychologists is intensifying faster than the demand itself can develop. This may be why such competition feels so daunting.<\/p>\n\n

\"Is<\/figure>\n\n

The figures show that the demand for psychotherapy and psychological services is indeed growing every year. And this is hardly surprising. It is no longer just a matter of following a trend or seeking status\u2014as was the case until recently\u2014but rather a reflection of a genuine interest in self-discovery. Information has become practically accessible to everyone. It is no longer a mere guess, but established knowledge, that our feelings influence our behavior, and that automatic behavioral patterns can undermine things that are truly important to us. People want to live better, or at the very least, with greater peace of mind. Given the circumstances and the pace of life today, this has become something of an essential baseline.<\/p>\n\n

It is important to note here that the environment and circumstances play a more active role in shaping demand than the psychotherapists themselves do. However, to generate demand for psychotherapy, a psychotherapist must possess an entrepreneurial mindset.<\/p>\n\n

Who is a psychotherapist\u2019s real competitor?<\/h2>\n\n

When I talk about competition among psychologists, I believe it\u2019s not just our more successful and in-demand colleagues we need to worry about. Certainly, those who know how to put themselves out there\u2014selling their services in an active, bold way\u2014do capture a portion of the client base. Those who know how to generate demand and view their practice as a business tend to do well. It is true that such colleagues may, in a sense, take clients away from those who are less visible or less successful\u2014especially those who either don\u2019t know how to, are unable to, or are simply afraid to engage in active sales and maintain a public presence. But just how many clients can one psychologist actually take from another? Dozens? Hundreds? <\/p>\n\n

And what about the hundreds of thousands? Hundreds of thousands of potential clients don\u2019t visit social media, Google, or YouTube at all. A few might still go the traditional route\u2014visiting psychological centers\u2014but hundreds of thousands are turning to ChatGPT! And competing with that is definitely a challenge!<\/p>\n\n

Here are some statistics. It\u2019s a pity that such research isn\u2019t conducted in Ukraine, but here is what the American and British figures show. And these numbers simply astound me.<\/p>\n\n

The first figure that struck a chord with me was during a seminar on the new ethical framework from the British BACP community. The updated code of ethics, incidentally, specifically addresses AI. The speaker said that, according to research for 2025,<\/p>\n\n

How often do people choose AI as a psychotherapist?<\/h2>\n\n

Before we go any further, I\u2019ll leave a link here to my video where I explain the difference between a psychologist, a psychotherapist, and a psychiatrist\u2014just in case. This is an important distinction, because in this article, I am specifically talking about psychotherapists.<\/p>\n\n

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