Navigating a Brave New World: AI and Ethics in Therapy

As the digital age continues to reshape our lives, Ken Kelly's insightful article, “A Brave New World: Exploring the Ethical Frontier of AI in Therapy”, offers a timely guide for counsellors grappling with the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) in therapeutic practice.

Published in the National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society Counselling Matters, Therapy & Technology February 2025 edition, his article highlights the opportunities and ethical challenges AI presents for the counselling and psychotherapy professions. Ken invites practitioners to reflect on how algorithms, apps, and AI enhanced platforms are already shaping their work, often quietly, invisibly, and without sufficient ethical scrutiny.

Ken introduces a critical thinking matrix; a useful tool that encourages counsellors and psychotherapists to rigorously evaluate whether a tool or app meets essential ethical and legal standards in UK based practice. With categories spanning confidentiality, informed consent, bias, client autonomy, and technical reliability, the matrix supports practitioners to develop critical thinking skills and ethical reflexivity in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.

This article is a valuable resource for both tutors and learners, offering an effective teaching and learning resource with clear explanations, thought-provoking questions, and practical tools. It encourages practitioners to reflect on key ethical challenges, such as:

• How client data is managed by AI tools.
• Whether informed consent can be genuinely achieved when using complex technologies.
• The risk of AI depersonalising the human connection that underpins effective therapy.

In Ken's words, AI is not something to be feared, but neither should it be embraced blindly. His article provides a compelling case for cautious engagement ensuring that technological advancement never comes at the cost of client wellbeing or the therapeutic relationship.

Read the full article in the February 2025 edition of Counselling Matters, Therapy & Technology, published by the National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society.

Ken Kelly is the CEO and Co-Founder of Counselling Tutor and a qualified counsellor and clinical supervisor. He’s author of Basic Counselling Skills: A Student Guide and co-author of Online and Telephone Counselling: A Practitioner's Guide. Ken has a teaching qualification and worked as a lecturer. He specialises in outcome-based online learning.