“Why Can’t You Talk to Me the Way You Text Me?” Couples Therapy in the Age of AI
Therapist ConfidentialShow Notes
What happens when the “text me” is better than the actual me?
In this episode of Therapist Confidential, Travis Heath shares his experience with a couple who struggled to communicate face-to-face but seemed skilled at navigating disagreements at home. The difference? They were texting each other from separate rooms—and using ChatGPT to help craft responses. What initially struck Travis as troubling became an opportunity to question his own assumptions about communication, intimacy, and the role of AI in our relationships.
Can AI help us become more thoughtful, empathic communicators? Or are we outsourcing the difficult, imperfect work through which we learn to understand one another? And what happens when the person we encounter face-to-face doesn’t quite match the polished version we’ve come to know through text? Rather than offering easy answers, Travis explores the distinction between using AI as a tool for growth and allowing it to become a substitute for the very human work of relating.
Go Deeper
Podcast Episode: When a Bot Feels ‘Real’: A Therapist’s First-Hand Encounter With AI
Podcast Episode: The Assumptions We Never Question: Susan Heitler on Couples, Conflict, and Conventional Therapy
Article: Ammara Khalid on the Increasing Role of AI in Intimate Relationships
Article: Avoiding the Adverse Impact of Electronic Communication in Couples Therapy
Article: You, Your Therapist, and ChatGPT
The post “Why Can’t You Talk to Me the Way You Text Me?” Couples Therapy in the Age of AI appeared first on Psychotherapy.net.
More from Therapist Confidential
“In a dimensional approach, no person is left behind … no two people fit in exactly the same place.”
Who are you, really, underneath everything else? In this solo, Travis Heath questions a common assumption in therapy and everyday life: that a true, authentic self is waiting beneath our cultural expectations, family influences, and insecurities to be uncovered.
What do you say when a stranger in line at Universal Studios taps you on the shoulder and announces, “We all have a bet going — what are you?” Derrick Paladino, professor of counseling and department chair at Rollins College, has spent decades turning that question into “me-search.”
What if the goals we chase are quietly working against us? In this solo episode, host Travis Heath admits something that feels almost taboo for a therapist to say out loud: he thinks goals are overrated. He unpacks why the clients and grad students he works with so often hit a wall of “what’s next?” right after reaching a long-sought goal, why “achievement culture” quietly raises the bar until yesterday’s dream becomes today’s minimum expectation, and why chasing “more” may be the most dangerous goal of all.
What is a therapy session actually worth—and what makes it valuable?