More Than 75% of Psychologists Say Patients Are Bringing AI Chatbot Use Into Therapy: APA Survey
The first large clinician-side dataset on consumer AI therapy use finds 39% of psychologists have seen patients self-diagnose via AI — and 36% report patients developing chatbot dependency. The APA's verdict: complement, not replacement.
The American Psychological Association has released one of the first large clinician-side datasets quantifying how patients actually use AI chatbots for mental health — and the picture is of a technology already woven deeply into care, with clinicians deeply ambivalent about it.
In the national survey of 1,242 licensed psychologists fielded in April 2026, more than 75% reported patients raising their AI use in therapy. 41% had seen patients use chatbots to reinforce coping skills; 39% had patients self-diagnose via AI; roughly a third reported patients using AI as treatment support or as an added "mental health professional."
Ambivalence, quantified
The survey's tension is its finding: 54% of psychologists are comfortable with some patient AI use, even as 93% hold concerns about specific use patterns. Alongside the survey, the APA published a guide urging that AI serve only as a complement to professional care — a positioning benchmark for employers, payers, and AI mental health startups alike.
The data lands amid an active regulatory storm: state bans on AI behavioral health in Illinois and Nevada, disclosure mandates in New York and Utah, and an FTC inquiry into chatbot makers. For the mental health tech industry, the APA numbers cut both ways — proof of enormous organic demand, and proof that the clinical community will not cede the question of safe use.
Reporting: Newswise syndication of the APA release, June 16, 2026 (survey fielded April 9-26, 2026).
Source
Original reporting: Newswise / APA ↗