A feminist perspective on therapy and AI

As a feminist therapist, I have spent many years working within therapeutic practice. I now find myself shifting from practising therapy exclusively to writing about it, bringing together my professional experience, theoretical understanding, and personal reflections on what therapy has become and how I respond to it. One of the most pressing contemporary questions concerns the relationship between artificial intelligence (AI) and psychotherapy.

My personal response to fast-developing AI is that, rather than asking whether AI should or could replace therapists, I believe the more meaningful question is how AI might reshape therapeutic practice through a feminist lens.

What is feminist therapy?

There has been extensive writing and analysis of feminism throughout history. At its core, feminism is a political movement led primarily by women that advocates for equality, justice, diversity, and inclusion. Many feminist traditions also emphasise the importance of caring for communities, respecting the natural world, and recognising the interconnectedness of all life.

Some feminist thinkers argue that these values resemble principles found in many Indigenous cultures, where cooperation, reciprocity, and stewardship of the environment have long been central. From this perspective, feminism can be seen not only as a movement for gender equality but also as a model for a more inclusive and sustainable society.

Feminist therapy builds on this, encouraging therapists to consider how wider social factors, such as gender, culture and inequality, can influence a person's experiences and well-being.

The role of AI in therapy

Science and technological developments can create an opportunity to reimagine therapy as something more collaborative, accessible, and responsive to the complexities of contemporary life. AI has the potential to contribute to this evolution, not by replacing the therapist but by extending the therapeutic process beyond the boundaries of a single session.

The most effective model is likely to be one of collaboration between AI and the therapist. People might use AI between sessions to journal, explore patterns of thought, practise coping strategies, or prepare questions for discussion. The therapist, in turn, brings what AI cannot: ethical judgement, emotional presence, relational understanding, and the capacity to interpret these experiences within the broader context of the client’s history, relationships, culture, and aspirations.

At the same time, AI might complement therapeutic work by providing psycho-education, increasing accessibility, and supporting reflection at any time of day. It can help people engage with concepts from multiple perspectives, encouraging them to think critically and creatively about the social, political, and cultural forces that shape psychological distress. This is particularly significant for clients whose identities and lived experiences are marginalised within dominant therapeutic narratives.

Potential benefits of AI in feminist therapy

In a nutshell, AI and therapeutic practice can join together as a supportive tool that enhances, rather than replaces, the expertise, ethical responsibility, and human connection provided by qualified mental health professionals.

Within a feminist approach to therapy, AI could:

Make hidden inequalities visible

Feminist thinking often asks questions like:

• Who has power?
• Who is excluded?
• Whose experiences are ignored?

AI can help answer these questions by analysing large amounts of data and revealing patterns of inequality. For example, AI might show that women are paid less than men in a company, that the ever-so-fast-growing online abuse is targeted more heavily at women, or that healthcare systems often overlook women’s symptoms and that many female-related problems remain misunderstood and unresolved, such as periods and the menopause.

Amplify marginalised voices

AI tools can expand access to information, facilitate language translation, support content creation, and enable broader participation in public debate. However, their potential to democratise knowledge and amplify marginalised voices depends on the values embedded in their design, governance, and use. This relies on AI systems being developed and implemented by individuals and institutions committed to principles such as equality, inclusion, fairness, and the recognition of diverse forms of knowledge.

The challenges of AI in practice

AI can also cause harm that must be monitored and challenged both now and in the long term. Key disadvantages of AI, and some of the harms it may cause, include:

Reinforcing gender bias

AI learns from existing data, which may reflect sexist stereotypes and unequal social structures.

Discrimination against marginalised groups

Bias can disproportionately affect women of colour, disabled women, LGBTQ+ people, migrants, and people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds.

Surveillance and control

AI-enabled monitoring, facial recognition, and data collection can threaten privacy and may be used to control behaviour or movement.

Loss of human care

In areas such as therapy, health, education, or social services, AI may reduce complex human experiences to data and weaken meaningful relationships.

Lack of accountability

It can be difficult to understand how an AI system reaches a decision or who is responsible when it causes harm.

Unequal access and digital exclusion

People without reliable technology, digital skills, or financial resources may be left behind.

Environmental costs

Training and operating AI systems can consume substantial energy and water, adding to environmental pressures.

Ultimately, AI does not appear to reflect a neutral phenomenon. It reflects the values, assumptions, and inequalities present in the societies that build and use it.

Where therapy, AI and feminism intersect

Rather than serving as a substitute for the therapeutic relationship, AI may serve as a complementary reflective space that enables continued dialogue, self-exploration, and meaning-making between sessions.

In this sense, AI has the potential to contribute to new ways of understanding psychotherapy, one in which therapeutic understanding is conceived not as something generated exclusively within the consulting room, but as a dynamic, ongoing, and relational process that unfolds across multiple contexts of engagement.

Such a perspective invites a reconsideration of the nature of therapeutic knowledge, the boundaries of the therapeutic relationship, and how psychological change may be supported through human and AI collaboration while preserving the centrality of the therapist.

On the other hand, the lack of transparency makes it difficult to understand how an AI system makes a decision, and AI can be used for scams, cyberattacks, impersonation, and surveillance, which can be seen as security threats. Reduced human contact can pose a problem. Using AI in care, education, or public services can weaken human relationships if it replaces rather than supports people.

AI can be compatible with therapeutic practice when it contributes to new ways of thinking about emotional distress and the therapeutic process. Its compatibility depends on its capacity to reduce bias and discrimination, incorporate diverse voices into its design and development, challenge stereotypes, promote equality and accessibility, protect vulnerable groups, and remain accountable to the people and communities it affects.

Within such a framework, AI should not be positioned as a replacement for the therapist. Instead, it can be used as a tool to support more inclusive, reflective, and socially/politically aware forms of therapeutic practice.