"It's like having that supervisor in the room": Examining AI as a reflective partner

Area of Science:

• Mental Health
• Clinical Psychology
• Health Informatics

Background:

• Reflective practice is crucial for high-quality therapy and clinician wellbeing.
• Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI), including large language models, offers novel methods for professional insight.
• Existing research has not fully explored GAI's role in supporting clinical reflection.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the unintended consequence of GAI clinical note-taking platforms in supporting reflective practice.
• To understand how mental health clinicians experience using GAI for reflection.
• To identify the specific ways GAI platforms facilitate or hinder reflective processes.

Main Methods:

• Conducted semi-structured interviews with 17 mental health clinicians.
• Analyzed interview data using a grounded theory approach.
• Focused on clinicians' experiences with GAI clinical note-taking platforms.

Main Results:

• Clinicians reported GAI platforms acting as reflective partners.
• AI tools provided alternative clinical interpretations and clarified existing practices.
• Platforms created space for clinicians to be more present during therapy sessions.

Conclusions:

• AI note-taking platforms offer a feasible and scalable method to support clinician reflective practice.
• Findings have implications for clinical training and professional development.
• Further research is needed on AI tools for enhancing reflective practice.