Project Type(s):
Population Health/Implementation, Training

AI is rapidly changing how people find mental health support—from commercial tools like ChatGPT and Claude offering counseling-like conversations, to AI-enabled apps that screen for depression and anxiety. When these tools fail, the consequences can be severe: AI may miss warning signs of crisis, give harmful advice, or mishandle sensitive data, often with little recourse for vulnerable users. Washington State lawmakers have begun to respond, passing legislation like House Bill 2225 which requires AI chatbots to disclose they aren’t human and to have protocols for identifying and responding to users expressing suicidal ideation. But mental health professionals and their associations have had little role in steering these policies or the development of technologies themselves, meaning the application of legislation lacks clarity and, in many cases, feasibility.

This project counters this barrier by equipping mental health professionals with foundational knowledge of AI technologies and practical pathways to policy advocacy. Practitioners will gain specialized knowledge of AI systems and their adaptation for commercial B2B and B2C mental health tools, developing frameworks to assess how said systems align with the values and evidence base of their practice—and the confidence to bring that expertise directly into policy and technology-design conversations.

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