ChatCBT and the Illusion of Healing

Why AI Can't Replace Real Therapy

Lessons from the couch—except I’m not a psychoanalyst.

Instead, let me share something a wise friend told me after a brainspotting session. On the subject of ChatCBT, they said:

"You don’t solve trauma by answering questions."

I am a student of Gabor Maté, who reminds us that trauma isn’t what happened to you—it’s what happened inside you because of what happened to you. He also says that trauma is being overwhelmed without someone there to help you through it.

Trauma is relational. Healing happens in relationship.

That’s where ChatCBT—no matter how well-trained—falls short. Therapy isn’t just about asking the right questions or offering logical insights. Healing trauma involves co-regulation, a nervous system-to-nervous system connection that AI simply cannot replicate. This is why I so strongly believe in somatic therapy for trauma.

Trauma gets stored in the body, often below our conscious awareness. I was reminded of this during a somatic experiencing training when I unexpectedly had a flashback. Seeing a colleague standing over me transported me back to a childhood memory I hadn’t thought about in years. Thankfully, I had the tools and the support of my colleague to move through it.

Last year, during a neurodynamic breathwork session I explored a stuck feeling in my rib cage, where I uncovered its connection to my birth trauma. These were not experiences I could have processed alone—let alone with an algorithm.

If trauma is stored in the body and healed through connection, what happens when people turn to AI instead of humans for emotional support? I believe there are some issues that can start to be explored using logic and I also believe so many of our mental health issues have some element of interpersonal disconnect at their heart.

I’d love to hear your thoughts. Have you tried using ChatCBT for emotional processing? Did it help, or did something feel missing?