12- VC Producing Therapist Farms, AI Therapists, and the Fight to Keep Real Care Alive

So, Now What?

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The ground under therapy is moving, and we’re naming what so many are feeling but few will say out loud: client flow is down, reimbursements are thin, and VC-backed platforms are reshaping care with opaque billing, captured copays, and fine print that rarely favors clinicians or clients. We trace how convenience becomes control—how credentialing shortcuts turn into lower rates, how private-pay “differences” quietly siphon value, and how the promise of access can mask a transfer of power away from the therapeutic relationship.
We also follow the data: reports of session notes and recordings used to train AI “therapists” raise serious questions about privacy, consent, and the soul of our work. AI can provide information, but it can’t offer attunement, repair, or the lived human presence that healing often requires. When platforms profit from data extracted in care, trust erodes—and without trust, therapy becomes a product instead of a practice. We talk about who carries the heaviest burden in this shift—clinicians of color, adult children of immigrants, and those without generational safety nets—and why that reality demands both honesty and solidarity.

From there, we get practical. If you’re able, consider contracting directly with insurers and keeping more of your value in your hands. If you’re private pay, get visible: build referral relationships, publish useful, specific content, pitch local media, and make your intake process simple. Protect your capacity with real routines, not leftover time. And remember our collective leverage: share rate benchmarks, demand transparent fees, push for clear consent around data use, and coordinate refusals of predatory contracts. We’re not powerless or obsolete; we’re under-organized and often too quiet. Let’s change that together.
If this resonates, follow the show, share with a colleague who needs a morale boost and a plan, and leave a review with one action you’re taking this week. Your voice helps others find honest, sustainable paths in a crowded, noisy landscape.

Credit to Caitlin Archibald, MS, LPC, ACS for providing information about VC's and complaints filed against them.

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فصول

1. 12- VC Producing Therapist Farms, AI Therapists, and the Fight to Keep Real Care Alive (00:00:00)

2. Facing a Changing Therapy Landscape (00:00:01)

3. Fears About Job Security and AI (00:00:31)

4. Declining Referrals and VC Priority (00:00:58)

5. Burnout and Data Concerns (00:02:05)

6. How VC Platforms Cut Therapist Pay (00:03:11)

7. Lack of Transparency and Burnout Cycle (00:04:14)

8. Ethics Violations Across Major Platforms (00:05:17)

9. Data Use and AI Training Risks (00:07:05)

10. Uncertainty and What We Can Control (00:08:18)

11. Naming the Money-First System and Inequity (00:09:04)

12. From Apathy to Actionable Hope (00:10:22)

13. Protecting Routines and Capacity (00:11:04)

14. Choosing Values Over Martyrdom (00:12:01)

15. Practical Resistance: Panel Independently (00:12:53)

16. If Private Pay: Get Visible and Network (00:14:13)

17. Being Forward-Facing vs Hiding (00:15:21)

18. The Cost of Avoiding Business Work (00:16:09)

19. AI Is Not Therapy (00:16:36)

20. Courage, Adaptability, and Solidarity (00:16:53)

21. Personal Accountability and Next Steps (00:17:25)