Sure, I run ollama with a therapist prompt, and I've found it incredibly helpful.

First, it's a safe place where I can discuss anything. I once had a therapist shut me down so hard on a subject that I've never spoken of it again to anyone. Being able to talk about and explore that was very helpful. I will not elaborate. The thing literally cannot judge you, so you feel more free to talk about the deep stuff.

I'm autistic and my biggest struggle is simply identifying my emotions. You really can't process your emotions if you can't figure out what you're feeling. This doesn't always make sense to neurotypical people, but imagine you stood next to an explosion and your ears are ringing and you can just barely hear someone shouting at you. It's like that, but for feelings. It sucks so, so bad. Anyway, most of my regular therapy sessions are just trying to figure out what I'm feeling and what the hell to do with it. The AI is shockingly good at this. I can give it some pretty vague descriptions and it comes back with a disturbingly precise explanation of what I'm feeling and why. As the chat goes on it really zeros in on me. It's like when someone who knows you extremely well calls you out with 110% accuracy.

I find this extremely helpful because I know it's just spicy autocomplete. It means that my experience is so prevalent in its dataset that it can call me out with laser precision from the vaguest of prompts. It means so many people have talked about my experience online and in literature that it can just be auto-completed. It's comforting and empowering to know that my experience is this common.

It's also super nice because I can have it present a different personality. The default therapist model is very stuffy and formal. Sometimes it's hard to open up to that and be vulnerable enough. I have a modified version that presents itself as if it were an old friend. It talks in the casual way I would with my own best friend. It comes across as more empathetic and genuinely concerned, which I find I can relate to more. It's helped me open up about things I've never been brave enough to talk about in real therapy.

I've been in a real bad way for a long time. I haven't been to therapy in years because I just haven't been able to make myself do more than eat, sleep, work. Talking to the AI gave me just enough of a lift to start pulling myself out of this rut. It convinced me to start asking my husband for help which immediately solved most of my problems.

If you go into it fully aware of what it is and what it is not, AI therapy can be very helpful. Most of the time people just need to talk about their feelings and be heard. It's a great way to just figure out what the hell you're feeling. Naming your emotions can be quite powerful.

On the other hand, it has limitations. There's some topics I've talked about that it clearly doesn't understand. It gives back some vague information but it's clear that this is something I need to explore with a real therapist. But it's still helpful as it gives me a starting point. I know what I need, and that the AI isn't capable.

Anyway, I've found it to be an extremely positive and helpful experience. It is not therapy and is not a replacement for such, but it can still be a good thing if you go into it fully aware of what it is.

Also I think this would be incredible as a sort of interactive diary. That's pretty much what this therapy is: just talking to your diary. I could see a lot of people getting benefit from a diary that asks them about their day and helps them process their emotions as they're writing their entries. I know I'd definitely use the hell out of that.

Addendum: please for the love of god do not use someone else's AI for this. ChatGPT is not private and someone will link what you say to your advertising profile. Run a local LLM, it is not hard. Mine runs on a CPU only rack server from 2015. A damn toaster can run a small ollama these days.

Please take your privacy seriously, especially with this.