Black Dog Institute’s Post

💡 Ever wondered how AI could help psychology research? Hey everyone! 👋 I recently wrapped up a solo project I’m really proud of: a "Therapist Agent" app. I built it to help a psychologist friend with her thesis, creating an AI-powered tool that can simulate therapist-patient conversations. It’s been a fun mix of tech, psychology, and problem-solving. The app helps: ● Test and explore therapy techniques safely ● Support research with realistic, interactive simulations ● Make psychological studies more practical and hands-on 💻 I’m attaching the link here so you can try it out yourself!👉🏼 [https://lnkd.in/dNwV_QwD] Feel free to reach out in the comments with: ● Suggestions or ideas for improvements ● Thoughts on potential additions or enhancements ● Compliments, because those are always welcome 😄 Working on this reminded me how much tech can actually support mental health research, and how a little curiosity + collaboration can lead to something meaningful. #MentalHealthTech #AIinPsychology #TherapistAgent #SoloProject #GIAIC #Innovation #DigitalHealth #Collaboration

PhD Update: Tackling 10,000+ articles with AI! My systematic review on early childhood mental health (0–5 years) brought in over 10,000 articles! However, keeping the search broad ensured I didn’t miss any potentially relevant studies. To tackle this challenge, I turned to ASReview, a machine learning-assisted tool that prioritizes the most relevant studies first. Using the SAFE procedure, I’ve been able to streamline the process, saving countless hours while maintaining rigor and thoroughness. After finishing the screening with ASReview, I’m excited to dive into full-text screening: one step closer to synthesizing evidence that could improve early recognition and prevention of mental health problems in young children. Interested in learning more? You can check out my review protocol (https://lnkd.in/eV4FQg_B) or explore the SAFE procedure of ASReview (https://lnkd.in/eqe9zphS). #PhDLife #SystematicReview #EarlyChildhoodMentalHealth #ASReview

Mental health is more important than ever. As we see more children turning to AI for comfort and support, we need to ensure these platforms will help them. KQED's Marlena Jackson-Retondo wrote a thoughtful piece about these chatbots. The article highlights the incredible work that Alongside is doing with its clinically-designed platform, which is used by more than 200 schools. Read about the work being done by Elsa Friis, PhD MSGH, Anish Mehta, Jay Goyal and the Alongside team. https://lnkd.in/e3FB64wK

I’m happy to introduce our latest work preprint: When Can We Trust LLMs in Mental Health? Large-Scale Benchmarks for Reliable LLM Evaluation. Elahe Rahimi, Md Tahmid Rahman Laskar, Jimmy Huang, Frank Rudzicz, and Elham Dolatabadi LLMs can sound supportive—but when are they actually reliable in mental-health contexts? We conducted a human-grounded evaluation to demonstrate when LLMs align with human evaluations. We introduce: ➡️ MentalBench–100k Benchmark: A collection of all up-to-date publicly available therapeutic conversations, creating a benchmark of 10,000 context–response dialogues and replies generated by nine diverse LLMs (Total of 100K). ➡️ MentalAlign-70k Benchmark: We propose a novel two clinically meaningful scores—Cognitive Support (CSS) and Affective Resonance (ARS)—validated by human experts against four LLM judges across 70,000 ratings, spanning seven therapeutic attributes. ➡️  Affective–Cognitive Agreement Framework: We propose a statistical framework based on a three-pillar reliability lens (consistency, agreement, bias), providing evidence-based guidance on reliability for mental health AI systems. 📄 Preprint: https://lnkd.in/g4ThhkrZ 💻 Code: https://lnkd.in/gBTQNGry 📚 Dataset: https://lnkd.in/gNcKAJQF #MentalHealth #AITherapist #LLM #ResponsibleAI #HumanEvaluation #Safety #Evaluation #Benchmarks

I know and understand that many mental health professionals are already growing fatigued by talking about the use of AI in our work and that many others are already feeling that they have missed the bus with new technologies coming into our field. But from December 2025, the new professional competencies for psychologists come into effect, with digital competence being a key overarching area, so whether we like it or not, technology is changing how we practice, and staying informed is not optional. Our newest course, Getting Started with AI for Psychologists, offers a practical and ethical introduction to using AI in clinical and administrative work. Facilitated by David Lopis, Psychologist, Board-Approved Supervisor, and Director of Psychology Squared, this course draws on his extensive experience teaching hundreds of clinicians how to integrate AI tools into their everyday practice. David also leads one of Australia’s largest online groups for psychologists interested in AI and believes that understanding these tools enhances our ability to support our clients. 💻 Access the course now via the Succoris Academy: https://lnkd.in/ggN_tEBj This course is included in both our CPD Yearly Membership and Clinical Registrar Program. Let’s lead the way in shaping a digitally competent, future-ready profession.

I know and understand that many mental health professionals are already growing fatigued by talking about the use of AI in our work and that many others are already feeling that they have missed the bus with new technologies coming into our field. But from December 2025, the new professional competencies for psychologists come into effect, with digital competence being a key overarching area, so whether we like it or not, technology is changing how we practice, and staying informed is not optional. Our newest course, Getting Started with AI for Psychologists, offers a practical and ethical introduction to using AI in clinical and administrative work. Facilitated by David Lopis, Psychologist, Board-Approved Supervisor, and Director of Psychology Squared, this course draws on his extensive experience teaching hundreds of clinicians how to integrate AI tools into their everyday practice. David also leads one of Australia’s largest online groups for psychologists interested in AI and believes that understanding these tools enhances our ability to support our clients. 💻 Access the course now via the Succoris Academy: https://lnkd.in/ggN_tEBj This course is included in both our CPD Yearly Membership and Clinical Registrar Program. Let’s lead the way in shaping a digitally competent, future-ready profession.

Generative AI could be transformative in mental health care. Generative artificial intelligence could be a powerful tool in mental health care, says a new study led by Illinois social work professor Cortney VanHook. The technology can empower professionals in identifying access barriers frequently experienced by diverse populations and creating tailored treatments that improve patients’ outcomes, according to the research. Read more: https://lnkd.in/gVE7MKdW

It feels quietly special to be listed on Dr. Rachel Wood, PhD Clinical Directory on AI Mental Health Collective among clinicians who value ethical, reflective, evidence-based care. ❤️ As a therapist building at the intersection of mental health, technology, and ethics, I often return to one question: Can innovation still be intimate? 💯 AI is rapidly entering the mental health space. But if we don’t pause to ask what “ethical” means in this context, we risk creating care that’s efficient, but not empathetic. 🌱 👉 Ethical AI, to me, means building tools that listen more than they assume, protect dignity before data, and amplify the therapist’s work instead of replacing it. We don’t need faster answers. We need safer ones. What does it mean for you? If you're in the field of AI & Mental Health, I'm listening 🙌 #aimentalhealth #mentalhealth #psychology #therapy

For our SIH Problem Statement 1, My Team - AKILESH D,Dharineesh T K,Dharshini Mohan,Kishore K and Ananias Remo build a AI based Mental Health Support system They say “Your idea isn’t good enough if you can’t explain it in a single sentence.” Here’s ours 👇 💡 We built a tool to connect college students "CLOSER" to mental health support through AI. Check out our prototype: https://lnkd.in/gjw8aSSR #SmartIndiaHackathon #MentalHealth #AIForGood #Innovation #StudentWellbeing #TechForChange I would like to thank the team for such an awesome experience.Win or Lose it taught me how powerful it can be when you focus as a group against a common cause.

Mental health support has become one of the leading reasons people turn to chatbots, according to a Harvard Business Review study. In China, nearly half of young people surveyed reported discussing their mental health with an AI chatbot. With youth mental health challenges on the rise, Chinese startups and major tech companies are moving quickly to respond. Platforms such as Good Mood AI Companion, Lovelogic, and PsychSnail are now officially registered in China’s AI database, while mental health-focused companies like KnowYourself and Jiandanxinli are integrating new AI tools to meet growing demand.