Does an AI scribe help or hurt the therapeutic relationship?

Both, and the trade is worth naming. A psychiatrist said typing split their attention and the tool let them be present in a way they had not been. A therapist told NPR that the presence of AI can change what clients disclose. You get your eyes back. The client may give some of their words away. Which effect wins depends on how you ask.

What do clinicians gain?

Attention. Every clinician who has typed through a session knows the feeling of half-listening while getting the sentence down. One psychiatrist put it simply: having to split their attention to type meant not being present in the same way. Taking the keyboard out of the room gives that back.

What might clients lose?

Some openness. Therapy works because a person believes the room is private. A member of a psychology forum said they would think twice about attending if every session were recorded, and NPR followed a patient who felt the relationship break when she learned she had been recorded without consent.

Can you get the first without the second?

Often, yes. Ask before the first session, make declining easy, and let clients switch recording off at any time. One psychologist, once a client has agreed, does not keep pointing at the recorder, because calling attention to it every session is its own intrusion, and plans to ask again each year.

For clients who say no, dictate after the session instead. You keep the note. They keep the room.

What should I watch for?

Shorter answers than usual. A client glancing at the device. A question about where the recording goes. Any of these is a reason to stop and ask.

The short version

An AI scribe can give you your attention back and cost the client some of their openness. The practices that get the first without the second make recording a real choice. Solanto is being built for therapy practices to work recorded or dictated after the session, and Private Mode will keep the note on the device.

Solanto has not shipped yet. The price is on the page rather than behind a call, and early access is open: solanto.ai/pricing

Ask a colleague whether they look at the client or the screen. Then ask whether the client would say the same.