Short answer: most therapists say no. Help with the paperwork after the session is one thing. A tool that offers outlines, reminders and insights while the client is talking is another: it splits the therapist's attention and moves part of the clinical judgment to the software. If you use AI at all, keep it outside the session.

Therapists have been arguing about this since June, when a records system many of them use began marketing an AI assistant for the session itself. The marketing email, as one psychologist quoted it to colleagues, promised “outlines, key topics, live recaps, and additional insights during telehealth appointments.”

Where do therapists draw the line?

Not at AI itself. Plenty of the therapists in that conversation already use a note tool, or want one. The line is the session. One therapist credits a note tool with an extra client a day:

“Since I started using [a note tool] for progress notes I can see another client a day with the bandwidth I save.”

The same therapist called the in-session assistant terrifying, and said where it leads:

“We're being turned into plug and play technicians.”

Why does a sidebar in the session matter?

Because the session is the work. Another therapist pointed out that the feature has the clinician reading a sidebar and clicking during the session, and that clients already notice when a therapist's attention drifts to a screen. Some clients, they said,

“can see in the therapist's glasses reflection that they are using their computer”

A third therapist put the whole request in six words:

“Leave the thinking work to me”

It adds to a problem therapists already raise about recording: some clients say less when they know the session is captured, and a live assistant puts a second audience in the room.

Is an in-session assistant the same as an AI scribe?

No, and the difference matters when you choose a tool. A scribe listens so it can write the record; you read it, change it and sign it after the visit. An in-session assistant talks back while the visit is still happening. The first saves typing. The second competes for your attention.

What should I check before I turn on an AI feature in my records system?

1. Is it off by default, and can you switch it off for one client?

2. Does anything appear on your screen during the session?

3. Is your session audio or transcript used to train the vendor's model, even when it is de-identified?

4. Does the client consent to recording separately, and can they say no without losing anything?

5. Can you keep writing your own notes for the clients who decline?

Frequently asked questions

Do AI tools for therapists listen during the session?

Ambient note tools do: they record or transcribe the session and draft the note afterward. In-session assistants go further and put prompts on screen while the session is running. Some therapists write brief notes or dictate a summary after the session instead, so nothing listens at all.

Are in-session AI features optional?

The in-session features therapists discussed this year were sold as opt-in add-ons. Check your own settings and your client consent form, and switch off anything you do not use.

What will Solanto do with a therapy session?

Solanto will draft the note from the session for you to review, edit and sign. The clinical thinking stays yours, and Private Mode will keep the note on the device.

The short version

Most therapists draw the line at the session: help with the record, yes; a voice in the room, no. Solanto will draft the note for you to review and leave the thinking to you, in Cloud mode or in Private Mode, where the note never leaves your device.

The price is on the page, not behind a call. Early access is open: solanto.ai/pricing

Send this to a colleague who just got the email about an in-session assistant. Ask them where their line is.