Fixing My Brain with Automated Therapy

Sources:
The Distance Cure (Hannah Zeavin, 2021)
Computing Machinery and Intelligence (Alan Turing, 1950)

Visual Media Used: Eliza, UnearthU, Reflectly, Bloom, Youper, MoodMission, “Hour of Power”

Music Used (Chronologically): Mii Plaza (Wii), The Star-Spangled Banner, Instrument of Surrender (Disco Elysium), Consideration (Eliza), Daily Rituals, UnearthU (UnearthU), Determination, Unease, Jealousy (Eliza), Graydo (Stealth Inc. 2), Sentient (Gavin Luke), No Biscuits for a Bad Dog (Jerry Lacey), The Triumphant Return to Earth (Kilian Flowers)

Description Credit: "The Sunset and the Purple-Flowered Tree" by Joshua Jennifer Espinoza

Additional footage provided by Getty
Additional music and sound effects provided by Epidemic Sound

[tiggerbiggo]

"Rather than figuring out how to make a computer therapist act most like a human, automated therapy has instead chosen the psychological approach that makes a human most resemble a computer"

Holy fucking shit you're good at this.

[imabrokenglowstick]

“i also can’t help but notice how many of these apps boast productivity as one of their major sources of personal growth. it’s not a terrible goal, but productivity alone does not make you happier or healthier or more emotionally regulated. it does, however, make you a better *worker.”*
holy shit, dude. i wanted to drop to my fucking knees at that line

[TheStardustConspiracy]

“I cannot tell you to simply breathe to relax when the air you breathe maybe poison” I feel like this words perfectly describes our present and the upcoming demand for mental health care.

[SilvarusLupus]

"Wake up to a sunrise." Bruh I don't get home until 11pm, you aren't getting me out of bed until 9 am lol CBT has always struck me as the "rise and grind" mindset of therapy.

[pgakt]

9:17, as someone with psychosis that includes scary paranoid delusions “everything you can imagine is real” is really not what I want to hear from a mental health app omg

[meghanpfeiffer]

The reason Chad Varah started the hotline is very interesting:
"Varah began to understand the problems facing the suicidal when he was taking a funeral as an assistant curate in 1935, his first church service, for a fourteen-year-old girl who had taken her own life because she had begun to menstruate and feared that she had a sexually transmitted disease. He later said "Little girl, I didn't know you, but you have changed the rest of my life for good." He vowed at that time to encourage sex education, and to help people who were contemplating suicide and had nowhere to turn."

[geordiekennedy]

Hey! I'm getting my masters right now in mental health counseling and tonight I led a discussion in my practicum class about app companions for treatment. I just wanted to let you know that your video came up and really invigorated the room. Your work is doing great things, and I wanted to thank you. In some small way you have enriched the future of the counseling field.

[eveedanielle]

I disengaged with CBT when I was asked to write a list of why flashing lights might be able to hurt me, and why this was probably not the case. I’m often fully rational in my panic, I’m aware that over stimulation cannot physically hurt me, but cannot control the fact that it is simply too much for me. At no point was it ever discussed that my ability to work through over stimulation might not be fully fixed by reframing or reasoning, but that it might have an underlying cause.

[bongjesus]

No matter how hard I try, I will never disassociate the acronym CBT from cock and ball torture. Thanks for the CBT recommendations Jacob

[camit]

I'm not even kidding, I had a therapy consultation booked for today, was terrified out of my mind about it, considered cancelling it because I've never been to therapy before and the thought of talking about my feelings with a stranger makes me want to shrivel up and die, and then you uploaded this video. I did the consultation. Your videos are great, keep it up!

[domm]

Brilliant commentary on CBT and "pull yourself up by your own boot straps". I've just finished dealing with an abysmal psychiatrist who refuses to recognise trauma and a family genetic history of anxiety and depression ....going straight to the "you need to just think yourself better" talk, as if the other factors didn't exist. Self help and thought changing alone is often not enough when it comes to complex problems.

[byereality]

"learn to knit, crochet, and sew"
Me, listening to this while sewing together a dress to go with the cardigan I crocheted: looks into the camera like I'm on the office and points out the growing number of antidepressants my physician keeps prescribing since I can't afford therapy

[BoxPossum]

He just speedrunned therapy glitchless 100% category. Man's a legend

[IrishCaesar]

Hey! Fun fact, my dad is Lawrence Murphy, the first person to do online therapy, and has spent the past 20 years working on the ethics and considerations. He used to get laughed out of conventions or have people storm off during his presentations, showed em now eh

[MrKfiat]

I appreciate the critical analysis of CBT. This is exactly why a GOOD therapist will be dynamic and use a combination of methods. For example, using talk therapy to delve deeper into the root cause of symptoms while also discussing coping and reframing tools. IMO, sticking to only to one style of therapy without any flexibility is usually not helpful.

[alexjeffrey]

there are two types of commenter in this world:
1. I need help, I'm drowning trying to manage my life and cannot afford therapy. This video really struck a chord.
2. cock and ball torture lmao

[YakYo]

I would like to personally congratulate you on looking the audience dead in the eye and saying CBT without missing a beat

[miserablepile]

I am feeling: PRETTY GOOD about: A NEW JACOB GELLER VIDEO RELEASE, and I am feeling: HAPPY about this

[braveasanoun]

CBT has been hilariously ineffective for me. I do not know why I was put into it, but I was put into it after a psychiatric stay. In my experience it felt like someone telling me all my issues are just in my head and I need to learn to get over it.

[remyrot]

when i was younger i received cognitive behavioural therapy and not only did it not help me, it made me worse. everyone around me treated CBT like it was a perfect be-all-end-all solution, so when it didn't work for me i came to the conclusion i was broken and beyond the help of therapy. in my experience it was very "oh you're anxious? have you tried calming down?" and "oh you don't know how to connect with your peers? have you tried talking to them?" just so condescending and completely failed to address the underlying issues. breathing exercises are nice but what's the point if we're not going to address or resolve _why_ i'm anxious in the first place? i was so relieved the first time i heard someone say, hey actually, CBT doesn't work sometimes. depending on what you're going to therapy for, sometimes it actually hurts more than it helps

of course it's proven to be very beneficial for a lot of people and that's why it's still used so widely. but i have to admit i always feel a satisfying sense of vindication every time i see CBT criticised