![\"\"](\"https:\/\/normanclaringbull.onplexaweb.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Fired-150x150.jpg\")
<\/p>\nWHO NEEDS HUMAN PSYCHOTHERAPISTS?<\/p>\n
There has been a lot of debate recently about the ways in which advanced technology is increasingly replacing people in all sorts of ways. Many practitioners in the talking therapies mistakenly believe that this won\u2019t happen to them. Therapy is all about building relationships they say, and that can\u2019t be done by machines. Wrong – it\u2019s already happening!<\/p>\n
Just go on-line and check out the many therapy apps that are already cheaply available. For now, most of them are CBT based but that is changing fast. There are lots of on-line therapy sites as well, some of which are not \u2018staffed\u2019 by humans at all. Perhaps you too work on-line? If, like me, you regularly provide on-line therapy via audio-visual software then your clients are already accustomed to relating to an on-screen therapist. It won\u2019t be long before super-computers can produce life-like artificial \u2018therapists to front algorithm-driven therapy websites. I doubt that most clients will even notice that their therapists have been replaced by computer-powered images. After all, machines can just as easily go, \u2018mmmm\u2019, \u2018uh-huh\u2019, or \u2018OK\u2019 as \u00a0we can. However, what clients certainly will notice is that on-line therapists are much cheaper than real ones and always instantly available, night and day.<\/p>\n
Lots of tasks that were assumed to need face-to-face, human interactions have already been given over to machines. Many such jobs are either under attack or already gone. Bank clerks, receptionists, ticket booking staff, insurance brokers, supermarket cashiers, travel agents, and many others are vanishing fast. Vehicle drivers will soon disappear, as will warehouse workers, many retail workers, and lots of factory workers. The professions too are under threat. Most futurologists predict the demise of accountants, lawyers, actuaries, and many other high-level jobs. It\u2019s already happening throughout these and many other high-level occupations. Take medical services for example. GPs are increasingly offering their patients on-line consultations, much of which doesn\u2019t necessitate any human intervention. It is even expected that a lot of routine surgery will eventually be carried out via intelligent automation, (and probably be the better for it). Clearly, no workers at any level, and that certainly includes psychotherapists and counsellors, have any guarantee of job security.<\/p>\n
So, that\u2019s the bad news. What can we do about it? Can we compete with the machines? Well yes, but only by offering something that the machines can\u2019t. Look around you. Lots of people increasingly value the authentic. Such people favour real ale, real bread, and real books. They prefer live music, fresh food, vinyl records, and, above all, personal service. In other words, people are prepared to pay for quality. Future therapists too will need to deliver a quality service if our profession is to survive as a human enterprise. At present, the quality of our profession is in a sorry state. Its status is diminished by having far too many poorly qualified and inadequately trained practitioners. We need to up our game. Our profession\u2019s future, if it has one, will probably lie in the hands of a new breed of highly-qualified, highly-skilled, properly regulated, practitioners. They will need to be well-educated professionally, (Masters level and beyond), and extremely competent practically, (structured post-graduate \u2018hands-on\u2019 training to nationally approved standards). Only practitioners who can deliver high quality, innovative therapy to a discerning public will survive. But of course, shouldn\u2019t that already be the case?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
WHO NEEDS HUMAN PSYCHOTHERAPISTS? There has been a lot of debate recently about the ways in which advanced technology is increasingly replacing people in all sorts of ways. Many practitioners in the talking therapies mistakenly believe that this won\u2019t happen to them. Therapy is all about building relationships they say, and that can\u2019t be done […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":515,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wpm_timeformat":"","_wpm_styles":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-514","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"yoast_head":"\n