https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fd1Zld2xke0&t=147s

The relevance of general semantics to the practice of psychotherapy is clear to anyone who is familiar with its central principles. From Korzybski’s Science and Sanity to the later writings and professional practice of such scholars as Wendell Johnson (People in Quandaries) and Albert Ellis (A Guide to Rational Living), the potential for general semantics to provide a roadmap to improved mental health has been well established. This is a particularly interesting time to revisit the connections between general semantics and psychotherapy. The semantic environment of psychotherapy was transformed by the covid-era transition to virtual modalities in place of the traditional in-person model; many patients and practitioners have chosen not to return fully, or at all, to in-person sessions. Self-help apps for mental health, mindfulness, and other aspects of wellness (such as Calm, Headspace, and Noom) have proliferated in recent years, as have online therapy services like TalkSpace. Nearly 60 years ago, Joseph Weizenbaum created ELIZA, a computer program that he designed to mimic a Rogerian therapist. To his surprise, users became deeply emotionally involved with the program, and many psychiatrists believed it could be developed into a complete replacement for psychotherapy. In Computer Power and Human Reason (1976), Weizenbaum argued that “there are certain tasks which computers ought not be made to do, independent of whether computers can be made to do them.” He maintained that “there are some things people come to know only as a consequence of having been treated as human beings by other human beings.” Given the extensive recent developments in AI for psychotherapy, how do Weizenbaum’s critiques hold up? What role should digital technologies play in the therapeutic experience? In this session, panelists Peter Costello and Lori Ramos discussed their work as psychotherapists and the way their work is informed by their academic training in media ecology and general semantics.