Conversations about AI in therapy usually start and stop with documentation. This presentation picks up where the note-taking tools leave off, at the clinical reasoning itself: how MFTs are using AI to conceptualize cases, plan treatment, select interventions, and prepare client materials. In their March 2026 presentation, "The AI Your Clients Are Using: Clinical and Ethical Considerations", Drs. Jay Burke and Sofia Georgiadou looked at the AI clients bring into the room. This session will center the AI the clinician reaches for.
Drs. Burke and Georgiadou will draw on a national survey of licensed and pre-licensed MFTs to show what that use looks like in real practice, then turn to the questions it opens. When a therapist runs a case by an AI tool, who is shaping the formulation, and whose perspective may be missed? When the tool agrees with a working hypothesis, is that confirmation or just a mirror?
In systemic practice, these are relational questions related to the extended therapeutic alliance with multiple members of the client system. AI can change who holds expertise in the room, what the therapist treats as settled, and how consent and transparency work once a client's material has passed through a tool the client never sees. The session focuses on maintaining our systemic perspective and clinical judgment while acknowledging AI's potential and how AI is already being used in therapy practices.
Grounded in current peer-reviewed research, we aim to leave attendees with a clearer sense of how to use AI in clinical thinking without offloading the judgment our therapeutic work depends on.
1 CE is available with this training.
Presenters
Jay Burke, PhD, LMFT is Chair of the Marriage and Family Therapy Division at The Chicago School. He oversees the MA in Marriage, Couples, and Family Therapy and the PsyD in Marriage and Family Therapy across Southern California. His current focus is strengthening clinical training and helping faculty and students navigate real-world practice issues, including the use of AI tools. He serves on an institutional committee developing guidance for ethical AI use in higher education and co-leads his college's team in the AAC&U Institute on AI, Pedagogy, and the Curriculum. Dr. Burke presents nationally on clinical and ethical considerations related to AI in systemic therapy and previously served as Chair of AAMFT's Telehealth and Technology Interest Network.
Sofia Georgiadou, PhD, LMFT-Supervisor, LPC-Supervisor is an Associate Professor in UMass Global's online MFT/PCC Master's programs. She is also the owner of Dr. Sofia Consulting PLLC, where she provides clinical supervision in Texas and offers continuing education courses for therapists and supervisors. Dr. Georgiadou has taught Ethics in MFT and Counseling graduate programs since 2013 and has presented at national and international conferences on ethics-related topics. Her areas of expertise include MFT teaching and pedagogy, as well as applications of artificial intelligence in mental health training. She serves as President-elect of the Texas Association of Marriage and Family Therapy (TAMFT) and hosts the Learning and Teaching Systemic Therapy podcast.