ArticleJournal of medical Internet research2019
Development and Evaluation of ClientBot: Patient-Like Conversational Agent to Train Basic Counseling Skills.
Article in Journal of medical Internet research, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers.
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Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed.
- Improving Community-Based Care for Adolescents with ADHD: a Randomized Controlled Trial of Artificial Intelligence-Assisted Fidelity Supports.Prevention science : the official journal of the Society for Prevention Research · 2026Trial
- An AI-Driven Virtual Patient Platform (CBT Trainer) for Training Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Practitioners Against Competencies: Mixed Methods Pilot Study.JMIR medical education · 2026Article
- Evaluation of an AI-Based Chatbot Providing Real-Time Feedback in Communication Training for Mental Health Care Professionals: Proof-of-Concept Observational Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Observational
- Psychology student and mental health practitioner experiences of and perspectives on Client101, a virtual client chatbot training tool.BMC medical education · 2025Article
- Leveraging Large Language Models for Simulated Psychotherapy Client Interactions: Development and Usability Study of Client101.JMIR medical education · 2025Article
- Investigating psychotherapists' attitudes towards artificial intelligence in psychotherapy.BMC psychology · 2025Article
- TherapyTrainer: Using AI to Train Therapists in Written Exposure Therapy.Cognitive and behavioral practice · 2025Article
- Enhancing professional communication training in higher education through artificial intelligence(AI)-integrated exercises: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial.BMC medical education · 2025Article
- Developing an Implementation Model for ADHD Intervention in Community Clinics: Leveraging Artificial Intelligence and Digital Technology.Cognitive and behavioral practice · 2024Article
- Neural Conversational Agent for Weight Loss Counseling: Protocol for an Implementation and Feasibility Study.JMIR research protocols · 2024Article
- Harnessing Innovative Technologies to Train Nurses in Suicide Safety Planning With Hospital Patients: Formative Acceptability Evaluation of an eLearning Continuing Education Training.JMIR formative research · 2024Article
- Article
- A Case Study on Assessing AI Assistant Competence in Narrative Interviews.F1000Research · 2024Article
- Attitudes Toward the Adoption of 2 Artificial Intelligence-Enabled Mental Health Tools Among Prospective Psychotherapists: Cross-sectional Study.JMIR human factors · 2023Article
- Evidence-based Treatment for Substance Use Disorders in Community Mental Health Centers: the ACCESS Program.The journal of behavioral health services & research · 2023Article
- Unsupervised Machine Learning Driven Analysis of Verbatims of Treatment-Resistant Schizophrenia Patients Having Followed Avatar Therapy.Journal of personalized medicine · 2023Article
- Article
- Development and Validation of Conversational Agent to Pregnancy Safe-education.Journal of medical systems · 2023Article
- Harnessing Innovative Technologies to Train Nurses in Suicide Safety Planning With Hospitalized Patients: Protocol for Formative and Pilot Feasibility Research.JMIR research protocols · 2021Article
- Improving Mental Health Services: A 50-Year Journey from Randomized Experiments to Artificial Intelligence and Precision Mental Health.Administration and policy in mental health · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundTraining therapists is both expensive and time-consuming. Degree-based training can require tens of thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours of expert instruction. Counseling skills practice often involves role-plays, standardized patients, or practice with real clients. Performance-based feedback is critical for skill development and expertise, but trainee therapists often receive minimal and subjective feedback, which is distal to their skill practice.
objectiveIn this study, we developed and evaluated a patient-like neural conversational agent, which provides real-time feedback to trainees via chat-based interaction.
methodsThe text-based conversational agent was trained on an archive of 2354 psychotherapy transcripts and provided specific feedback on the use of basic interviewing and counseling skills (ie, open questions and reflections-summary statements of what a client has said). A total of 151 nontherapists were randomized to either (1) immediate feedback on their use of open questions and reflections during practice session with ClientBot or (2) initial education and encouragement on the skills.
resultsParticipants in the ClientBot condition used 91% (21.4/11.2) more reflections during practice with feedback (P<.001) and 76% (14.1/8) more reflections after feedback was removed (P<.001) relative to the control group. The treatment group used more open questions during training but not after feedback was removed, suggesting that certain skills may not improve with performance-based feedback. Finally, after feedback was removed, the ClientBot group used 31% (32.5/24.7) more listening skills overall (P<.001).
conclusionsThis proof-of-concept study demonstrates that practice and feedback can improve trainee use of basic counseling skills.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.