A Prompt Engineering Framework for Large Language Model–Based Mental Health Chatbots: Conceptual Framework

The framework offers a practical foundation for the responsible development of LLM-based mental health support. By outlining a layered architecture and aligning it with established evaluation standards, this work offers guidance for developing AI tools that are technically capable, safe, effective, and ethically sound. Future research should prioritize empirical validation of the framework through the phased, comparative approach introduced in this paper.