Public Health Risk Management, Policy, and Ethical Imperatives in the Use of AI Tools for Mental Health Therapy

This analysis highlights barriers to the replacement of human therapists with autonomous AI systems. It also calls attention to the regulatory vacuum surrounding LLM-based wellness and therapy applications, many of which are widely accessible and unvetted. Recommendations include professional standards, transparency in training and deployment, robust privacy protections, and clinician oversight. The findings underscore the need to redefine AI as supportive, not substitutive.