A Humanistic Social Justice Critique of AI in Counseling

ABSTRACT Humanistic counselors prioritize social justice, human contact, the therapeutic relationship, and unconditional positive regard for the client that supports the client and the client's identity community. In contrast, counseling using artificial intelligence (AI) is driven by internet information pertaining to the inquiry or command, reflecting the hegemony of the dominant culture and presenting challenges that threaten the integrity and intent of social justice humanistic counseling. AI counseling will ignore the complex identities and communities of persons seeking help and remove the essential human relationship from the counseling process. This ultimately violates the principles of humanistic social justice counseling.

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Publication Details

Journal
The Journal of Humanistic Counseling
Published
2026-06-26
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/johc.70051
Primary Topic
Counseling Practices and Supervision
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00
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article

A Humanistic Social Justice Critique of AI in Counseling

Amber Baughman, Colette T. Dollarhide
The Journal of Humanistic Counseling
Counseling Practices and Supervision
article

A Humanistic Social Justice Critique of AI in Counseling

Amber Baughman, Colette T. Dollarhide
article en

Abstract

ABSTRACT Humanistic counselors prioritize social justice, human contact, the therapeutic relationship, and unconditional positive regard for the client that supports the client and the client's identity community. In contrast, counseling using artificial intelligence (AI) is driven by internet information pertaining to the inquiry or command, reflecting the hegemony of the dominant culture and presenting challenges that threaten the integrity and intent of social justice humanistic counseling. AI counseling will ignore the complex identities and communities of persons seeking help and remove the essential human relationship from the counseling process. This ultimately violates the principles of humanistic social justice counseling.

The Journal of Humanistic Counseling
University of South Carolina (US), The Ohio State University (US)
Openalex Percentile: Top 4%
Counseling Practices and Supervision
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