Holding Space or Just Holding Data? The AI Therapy Debate Begins

Based on a Life Conversation Guests: Lara Kassir & Patrick Eilers Host: Philipp Kobald

Welcome to the Couch 2.0

What do you get when you put a hypnotherapist, a practice advisor, and a spiritual podcaster in front of a livestream camera? Apparently, a discussion about whether robots can hold your trauma without accidentally trying to sell you an airline ticket. This was the opening round of HolisticCircle’s September series, a five-part plunge into the messy marriage of artificial intelligence, therapy, and spirituality.

Philipp Kobald, our host and resident provocateur, kicked off the first session with two guests perfectly placed to untangle the promises and perils of AI therapy. On one side: Patrick Eilers, MA, LPC, a Licensed Professional Counselor and coach helping therapist-owners balance their inner healer with their inner CEO. On the other: Lara Kassir, a certified hypnotherapist and brainspotting practitioner who spends her days guiding clients through PTSD, sleep disorders, eating struggles, and the kind of addictions no algorithm should be left alone with.

Empathy.exe Has Stopped Responding

The first volley was over that warm, fuzzy phrase every therapist loves: holding space. Lara came out swinging with the obvious: machines don’t do empathy. Therapy, she reminded us, is about attunement — the unspoken exchange of trust, body language, and human presence. Brainspotting, her specialty, depends on subtle cues, the sort no AI chatbot can decode no matter how many data points it crunches.

Patrick agreed, adding that while AI may spit out a comforting response, it lacks the therapist’s ability to challenge. “It always agrees with you,” he warned. Imagine therapy where your deepest denial gets a gold star sticker. Healing requires friction, not flattery.

The Bargain Bin Therapist

But AI therapy has its sales pitch: it’s cheap, it’s always awake, and it won’t judge you for texting at 3 a.m. Lara acknowledged the appeal — especially in cultures where therapy still carries stigma, or where money blocks access. Yet her concern was simple: people will mistake AI’s surface-level conversation for real healing. Awareness without transformation is just a prettier cage.

Patrick offered the analogy of travel: looking at a picture of the Grand Canyon isn’t the same as standing at the edge of it. Therapy, he argued, is about experience, not Wikipedia-level facts delivered with algorithmic cheer.

Exposure Therapy Meets the Apple Vision Pro

Still, neither guest was ready to throw AI entirely out of the consulting room. Lara painted a future where exposure therapy — helping clients face fears of flying, spiders, or tall buildings — could be turbocharged with AI-driven sensory tech. Think turbulence simulations, spider holograms, or immersive environments that allow therapists to dial the intensity up or down in real time. “More realistic, more interactive,” she imagined, though she stressed the human therapist must remain present.

Patrick was game to experiment — but skeptical of AI making clinical decisions. A headset might shake you with turbulence, yes, but knowing when to shake? That’s human judgment, not machine logic.

Chatbots, Dream Analysts, and the Younger Generation

The conversation veered into lived experience. Lara revealed that some of her clients had already asked ChatGPT to interpret their dreams — and found the answers “pretty good.” Patrick noted younger generations are particularly quick to lean on AI as confidant, life coach, or even quasi-therapist. He’s seen anchors on local news praising AI therapy’s “feedback.”

Philipp, ever the instigator, admitted he personally knows people having daily life-coach conversations with chatbots. Forget hypothetical futures — this is already happening.

Prompting Your Way to Healing?

That led to an unnerving twist: prompt language. We’re already adapting how we talk to machines. Will kids one day be coached not to say “angry” in school screenings for fear of being flagged by an algorithm? Will we become so intentional in wording that we lose the messy honesty of human language?

Patrick worried about the lack of nuance: AI doesn’t read the grin on your face when you say you’re “mad.” Lara saw a silver lining — prompting forces us to be intentional. But both agreed: the nonverbal world remains firmly outside AI’s reach.

Love in the Time of Algorithms

Of course, no AI debate is complete without mentioning the booming market of AI girlfriends and boyfriends. Patrick, who once specialized in sex addiction therapy, warned that fantasy without risk is a slippery slope. “It never says no,” he cautioned. Real relationships, and real therapy, grow from conflict and discomfort. Without those, we’re just orbiting further into fantasy.

Lara echoed the concern: without being challenged, therapy collapses into self-indulgence. Transformation requires facing the dark night of the soul — not being endlessly told you’re right.

Billionaire Babies for All

Philipp closed with a thought experiment: what happens when everyone lives like a billionaire baby — surrounded by digital assistants, tutors, secretaries, lovers, and therapists who never disagree? Both guests envisioned a split society: one camp clinging to authentic human connection, the other disappearing into AI-enhanced fantasy worlds.

Lara held out hope that human touch — literal hugs and hormonal chemistry — would keep us tethered to each other. Patrick suspected we’ll end up with two tribes: the unplugged and the fully immersed. Red pill, blue pill, matrix déjà vu.

The September Series Has Just Begun

This was only round one of HolisticCircle’s September exploration: Healing in the Age of Machines. Over the coming Tuesdays, Kobald promises more heavyweight guests — programmers, philosophers, quantum physicists, and a legal expert ready to tackle the thorniest questions of regulation. If tonight was the warm-up, the rest of the series will be nothing short of electric.

Why You Should Tune In

The rise of AI therapy isn’t science fiction — it’s already reshaping how people talk, dream, and seek healing. But as Patrick and Lara made clear, the human heart remains stubbornly irreplaceable. If you want to stay ahead of the curve (and maybe hold onto your humanity in the process), keep watching the HolisticCircle podcast on YouTube. Because whether AI ends up holding space or just holding data, this conversation is only just getting started.

Guest:
Patrick Eilers, MA, LPC, Mental Health Practice Advisor
Link: www.bloomworkscc.com
Patrick Eilers, a Licensed Professional Counselor and Coach specializing in helping dual-role therapist-owners integrate their clinical expertise with their CEO responsibility.

Lara Kassir
Link: www.larakassir.com
Lara Kassir certified Hypnotherapist and BrainSpotting practitioner specialised in PTSD, sleeping disorders, eating disorders and addictions.

By Philipp Kobald in cooperation with AI
www.HolisticCircle.org
@2025 HolisticCircle by Philipp Kobald