Therapy Isn’t the Gold Standard, It’s One Option.

Therapy has become the assumed solution. If someone is struggling, overwhelmed, or emotionally stuck, the first response is usually the same: "Have you thought about seeing a therapist?"

Sometimes that’s the right answer, but sometimes, it isn’t.

The idea that therapy is the gold standard for emotional wellbeing is not only limiting, it’s also misleading. It implies that therapy is universally accessible, consistently effective, and always appropriate. In reality, waiting lists in public health systems can stretch for months. Private therapy often comes with a high price tag. And effectiveness is inconsistent, dropout rates are high, and outcomes depend heavily on the practitioner, modality, and even the client’s ability to engage in a very particular kind of emotional work. It isn’t the universal solution people often believe it to be.

This isn’t an attack on therapy. I’ve worked in the field. I know what it can offer when done well, with the right frame and the right practitioner. I also know what happens when it isn’t done well. When the clinical frame is weak, the power dynamics are unexamined, or the training is outdated. And when it goes wrong, it doesn’t just stall, it distorts.

I’ve seen how therapy becomes an echo chamber, where language is rehearsed and progress is assumed. Many training routes prioritise self-reflection over actual competence, and governing bodies often favour protecting the profession over improving outcomes. It is too easy to do average work in therapy and never be challenged for it.

The truth is, not everyone needs therapy. Some people need clarity, others need structure. Many need a way to step back from their own thinking, without being pulled into a relationship that immediately centres emotional dependency or long-form reflection. For example, a senior leader navigating conflicting stakeholder demands might not need to process childhood patterns, they need a space to map complexity, test assumptions, and make strategic decisions under pressure. Some people simply need tools, good ones. Tools that help them think more clearly, respond more intelligently, and move through complexity with more confidence.

But here’s the catch, those tools are hard to find.

What’s on offer outside of therapy is often insultingly basic: mood trackers, self-care lists, and chatbots mimicking false warmth. Take Woebot, for example, marketed as a "therapy chatbot," it offers quick emotional check-ins and CBT-style prompts but operates entirely within a scripted, surface-level loop. The alternatives rarely reflect psychological depth or ethical design. They’re built for engagement, not transformation, for dopamine, not decision-making.

So when people say "AI will never replace therapy," I agree, but I also think it’s the wrong argument.

This isn’t about replacing therapy, it’s about recognising that therapy isn’t always the starting point, and it shouldn’t be treated as a moral or emotional obligation. It’s not a rite of passage or proof that someone is doing the work. Sometimes, other formats serve the person better, and the insistence on therapy as the gold standard can obscure those options entirely. The moment we treat it as the default, we lose sight of how varied people’s needs really are.

Some people don’t need to be witnessed, they need to be resourced. Others don’t need to revisit the past, they need to make sense of the present. And some don’t need a relationship, they need a process.

And that’s not a failure, it’s a different kind of need.

We should be building tools that honour that difference. We’re not replicating therapy, we’re evolving what it offered into something sharper, more scalable, and more suited to the people therapy often overlooks. 

Karen Ferguson is a strategist, therapist, and founder of MindMotive. She creates psychologically grounded tools for individuals and organisations who want sharp thinking, not sugar-coated wellbeing. MindMotive’s digital partners are structured AI tools, designed as credible alternatives to therapy for those who want to reflect, plan, and lead with clarity.

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