This one-hour webinar with live Q&A is hosted by the AAPi Cyberpsychology Interest Group.
Your clients are already using AI. Some are drafting journal entries with it. Some are asking it for advice between sessions. A growing number are forming relationships with it. The question is no longer whether AI enters the therapy room, but whether we understand what walks in with it.
This session is a grounding for psychologists who want to engage with that shift knowledgeably, rather than react to it. No technical background assumed. No hype, no alarmism. Just a clear-eyed look at what these tools are, how people are using them, and what it means for our practice and our ethics.
Who this is for
Psychologists at any career stage who sense that AI is reshaping client behaviour and clinical practice, and want a credible foundation before forming a view. Whether you have never used an AI tool or already use one daily, this session meets you where you are.
What we'll cover
Moderated by AAPI's Amanda Curran, our panel will work through five foundational questions:
1. What AI tools are actually available to everyday users, and what they do
2. How people are using them, including in ways that show up in the therapy room
3. The benefits and the risks, including the ones that are hard to see
4. What ethical use looks like for psychologists and for clients
5. Where this is heading, and what it asks of our profession
What you'll leave with
• A working literacy in the AI tools your clients are likely using
• A clearer sense of how AI use intersects with client wellbeing, dependency, and identity
• A practical orientation to the ethical questions AI raises for practice
• Language to begin conversations about AI use with your clients and your supervisors
• A reframe: from keeping up with AI, to using it with intention
About our panel:
Penny Locaso
Most conversations about AI ask what the technology can do. Penny asks what it is doing to us. A behavioural scientist, provisional psychologist, speaker and facilitator, Penny works in the psychology of AI: how everyday interactions with AI reshape how we think, feel, behave and relate. This is the missing link in AI implementation.
Her work with leaders has a name. Intentional AI: consciously directing how, when and why you engage with AI, remaining the author of your own thinking and the protector of your brain capacity and your ability to perform at your best. It builds on the Intentional Adaptability Quotient, her validated leadership psychometric published in the American Consulting Psychology Journal. She's worked with Deloitte, Microsoft, Google, NAB and Booking.com, with features in Harvard Business Review, TEDx and the AFR.
When she's not in her work, Penny can be found hiking, swimming and camping in the wilderness.
Dr Rachel Wood
AI is shifting the relational bedrock of society. Dr Rachel Wood believes now is the time to think deeply about the implications and to shape the future. She is the founder of the AI Mental Health Collective, a community that brings together vetted clinicians, technologists, researchers and industry leaders across disciplines.
Within the Collective sits the Clinician's Circle, a curated community equipping clinicians to respond with confidence to the rising prevalence of AI in practice and with clients. The goal is collaboration that keeps human wellbeing, and the relationships it depends on, at the centre of how AI is built and used. Her work in responsible AI innovation and mental health has been featured by ABC, TIME Magazine, the American Psychological Association, International Business Times, Behavioral Health Business, Mashable and CNET.
Beyond her work, Rachel is also a lifelong musician and professional vocalist who is deeply passionate about the arts.
Carl Miller
A Silicon Valley AI veteran, Carl Miller's career has been guided by one purpose: helping leaders and their teams reach their highest potential, whether through thoughtful use of AI, building high-performance cultures, or leading through moments of significant change.
As Founder of The GRIN Labs, Carl works with organisations to turn AI disruption into meaningful progress for their business, their people and their culture. His path has taken him from scaling fintech startups and global enterprises to leading conversations on AI, leadership and change with teams across five continents.
That path opened the door to The Purpose Project, born from a simple realisation: many of us work hard, but not always in alignment with who we are becoming. Carl had lived that tension himself. What began as personal reflection grew into a shared space where leaders reconnect to themselves and rediscover what grounded, aligned leadership feels like.
Sonia Kaurah
Sonia Kaurah is the founder & CEO of Tala Thrive, an online mental health platform offering culturally aware care through online therapy and coaching and self-guided resources. She started the company after struggling to find a therapist who understood her cultural background and believes that there should be a more inclusive and accessible approach to mental health support. She holds a degree in Psychology from Monash University, has worked in Venture Capital and as a startup mentor in the Nordics - helping more than 200 startups raise their first round of capital. She lectured in Entrepreneurship at a University in Oxford and has now won several awards and raised funding for her startup Tala Thrive. Sonia is Australian with South Asian heritage and has lived in 7 countries
Amanda Curran
Amanda Curran is AAPi's Chief Psychologist and has been a registered psychologist since 2000. Amanda has experience in a variety of areas including; residential drug and alcohol rehabilitation, Drug Diversion Programs, inpatient psychiatric treatment (including long term residential care prior to project 300), university counselling, employee assistance programs and family and relationship counselling. Amanda has a love for learning that led her to complete a Master of Health Studies majoring in addictions in 2009 and she is currently wokring on her PhD.
Webinar timing: 12:00 – 1:00 pm AEST
Access to the recording of this webinar: A recording of this webinar will be available through the CPD Webinar Library, but for the best experience and the opportunity to ask your questions, join us live. Everyone who registers will be advised via email as soon as the recording is available. Members have unlimited access to the recording, and non-members will have access for 6 months.