Colorado Law Mandates Real-Time Therapist Intervention in AI Psychotherapy

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Colorado Law Mandating Therapists’ Real-Time Intervention During Client-AI Psychotherapy Sets Dubious Precedent

Publication Date: July 16, 2026, 07:15:00

In today’s column, I examine a new law enacted by Colorado that requires therapists who use AI with their clients during psychotherapy to be immersed in the client-AI interactions at all times. The law mandates that a therapist must be actively logged into the AI and paying attention on a real-time basis, ready to intervene instantly whenever needed.

Though this may appear at first glance to be an abundantly helpful safeguard, there are several significant, potentially adverse consequences that do not seem to have been adequately weighed:

• Time Burden: The real-time requirement will place a tremendous time-sink burden on the therapist, raising difficult questions about whether their time is being used productively and whether it will be reimbursed by standard mental health coverages.
• Discouraging AI Adoption: This law will discourage therapists from using AI in their therapeutic efforts, and they will likely avoid incorporating AI into their professional work, stagnating the profession.
• Pushing Clients Toward Unfettered AI: Clients will likely opt to use AI entirely on their own rather than paying their therapist for oversight time. Ironically, the law pushes clients toward unmonitored AI instead of AI that is carefully selected and generally monitored by a therapist.

This recently passed law is yet another example of my ongoing concern that new AI laws are being drafted and enacted without sufficient attention to the results they may produce. I believe the hearts of policymakers and lawmakers are typically in the right place, but they do not perform deep enough due diligence to identify downsides and fix potential legal holes before turning bills into hard-nosed laws.

Let’s talk about it.

This analysis of AI breakthroughs is part of my ongoing Forbes column coverage on the latest in AI, including identifying and explaining various impactful AI complexities (see the link here).

AI and Mental Well-Being

As a quick background, I have been extensively covering and analyzing a myriad of facets regarding the advent of modern-era AI that produces mental health advice and performs AI-driven therapy. This rising use of AI has principally been spurred by the evolving advances and widespread adoption of generative AI. For an extensive listing of my well over one hundred analyses and postings, see the link here and the link here.

There is little doubt that this is a rapidly developing field with tremendous upsides. At the same time, regrettably, hidden risks and outright gotchas come into these endeavors as well. I frequently speak up about these pressing matters, including in an appearance on an episode of CBS’s 60 Minutes; see the link here.

AI Providing Mental Health Guidance

Millions upon millions of people are using generative AI as their ongoing advisor on mental health considerations. Note that ChatGPT alone has over 900 million weekly active users, a notable proportion of whom dip into mental health aspects (see my analysis at the link here). The top-ranked use of contemporary generative AI and LLMs is to consult with the AI on mental health facets; see my coverage at the link here.

This popular usage makes abundant sense. You can access most major generative AI systems for nearly free or at a super low cost, doing so anywhere and at any time. Thus, if you have any mental health qualms you want to chat about, all you need to do is log in to AI and proceed forthwith on a 24/7 basis.

There are significant worries that AI can readily go off the rails or otherwise...