Laura Kosak - AI and the Therapist

In this episode of Spiritually Fierce, I speak with Laura Kosak, a licensed marriage and family therapist and author of the forthcoming book Your Guide to AI Companions: Straight Talk from a Therapist.We explore the rapidly emerging intersection of AI and therapy, asking whether AI can truly support emotional wellbeing, what it can and cannot safely do, and how it is already reshaping relationships, spiritual life, and mental health. Drawing on over a decade of clinical experience, Laura shares real-world client stories, explains what therapy actually is, and offers a nuanced view of AI as a tool that can sometimes help but can never replace a therapist or a spiritually grounded guide.In this episode:The conversation ranges from sentience, consciousness, and the unified field, toThe risks of people outsourcing big life decisions to AI, to The urgent need for education and guardrails—especially for teens—so that AI companions don’t quietly become unexamined authorities in our emotional and spiritual lives. Laura also introduces the intention behind her book: to restore user agency, offer ethical, practical prompts, and teach people how to think with AI rather than be led by it.About LauraLaura Kosak is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with over a decade of clinical experience. She holds an MA in Clinical Psychology from Alliant University and has completed rigorous postgraduate studies in the field.  Prior to opening her private practice in 2021, Laura served as an in-house therapist in several schools. She currently works with adults, couples, and families. She is an expert on the impact of AI use on individuals and their relationships. She offers psychotherapy and coaching in both English and Spanish.  Laura is certified in EMDR and Level 2 trained in IFS. She uses a blend of both, alongside multiple somatic practices, to help her clients release old beliefs and experiences to step into the lives they want. She authored a chapter on a spiritually-anchored approach to transformative healing in the edited book IFS-Informed EMDR Therapy: Collaborative and Creative Approaches. Laura is the author of the forthcoming book Your Guide to AI Companions: Straight talk from a therapist. Laura is a graduate of the Level 2 Trainer program. She employs the theory and practices she learned at the Institute to support her clients on their journeys. Laura lives with her husband in the hills of Southern Oregon, USA, surrounded by trees, birds, deer, and the occasional black bear. She is the founder of Know ThySelf Counselling and her coaching practice The Crossliminal Way®. She writes on the intersection of AI and therapy at Crossliminal Minds (Substack: @laurakosak). Connect with Laurawww.LauraKosak.com.https://laurakosak.substack.com/p/therapy-is-not-the-1-use-of-ai?r=32h6dqhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/laura-kosak/