by Ravi Ganesan on April 29, 2025
Unsurprisingly to most providers, the global AI in mental health market is expanding at a steady pace, with Grand View Research projecting a 24% growth rate between 2024 and 2030. But while leaders and management teams in the industry have largely bought in to its benefits and anticipate its use among payers, broad AI adoption in healthcare facilities like mental health will take time due to a heavy dependence on the acceptance of staff, providers, and clients who remain wary about the technology’s accuracy, safety, and personal impact.
At Core, we believe that communication is the key to assuaging these fears and building trust and belief in tools that will likely define the future of efficient care delivery.
What AI Can Do for Behavioral Health Clinicians and Clients
Already, some eye-opening statistics have proven that AI for behavioral health care, especially mental health, holds tremendous promise. For example, the National Library of Medicine shared a study showing that an AI algorithm could predict a suicide attempt with 92% accuracy, while a roundup of 28 studies by IBM and the University of California found that natural language processing (NLP) techniques identified severe mental illness symptoms from electronic health record (EHR) data with a 90% precision rate.
From an administrative standpoint, multiple vendors have reported that the use of AI in mental health documentation has saved their customers significant time, ranging from 30 minutes to two-and-a-half hours of manual work per day. This, in turn, has allowed clinicians to devote more of their time to direct patient care.
So, while behavioral health management broadly understands what AI can do for behavioral health clinicians and staff and the competitive advantages it offers, why is there still hesitancy to accept AI adoption in healthcare organizations and mental health facilities?
How Providers and Clients Feel About AI in Mental Health
The first, very valid concern from providers and staff about AI for behavioral health operations and mental health care is whether it works. Skepticism is common, and we believe that only around 10% of people — the adventurous go-getters — want to start using it immediately, while 60% remain cautious. The other 30% need to be told they must use it.
Once you get past initial apprehension, however, the next barrier for these individuals is: Will AI compete with me or help me? Staff and providers may not initially realize that, when implemented correctly, the technology can amplify their talent rather than replace it. Key benefits we’ve seen include:
- Documenting workflows that showcase individual expertise
- Freeing up time for higher-value work where human judgment shines
- Creating more opportunities to demonstrate creative problem-solving
- Providing analytics that better illustrate each person's impact
On the client side, a recent survey revealed that nearly half of respondents see AI in mental health as benefitting care, with more positive responses from Black participants and people with lower health literacy and more negative replies from women. Still, unease with how protected health information (PHI) is being integrated into AI tools gives many across all client populations pause, and among staff, provider, and client groups, additional considerations elicit hesitation, like whether AI-assisted diagnoses and treatment plans will be based on fair and ethical assessments and data.
Encouraging and ensuring more acceptance of AI in mental health care starts with leadership establishing straightforward expectations for clients and bringing providers and staff along on the AI adoption journey.
Increasing Receptiveness to Adoption of AI for Behavioral Health
The more transparency, the better around AI adoption in healthcare, especially in behavioral health fields where PHI is particularly sensitive and clients don’t want information about their condition shared on paper. Organizations must be clear about their use of AI in mental health operations and care and not leave anything open to interpretation when staff or a product leverages AI technology. This is essential to building trust with clients and helping them understand why and how AI is going to help the provider serve them better.
Ongoing education for clients, such as resources and posters, can also help them internalize how AI use will impact them, plus do the heavy lifting of explaining the ways in which their information will be used and alleviating fears about the sharing of that data.
To build enthusiasm among providers and staff, organizations should approach adoption of AI in mental health as a collaborative journey of growth. This exciting process unfolds gradually, giving everyone time to discover the possibilities together. Leaders should commit to creating an environment where AI serves as a powerful ally that enhances everyone's capabilities and achievements.
Implementation strategies should celebrate each team member's expertise while introducing tools that elevate their work to new heights. Rather than measuring performance gaps, the focus should be on unlocking new potential and creating opportunities for everyone to shine in more meaningful ways.
By embracing AI as a partner in innovation, organizations open doors to more rewarding work experiences where creativity, problem-solving, and human connection remain at the heart of operations. This united approach helps build a future where technology amplifies collective talents and creates new paths for professional growth and satisfaction.
A Word About Informed Consent for the Use of AI in Mental Health Care
Whether the law requires it or not, if you’re going to use AI for behavioral health with any of a client’s information, getting consent is a baseline ethical practice and key to promoting client autonomy, organizational integrity, and, once again, trust. This is particularly crucial if you’re going to make decisions based on AI data, like changes to a care plan. To help the client make an informed decision, you should be able to provide high-level information on how the technology works and why it’s being used (e.g., its benefits), its role vs. that of humans in operational or direct care proceedings, how PHI is protected, and what precautions are taken to limit the potential for bias and inaccuracies.
While Medicaid regulations change from state to state, most require informed consent for the use of AI in mental health care. Further AI-related bills are being put forth in some states to regulate AI in various ways, including a bill recently introduced in Massachusetts that would require disclosure of AI use to clients, informed consent, and the option for clients to opt out of AI use in their care.
Keeping AI Adoption in Healthcare a Human-Centric Journey
AI adoption in healthcare can’t be an abstract, data-driven process. In mental health, you must prioritize the human aspect of what adopting the technology means and not stick to a strict timeline.
It really is about being supportive and collaborative with staff and providers, having patience as these individuals and clients learn more, listening, and giving people time. As behavioral health leaders, we want to encourage, and keep encouraging, the use of AI in mental health, and let staff, providers, and clients see the results. As organizations get more comfortable with AI, then management can be a little bit more forceful in saying, for example, “we have taken three or four months trying this tool, and you’ve seen the benefits. This is now something we’re going to use.” But at the end of the day, be open and receptive to people’s concerns, because that’s the only way AI adoption in healthcare is going to work. If your team and clients don’t want to adopt it, nothing that we say will matter.
At Core, our goal for our AI-backed tools, like the recently introduced Cx360 GO, is to move from acceptance to active adoption. We’re focused on studying the technology, getting feedback (we often learn lessons we didn’t even think of when we started), and continually improving and refining how we discuss AI for behavioral health so more people sign up and discover what this impressive technology can do for them and the future of mental health care.
Interested to see what our tools can do? You can sign up for a demo today.
