Artificial Intelligence is quickly becoming a powerful force in healthcare, opening new doors for innovation, efficiency and connection, and behavioral mental health is uniquely positioned to benefit.

As AI technology continues to evolve, it offers exciting opportunities to streamline clinical workflows, ease administrative burdens and ultimately enhance the quality of care for patients. For mental health providers, embracing AI isn’t about replacing the human aspect of care, but creating more space for it to thrive.

According to recent research by Valant, one-third (33 percent) of behavioral health providers already use AI tools in their practice. Half of participants reported that they read about AI in behavioral health at least once a week, and 80 percent said they would be open to participating in further AI-related research.

Let’s take a look at how AI could become your new friend at work—the friend that saves you time and helps you focus your energy on the most important parts of the job.

Reframe: AI can be your assistant, not rival

It’s important to differentiate between the types of tasks AI can perform at a behavioral health practice, and the tasks where a human connection is critical.

Types of tasks AI can perform as a clinical tool include:

• Generate detailed clinical documentation from session recordings
• Format notes in compliance with insurance requirements
• Screen for mistakes in billing documents
• Send auto-reminders about appointments

Types of tasks AI cannot perform at your practice include:

• Build therapeutic relationships
• Apply clinical judgment to complex personal experiences
• Offer healing connection to clients
• Make clinical decisions or provide treatment independently

AI excels at making your workflow efficient and easing administrative demands, but it cannot replicate your expertise or your human compassion for clients.

Offload Your Busywork

AI is an excellent tool to reduce and even minimize busywork so you can focus more fully on the important aspects of your job.

Many therapists use AI transcription services during sessions instead of documenting sessions by hand. This allows for the therapist to be fully present with a client while still capturing a high level of detail for clinical notes.

Clinical documentation is a particularly important application of AI technology because documentation so often contributes to provider burnout. Research consistently shows that providers spend nearly two hours on documentation for every hour spent with patients. When providers unload documentation tasks to AI and focus solely on clients in-session, meaningful improvements follow including:

1. Enhanced therapeutic presence. Less typing during sessions allows for more eye contact, more attentive listening, and deeper connection.
2. Reduced cognitive load. When you’re not mentally composing a note, you’re more present with what’s happening in the room.
3. Improved work-life balance. Because AI can complete documentation faster, you cut down on non-billable hours and have more space for personal time, reducing your risk of burnout.
4. More comprehensive notes. AI-assisted documentation can capture details that might otherwise be forgotten in the rush to complete paperwork between sessions.

One practice owner in Valant’s study summarized it well: “What isn’t patient-facing can be done by AI and proofed by a human.” This balanced approach recognizes both the efficiency gains of automation and the necessity of human oversight.

Built for Behavioral Health, Built for Trust

Valant’s new AI Notes Assist feature helps clinicians regain nonbillable hours. It transcribes treatment sessions and generates clinical notes from the transcription. The notes are editable, so you retain full control of your records.

AI Notes Assist is built specifically for behavioral health and trained by providers who know Spravato, TMS, DBT, ACT, and other modalities. Importantly, AI Notes Assist is designed to keep patient data safe as safety and privacy were cited as “very important” among 98 percent of study participants in Valant’s research.

AI Notes Assist is integrated within the Valant Behavioral Health EHR platform so that sensitive information never has to travel between two systems. Transcripts are automatically deleted after note generation and provider signing, ensuring that sensitive data is not retained. Your patients’ privacy remains intact.

An Evolution of Care

The adoption of AI in behavioral health is not a disruption, but a natural evolution of care. With thoughtful integration, therapists can utilize AI features to reduce administrative burden and reclaim more time for patient care and practice growth. Most importantly, AI is not a replacement for clinical expertise or therapeutic connection. Instead, it’s a supportive clinical assistant, serving to create more space for the human elements of care to thrive.