WHY A VISIT TO THE SHRINK COULD BECOME A RELIC

ALISON DARCY, A CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST, set out to slay psychiatry’s sacred cow: that two people in a room talking to each other is the only way to get someone help. Few have the money or desire to do full-on therapy. Most don’t need it. What they need is in-the-moment guidance when they’re stressed or depressed. Not a couch. A coach.

Enter Darcy’s Woebot, an A.I.-driven chatbot that delivers cognitive behavioral therapy over mobile devices. CBT focuses on thoughts, teaching people to examine and reframe theirs. Her company launched in 2017, the year the World Health Organization said the world’s leading cause of disability is depression. “There never have been enough clinicians,” she says, adding, “About 38 percent of people with a diagnosis of depression will achieve sustained recovery from a lighter touch with CBT.” Prior to starting the company, while working with people with eating disorders, Darcy realized that “removal of the body”—through digital interaction—can be “a huge advantage.” Men seem more willing to open up without another human present: Roughly half of Woebot’s users are male, to Darcy’s surprise.

Woebot, which is free, has raised $8.1 million; eventually, users will pay for some services. Darcy won’t reveal user numbers, but says Woebot receives between one million and two million messages a week. (Each session comprises multiple messages.)

“In an ideal world, you exercise every day,” says Darcy. “Mental health is the new exercise. I would love to see Woebot be the thing that popularizes that.”