Therapists are getting caught using AI on their patients



Therapists have historically seen patients in an intimate, in-person setting. Since COVID shutdowns, however, impersonal meetings have become more frequent and normalized, on top of what was already an increasingly remote, digital world.

The mental health sector has been incredibly affected by these changes, spawning online therapy outlets like Talkspace and BetterHealth. Conceivably, a patient could conduct an online video call with a licensed therapist, who could diagnose the patient or talk through issues without ever being in the same room.

As it turns out, therapists also could be cheating.

'Here's a more human, heartfelt version with a gentle, conversational tone.'

A recent report by MIT Technology Review featured some eye-opening testimonies of online-therapy consumers who have caught their practitioners cutting corners in terms of their mental health care.

One patient named Declan was having connection trouble with his therapist online, so the two decided to turn off their video feeds. During this attempt, the therapist accidentally started sharing his screen, revealing he was using ChatGPT to procure his advice.

"He was taking what I was saying and putting it into ChatGPT and then summarizing or cherry-picking answers," Declan told the outlet. "I became the best patient ever," he continued, "because ChatGPT would be like, 'Well, do you consider that your way of thinking might be a little too black and white?' And I would be like, 'Huh, you know, I think my way of thinking might be too black and white,’ and [my therapist would] be like, ‘Exactly.’ I'm sure it was his dream session."

While Declan's experience was right in his face, others noticed subtle signs that their therapists were not being completely honest with them.

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MIT Tech Review's own author Laurie Clark admitted in her article that an email from her therapist set off alarm bells when she noticed it was strangely polished, validating, and lengthy.

A different font, point-by-point responses, and the use of an em dash (despite being in the U.K.) made Clark think her therapist was using ChatGPT. When confronted by her concerns, the therapist admitted to using it to draft her responses.

"My positive feelings quickly drained away, to be replaced by disappointment and mistrust," Clark wrote.

Similarly, a 25-year-old woman received a "consoling and thoughtful" direct message from a therapist over the death of her dog. This message would have been helpful to the young woman had she not seen the AI prompt at the top of the page, which was accidentally left intact by the therapist.

"Here's a more human, heartfelt version with a gentle, conversational tone," the prompt read.

More and more people are skipping the middle man and heading straight to the chatbots themselves, which of course, some doctors have advocated against.

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For example, the president of the Australian Psychological Society warned against using AI for therapy in an interview with ABC (Australia).

"No algorithm, no matter how intelligent or innovative we think they might be, can actually replace that sacred space that gets trudged between two people," Sara Quinn said. "Current general AI models are good at mimicking how humans communicate and reason, but it's just that — it's imitation."

The American Psychological Association calls using chatbots for therapy "a dangerous trend," while a Stanford University study says AI can "lack effectiveness compared to human therapists" but also contributes to the use of "harmful stigma."

Blaze News asked ChatGPT if AI chatbots, like ChatGPT, are better or worse than real-life therapists. It answered:

"AI chatbots can offer support and guidance, but they are not a substitute for real-life therapists who provide personalized, professional mental health care."

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Therapy culture forgot the one thing we need most



I think coincidences are exceedingly rare. Most of the peculiar things that happen to us are begging to be unpacked for the symbolism, messages, and questions they hide.

Let me give you my latest example. I’ve been reading Bessel van der Kolk’s famous book on trauma studies, “The Body Keeps the Score.” You’ve probably heard of it, maybe even read it yourself. It’s arguably the most widely read and cited mental health book in existence.

In a single moment, years of trauma and heartache just lifted like fog that evaporates under a warm sun.

If you haven’t read it, here’s a summary: Trauma (i.e., exposure to violence, abuse, horror, tragedy, etc.) deeply impacts us at the neurological and physical levels. This is even more true in childhood when the brain and body are still in their fragile developmental states. Once a trauma occurs, it fractures us psychologically. We interact with the world differently because our brains process stimuli differently. This causes a sprawling range of difficulties — behavioral disorders, physical ailments, relational issues, and beyond. If we want to function in society, we have to undergo specific types of treatment that target the trauma we’ve suffered. Medication is rarely a long-term solution because it treats symptoms, not the underlying trauma.

As I was picking my way through the book, I found myself nodding along vigorously.

I hate what Big Pharma greed has done to traumatized people — pushing them through the health care system like numbered cattle, pumping them full of ineffective medications that have six side effects for every symptom they treat, all while growing fat on the billions of dollars the mental health care industry rakes in annually. No healing; just numbing.

Every chapter in my copy has tear-stained pages marking the stories of men brutalized by combat, children despised by their own parents, young girls repeatedly raped by male relatives, and little boys abused in secret by priests.

However, the majority of the people covered in the book were able to process and move beyond their traumas with the assistance of trained doctors who led them through eye movement desensitization and reprocessing, somatic therapies, neuro-feedback, and play-based and creative therapies, among other types of treatment.

It takes years, commitment, and incredible patience for a traumatized individual to regain a sense of normalcy, albeit a scarred one.

I found myself celebrating these therapies that target the root causes of people’s suffering, applauding van der Kolk and his colleagues for their devotion to researching and developing treatments that have seen suicidal individuals come to enjoy life again, children learn how to trust again, and people drowning in shame accept that the abuse they suffered wasn’t their fault.

"Why can’t all facets of medicine have this approach?" I thought.

The night

About midway through my reading of this book, however, my parents hosted an event at their house for a family of missionaries they’ve become friends with.

Once a year, Nic, his wife Rachael, and their four children return to the United States from Brazil, where they run an incredible ministry for abused women and girls, many of whom are entrenched in prostitution. For a few days, they host small gatherings at friends’ homes. People are invited to come, worship, and hear the beautiful stories of their ministry.

This year, since my parents were hosting, I attended the event. I know for next year to avoid wearing mascara. I was a sniffling, smudgy mess by the time I got in my car to drive home.

The stories I heard broke my heart, but I expected them, too. I was familiar with the ministry before I attended the event, so precious little girls sold into prostitution rings by their own families and young women who have no hope other than what profits their bodies might yield in a night were exactly the stories I expected to hear.

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What I did not expect to hear, however, were the stories of miraculous and often instantaneous healings. Nic and his wife shared stories of traumatized girls, many of them still children, who heard the gospel message, hit their knees, and rose completely different people.

One girl who came to their ministry was physically deformed from horrors they thankfully spared us. She was hunched over, refused to make eye contact, voluntarily mute, and utterly terrified of physical touch. One day during a worship session, in which she stood silently in the back of the room, she suddenly fell to the floor and began violently trembling. A few moments passed, and she stood back up. But this time she stood upright. Her hips, which had turned inward, were suddenly straight and aligned. Her spine was no longer hunched. She looked Rachael in the eyes and said, “He is so beautiful.”

She was healed — in body and in spirit. Her life from that point forward was marked by joy.

Many other similar stories were shared, of girls who came to the ministry hardened from abuse and suffering transformed into radiant, confident people after hearing the good news of what Jesus did for them on the cross. Adopted into His family as beloved daughters, suddenly the horrors of their past lost their grip, the fear that once consumed them dried up, the shame that suffocated them dissipated, and they walked into new life, eager to share His saving grace with others.

In a single moment, years of trauma and heartache just lifted like fog that evaporates under a warm sun.

My favorite story was of one young girl (I think she was around 10 years old) who was rescued out of prostitution among other horrors and introduced to Jesus. Like the others I described, His gift of redemption radically transformed her.

One day, a missionary from a different ministry visited the girls’ home. She asked this young one to share her testimony. Smiling, the girl started listing her hobbies and favorite things.

The missionary stared at her, perplexed and disappointed. She wanted to know the girl’s past — what slum she’d come from, what heinous things she’d suffered before she was introduced to Jesus. “No, I mean what happened to you?” she urged.

In one of the most beautifully childlike responses I’ve ever heard, the girl sweetly replied, “Oh, that doesn’t matter any more. I’ve been made new.”

The lesson

I couldn’t sleep when I got home that night. The stories I had just heard were strikingly similar to the case studies I was reading about in my book.

But unlike van der Kolk’s patients, it didn’t take years of therapy, hospital stays, and repeated dark nights of the soul for these Brazilian girls to recover from their traumas. The Spirit fell on their hearts and did in a moment what intense psychological intervention takes ages to accomplish.

And they didn’t just recover enough to function in society. They transformed from the inside out into joyful, loving girls who worship with their hands lifted high, pray bold prayers for the healing of their sisters, and smile with the confidence of those who know they are loved fiercely and unconditionally.

This is the power of Jesus. Do we believe it?

I knew when I went home that night that I had repenting to do. Yes, I believed that God could heal any brokenness, but I didn’t necessarily believe that he would. I had placed too much hope in modern therapy, believing it was the best lifeline for traumatized people.

I had forgotten that my God was, is, and will always be a healer — the one who created the danger-sensing amygdala, the rational prefrontal cortex, the hormone-regulating hypothalamus, and the delicate neuro-pathways that can make or break a distressed individual. He crafted and commands what science has labored ages to grasp. He can restore a traumatized brain to homeostasis in a single, sacred moment.

And He does. Regularly. In Brazil, in Nigeria, in India, and yes, even here in the United States.

But how many more of these miraculous healings would happen if we believed that the gospel is more powerful than our best therapy programs?

Nic and Rachael aren’t doctors; they have no formal training in psychoanalysis, neuroscience, or psychology. And yet they’ve seen more traumatized people heal in the 15 years their ministry has been operating than most therapists see in their careers.

This is the power of Jesus. Do we believe it?

I don’t mean to suggest that therapy is worthless — quite the opposite. I remain grateful for the various branches of science that have led to the development of treatment regimens for traumatized people. For the hurting, secular individual, I’m thankful there are resources. Perhaps a gentle, patient therapist will be their first taste of true kindness and serve as a precursor to the Jesus they’ll meet at a future date. Perhaps it will just make life livable again. In either case, I’m grateful.

I’m also thankful therapy exists for traumatized Christians. I have benefited from therapy, as have many of my friends and family members. Sometimes God heals the terminal cancer patient when his loved ones hit their knees in prayer; sometimes He does it through months of chemotherapy. Except unlike bodily ailments, which He may choose not to heal on this side of heaven, we are guaranteed healing for our broken hearts, which often present as traumatized brains.

In Psalm 34:18, we are told that "The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”

He may choose to mend our crushed spirits through therapy, but I’m betting we’d see more of the miraculous healings Nic and Rachael witness in Brazil if we truly believed He’s as powerful and good as He says He is — far surpassing even our best therapy programs.

The 'coincidence'

When I picked up “The Body Keeps the Score,” it was dusty. I’d bought it a while ago after hearing the hype, shoved it in my ever-expanding bookcase, and forgotten about it. But one day when I was writing an article about America’s mental health epidemic, I plucked it from the shelf and started reading it.

You can’t convince me that it’s mere coincidence that I was nose-deep in this sciencey book at the same time I was wrecked by the stories of these Brazilian girls.

No, this was the hand of God, beautifully knitting the tapestry of my personal choices with His plan, reminding me that our best efforts to remedy what’s broken may be valiant, intelligent, and even effective, but only His touch can heal a shattered heart in a single, glorious moment.

If all believers carried this truth in their hearts, can you imagine the miracles we’d see?

My heart burns at the mere thought.

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The soul of the republic still belongs to Washington



As we celebrate Independence Day, it’s worth reflecting on America’s founding character — especially the man who defined it: George Washington.

Washington didn’t build his legacy on grand speeches. He led with silence, sacrifice, and restraint. He may not have written poetry, but he lived it — with grit in war, grace in peace, and great wisdom in his letters, journals, and Farewell Address.

This Fourth of July, as fireworks fill the night sky, let’s also make room for silence — for healing, for grief, for endurance.

He didn’t just fight for a nation — he helped shape its soul. Washington understood that a country isn’t defined only by its victories, but by how it makes meaning out of its wounds.

In our time of division and disillusionment, we would do well to reclaim the legacy Washington embodied. Resilience isn’t the denial of pain but rather transformation through it. And the only vision worth holding on to is the one that unites us in building our future as a nation.

Trauma doesn’t end the story. Often, it begins the most meaningful chapters. That’s true in my life — and in America’s. Growth has never come from comfort. It comes from hardship, from wounds we don’t hide from but confront. Psychologists call it “post-traumatic growth.” It’s the idea that suffering, when faced and integrated, can lead to deeper purpose, stronger relationships, and a more grounded sense of self.

I guess most Americans would just call it “history.”

I led soldiers into Iraq in 2003 and returned to a nation largely untouched by the war I had lived. But my reckoning came later — when a brief Wall Street career collapsed, when a home invasion shattered my sense of safety, and when therapy forced me to face what I had tried for years to outrun: trauma, guilt, grief.

What followed wasn’t just recovery. It was transformation — a quiet strength rooted in humility and meaning. Post-traumatic growth teaches that suffering, when faced honestly, can lead to deeper purpose, stronger relationships, and a more grounded self.

That truth doesn’t belong to me. It belongs to us all.

From Valley Forge to Gettysburg, from the Great Depression to Ground Zero, America has been forged in fire. Our greatest progress has rarely come in peacetime. Lincoln didn’t rise when things were easy. The Greatest Generation wasn’t shaped in comfort. Renewal always follows rupture.

We’re in such a moment again. Pressure is building — on our national identity, our personal stories, our sense of unity. But pressure can forge something stronger, if we let it.

We must reject the lie that trauma equals weakness. PTSD is real — often invisible, often devastating. But it’s not the end of the story. Alongside post-traumatic stress, we can teach post-traumatic strength. The kind Washington lived. The kind America has always needed.

That’s part of why I wrote “Downriver: Memoir of a Warrior Poet.” Yes, it tells a story of trauma — from childhood instability to the battlefields of Iraq, from Wall Street collapse to personal unraveling. But more importantly, it traces the long road of healing — not as a tidy comeback story, but as a messy, hard-earned path toward growth and integration.

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The journey is not reserved for veterans alone. It belongs to survivors of addiction, loss, illness, injustice, and personal collapse. It belongs to first responders, caregivers, and ordinary Americans living through extraordinary hardship.

But growth isn’t guaranteed. It requires honesty. It requires community. It demands a culture willing to honor both the warrior and the poet — the one who endures and the one who reflects, the one who fights and the one who heals.

Too often, we swing between denial and despair. But what if we told a different story? What if we treated our national wounds not as signs of weakness but as calls to deepen our roots?

We’ve done it before. The post-9/11 generation gave us new models of service and empathy. The scars of the COVID-19 pandemic will never fully heal, but they can teach us lessons about connection, community, and what really matters.

The question isn’t whether we’ve been wounded. We have. The real question is what kind of country we’ll become in response. Will we let trauma divide us further — or use it to rediscover what binds us together?

This Fourth of July, as fireworks fill the night sky, let’s also make room for silence — for healing, for grief, for endurance. Let’s honor not only what we’ve won but how we’ve grown.

That’s the path of the warrior poet. That’s Washington’s legacy. And it can be ours, too.

Therapist-in-training exposes nauseating secrets from the world of counselor education



Naomi Epps Best is a married Christian mother and graduate student in marriage and family therapy at Santa Clara University. Like anyone who enters the counseling profession, she wants to help people thrive.

Sadly, in today’s world, helping people thrive is often synonymous with affirming their delusions. On a recent episode of “Relatable,” Naomi sat down with Allie Beth Stuckey to share what future therapists are being taught about gender identity and care for minors.

“We were taught that if a child comes to us and they are experiencing extreme gender-related distress,” it is our “ethical obligation ... to affirm them in their belief and to not act as a gatekeeper for their medical treatment,” says Naomi. “That is what I am taught at [Santa Clara University], and that is what is being propagated down from the psychological governing bodies in this country.”

“I've talked to so many de-transitioners,” says Allie, “and every single one says that there was a therapist who didn't ask questions that checked off the boxes” and “uncritically affirm[ed]” their gender of choice. And even if the child also suffers from anorexia, bipolar disorder, or autism, the therapist is obligated to “ignore all of that, and say, ‘Yes, here is your letter of recommendation to go on puberty blockers, cross- sex hormones, [or] get your breasts cut off.”’

“Yes, exactly,” says Naomi. “[That methodology] is by design in this profession, and there are great therapists out there, who will ask deeper questions and will walk with a child who has gender dysphoria and provide them good care, but those individuals are going against the ethical standards and guidelines in our profession, and they're taking a risk by doing that.”

Earlier this month, Naomi published an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal criticizing Santa Clara University’s Marriage and Family Therapy program, particularly its required human sexuality course. The article, titled “Santa Clara University’s Crazy Idea of Human Sexuality,” exposed explicit and coercive practices like assigning sadomasochistic erotica and mandatory sexual autobiographies, alongside ideological bias, unprofessional conduct, and racial stereotyping. Best argued these elements, coupled with denied accommodations, ethical violations, and retaliations against her, prioritize political agendas over neutral clinical training.

Just days after the article’s publication, Naomi was fired from her therapy internship. But before that, she was “summoned to a 15-on-one struggle meeting,” where her fellow “therapists-in-training” launched “character attacks” at her.

“These people called me unsafe. They called me a danger to the profession,” she tells Allie.

To hear more of Naomi’s wild story about what’s going on in the world of therapy education in our country, watch the episode above.

Want more from Allie Beth Stuckey?

To enjoy more of Allie’s upbeat and in-depth coverage of culture, news, and theology from a Christian, conservative perspective, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

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Seeking lasting Valentine’s romance? Try praying together



This Valentine’s Day, here’s something to consider about romance: Cupid’s arrow lasts far longer if it’s coated in faith and daily prayer.

While this might sound less thrilling or passionate than moonlit smooches or intimate fireplace cottage getaways, Harvard School of Public Health found a 50% reduction in divorce for those couples regularly attending religious services.

Given the hostile takeover of our counseling industry by secular 'experts,' it’s worth asking: Does botched, secular marriage counseling drive couples apart?

The American Journal of Family Therapy reported couples’ prayer reduces martial conflict, and several other studies confirm prayer bonds couples tightly.

This makes intuitive sense. Prayer is an emotionally intimate act. It’s pouring out the vulnerabilities of our souls, expressing our deepest gratitude and needs. While there are no Christian theological grounds for belief in one true soulmate, there’s strong evidence that engaging in prayer with a spouse who deeply cares for your soul can be a true soulmate.

Valentine’s Day has been hijacked into a nearly $28 billion affair, with superficial consumerism trumping deeper connection. Too often, we spend more time wining and dining — nothing wrong with those of course, within reason — than cultivating the substantive soul ties that last beyond chocolate boxes, champagne toasts, and rose petals.

It is a social travesty that every marriage counseling session does not recommend daily prayer. It could save shattering heartache, broken families, and childhood suffering, not to mention costly legal bills (estimated to average $30,000 for lawyering up in a divorce, per the Marriage Foundation).

The societal cost of broken families is enormous, especially when parents become single, further straining our bloated $1.6 trillion welfare social safety net. Single parenthood is one of the strongest, if not the strongest, factors linked to welfare use.

But sadly, our counseling industry is devoid of spiritual understanding and has been taken over by secularists who deny God’s healing power. For example, Sociology of Religion reported that psychologists are the least religious of professors, with 61% reporting themselves atheist (50%) or agnostic (11%). This is nearly the exact opposite of what people actually believe. Gallup found that 81% of Americans believe in God. Thus, we’re being fed “solutions” to deep, soul-filled problems by people who quite often don’t even believe in souls.

This negatively impacts marriages. American divorces skyrocketed as our country secularized.

Scholars Brad Wilcox from the University of Virginia, Amy Burdette from Florida State, and Christopher Ellison from University of Texas-San Antonio also note in the Journal of Marriage and Family that couples who attend church together “are significantly less likely than others to use drugs, to have conflicts over sexual infidelity, or to experience domestic violence.” They also have better parent-child relationships.

Psychiatric Times published a literature review of hundreds of studies, which found significantly less depression and substance abuse among religious people. Both women and men attending weekly religious services are significantly less likely to die “deaths of despair” — suicide, drug overdose, or alcohol poisoning — according to research from Harvard University's School of Public Health led by professor Tyler VanderWeele, a devout Catholic whom the left tried to cancel for sharing his views on traditional marriage.

Staying married significantly shields our mental health. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, along with numerous other places, notes that men and women who are divorced are significantly more likely to die by suicide than married people. The Journal of Epidemiology and Community Healthreported that divorced and separated men were nearly 2.4 times more likely to kill themselves than their married counterparts.

The Good Book had it right: “What God has joined together, let no one separate.” Matthew 19:6 is Jesus commanding Christians in a passage about marriage. Given the hostile takeover of our counseling industry by secular “experts” who are clueless about integrating God into their treatments, it’s worth asking: Does botched, secular marriage counseling drive couples apart?

Couples who pray together stay together. This Valentine’s Day, take that candlelight dinner; buy those earrings or tech gadget for your spouse. But in the name of saving romance, marriages, and lives, it’s time to return God to the center of our romantic relationships. He’s far wiser and more loving than anything we can contrive.

Why men need faith for mental health and meaningful lives



You probably didn’t hear that International Men’s Day was November 19. While arbitrary dates for these designations don’t signify much, there’s a stark contrast between the ho-hum response for men and the extravagant hullabaloo and pomp and circumstance around International Women’s Day, March 8.

For example, unlike International Women's Day, International Men's Day is not officially recognized by the United Nations. While men should wear it as a badge of honor from such a corrupt organization as the United Nations, this illustrates a telling, second-class treatment of men by global “elites.”

When addressing mental health, particularly for men, our mental health system often lacks connection to God’s healing power.

That men deserve support and acknowledgment for their sacrifices and vulnerabilities undermines the New World Order’s desire to feminize and divide our world into critical gender theory categories of masculine “oppressors” and feminine “oppressed.”

International Men’s Day was founded by Thomas Oaster, former director of the now-defunct Missouri Center for Men’s Studies at the University of Missouri, Kansas City. It’s partially a day to bring awareness to the abuse, violence, homelessness, and suicide men suffer. For example, a mere 8% of all workplace fatalities are women. Men are enormously more likely to put their physical bodies at occupational risk, composing an astonishing 92% of workplace deaths.

Unfortunately, America is generally in a mental health crisis, and men fatally suffer most. Men are four times more likely than women to kill themselves. Men make up 50% of the U.S. population but nearly 80% of suicides, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Last year, more than 50,000 people committed suicide in America. This is nearly 17 times the number of people murdered in the 9/11 terrorist attack and the highest number ever of suicides recorded. Before our current onslaught, the year with the previous highest suicide rate was 1941, the ashes of the Great Depression. Gallup reported in 2023 that clinical depression in lifetime and current depression both hit new highs.

Jeff Myers of Summit Ministries recently noted that every 10 years, the World Happiness Report reports levels of happiness in 143 nations by asking people to rate their happiness on a scale of 1 to 10. “The report reveals that Israeli young people — even with all their nation’s troubles — are the second-happiest people group in the world (slightly behind Lithuania),” Myers wrote. “American young people, on the other hand, are in 62nd place.”

America’s happiness ranking dropped precipitously in recent years, driven by a drop in purpose and meaning, especially among self-identified liberals and progressives. Yet men and women attending weekly religious services are significantly less likely to die "deaths of despair" — suicide, drug overdose, or alcohol poisoning — according to research from Harvard University’s School of Public Health.

Similarly, the National Bureau of Economic Research, a farm team for chairs of White House Council of Economic Advisers from left and right, reported last year that states reporting declining religious participation also saw increasing deaths of despair, and vice versa.

Psychiatric Times ran a literature review examining hundreds of studies and reported overwhelmingly less depression, suicide, and substance abuse among people of faith.

It’s no wonder then that progressives are more likely to be depressed, as they are also far more likely to be atheist. Pew Research found that 69% of atheists identify as Democrats or Democrat-leaning, while just 15% identify as Republicans and 17% as independents.

When it comes to gender, Pew also found men are far more likely to deny the existence of God, regardless of political party, though Republican atheists were slightly more likely to be male (70% male, 30% female) than Democrat atheists (65% male, 35% female).

Atheism is also correlated with psychopathy, as researchers from Case Western Reserve University and Babson College found, writing, “the more empathetic person was more likely religious. This also fits with a previous finding that women tend to be more religious or spiritual than men, which can now be explained by their stronger tendency towards empathy.”

When addressing mental health, particularly for men, our mental health system often lacks connection to God’s healing power. Studies reveal a significant disconnect between the religious beliefs of the general population and those in mental health professions. The journal Sociology of Religion found that psychologists are the least religious among professors, with 61% identifying as either atheist (50%) or agnostic (11%). Similarly, Harvard magazine reported that psychologists, along with biologists, are the least likely among professors to believe in God.

In contrast, Gallup found that 81% of Americans believe in God. Research by Harvard Medical School’s David Rosmarin, founder of the Center for Anxiety, highlights this gap. Rosmarin discovered that nearly 76% of patients sought spiritually integrated psychotherapy. However, his team also found that 36% of therapists expressed discomfort addressing spirituality and religion with clients, 19% rarely or never inquired about these topics, and 71% reported “little to no clinical training in this area.”

No matter their political stripe, based on mounds of scientific evidence (trust the science, right?), men are far less likely to engage in the lifesaving faith communities that are strongly tied with significantly less depression, substance abuse, and suicide.

Mental health often deteriorates around the holidays as feelings of loneliness compound. Let’s stand for our men and connect them with the healing power of God to save life and provide joy and peace.