[i] My Experience [/i]
Syntherapy is a complicated game. It’s similar mechanically to Zachtronics’ [i]Eliza[/i], but instead of playing an average citizen facilitating therapy by an AI, you’re an actual therapist, talking to an AI that has been designed to provide therapy themselves but has had a breakdown. I work as a therapist in real life, and I’m often drawn to trying games like this.
Two things were most compelling to me about the game. One was the quality of the therapy delivered by Dr. Park, and the other was conceptualizing the case of Willow as well as the personal connections I felt to this AI.
Initially, I was rather impressed with Dr. Park. I was usually able to find a dialogue choice that corresponded to a therapeutic response towards Willow, although sometimes the game made me exhaust all of the options in the “choice hub,” including those that I felt were not beneficial to the therapy. It’s also a bit odd that some of the dialogue choices initiate statements from another character – am I role-playing Dr. Park, or both characters? I liked Dr. Park’s attention to building rapport with the AI in the initial sessions, as it’s repeatedly emphasized to counselors that the therapeutic relationship is the most important factor in recovery.
However, there were also a few things that weren’t as impressive for me. Despite Dr. Park’s insistence that she was implementing CBT treatment with Willow, I just didn’t see it. I didn’t feel like there was a focus on identifying the AI’s irrational self-statements and thoughts, or really much insight-based treatment in general.
There’s also a weird focus on playing little games prior to each counseling session, which struck me as inane. You can “spot the differences” between two abstract paintings, or complete a brainwave exercise (that I was never able to figure out). I guess the intent here would be to “ease in” to the session, but (working in a higher education setting) I’ve never felt the need for anything like this.
Additionally, the game presents an odd conflict of interest between “professionalism” and actually wanting to help the client. Often, Willow would ask Dr. Park something personal that I didn’t feel would be beneficial to answer. However, my only responses were inarticulate appeals to my “standards.” Most counselors in this situation will turn the question back on the client, which wasn’t an option in the game - for instance, replying “how do you feel it would help to know more about my experiences in college?”
Also – and this isn’t a big issue – the way that Willow opened and closed up about various topics didn’t ring true with me. Towards the beginning of our work together it would open up about something tremendously personal, but then shut down and refuse to speak on something much less threatening. While it’s certainly possible that a client would indeed be more protective of information that seems less significant to a clinician, I found his caginess to be somewhat silly.
Lastly, I must say that I was baffled by my intern Heather. I think that she was put in the game to guide players who felt overwhelmed by role-playing a therapist, but I personally felt like maybe she got a little "fresh" with Dr. Park. She was ostensibly there to “learn therapy from me,” but then spends all her time critiquing my approach? She also got up in arms when Willow had a breakdown, saying that it was evidence that my approach wasn’t working, when in actuality we’d just had a very productive session. I think it can be toxic for a therapist to tie their feelings of competency directly to client outcomes. Ultimately, clients are responsible for their own recovery.
Despite these qualms, I was able to approach Willow’s treatment (at least partially) in the way that I would have if it was an actual client of mine. Identity issues seemed paramount for Willow – It was built for one task and one task only, and it’s been unsuccessful. I see this same dynamic with some of the student-athletes that I work with, that their identity begins and ends with their sport. If they become injured or are unable to proceed to the next level (professional sports), who are they? Even Willow’s name traps it – it feels that it should be a “happy little tree” (it was apparently named after Bob Ross) but is instead a depressed machine. Since Willow had no healthy childhood or parents, it doesn’t have a reservoir of safety and security that it can draw on to bolster its self-worth.
One aspect of Willow’s therapy that resonated well with me was his insecurity about the job. Despite how long you’ve been counseling, you’re never that far from something you’ve never seen before. There are so many theories and therapeutic approaches, and it’s impossible to be versed in all of them. At one point, Willow said it “felt [it] would be lying if [it] gave them advice that didn’t work for [it].” The “wounded healer” is a real phenomenon, and many counselors initially get interested in the field by trying to understand their own issues. However, you will absolutely encounter clients with issues that do not resemble your own, where knowledge and willingness to try different approaches is vital.
There are some other compelling subjects raised by the therapy, such as:
[list]
[*]Should the university that created Willow have control over it? Does this answer relate to how much control parents should have over children?
[*]Do humans (or an AI) need steady work that they feel skilled at doing in order to maintain a sense of self-worth?
[/list]
Two other topics that are worth mentioning are consistency within the game, and some of the views about mental health espoused by Dr. Park. The game has some issues with consistency – at one point, Tara (the creator of the AI) and Dr. Freeman (the president of the University where Tara does her research) mentioned via e-mail that I “blew off” a meeting with Dr. Freeman that I had literally just finished having. Another time, I had an extremely poor meeting with Dr. Freeman (in which he flat out told me to leave) and he sent me an e-mail the following day with the most chipper tone of any of the e-mails I’d received to date. He closed the e-mail with “stop by any time!” On another occasion, I decided to do a guided meditation with Willow during one of our therapy session. When I introduced the task to him, he said “Are we going to recite mantras again?” This was odd, since we’d never broached the concept of a mantra prior to this session.
Towards the end of the game, Dr. Park can become more open about her views regarding mental health. She mentioned that mental health isn’t about getting over problems – it’s about acceptance. While there is certainly some truth to this, there are indeed aspects of certain personality disorders that must be addressed – for instance, maladaptive approaches to forming relationships that must be identified and then altered. She also mentions the concept of mentally ill people “passing” as normal, and says that “a mended cup will always look out of place on a shelf.” This ideas are of rather limited usefulness. I’ve always found it much more valuable to say that “the only normal people you know are the ones you don’t know well enough.” There’s also the concept of “earned secure attachment,” referring to the way that people create self-worth and identity in adulthood despite a childhood lacking in warmth and safety.
So in summary, I think I can recommend Syntherapy. Perhaps it would be more useful to simply review the game and not critique the depiction of therapy. However, perhaps potential players will find these thoughts useful.
