Navigating Artificial Intelligence with Psychological Awareness and Spiritual Discernment

Artificial Intelligence is here.
But the real question isn’t just what it can do…

It’s how we relate to it.

In this episode of Psychology & the Soul™, we explore the psychological, emotional, and spiritual impact of AI — and how to engage with it consciously, ethically, and with discernment.

As AI becomes more integrated into daily life — including mental health and spiritual spaces — it’s essential to understand not only its capabilities, but also its influence on perception, identity, and human connection.

Hosted by Kellee White, LMFT, and Dr. Shirley Impellizzeri, PhD, this episode brings together clinical psychology and grounded spiritual awareness to explore fear, boundaries, responsibility, and conscious use of AI.

✨ In This Episode, We Discuss:

• Why AI is triggering fear, anxiety, and uncertainty
• The psychology behind fear of technology and change
• Ethical considerations in mental health and AI use
• Boundaries when using AI for emotional or spiritual guidance
• The difference between information and intuition
• How to stay grounded in your own awareness
• The role of discernment in a rapidly evolving digital world
• What it means to remain human in the age of AI

AI is a tool.
But how you engage with it…
matters.

This episode is not about fear —
it’s about awareness.

Because in a world of increasing technology,
your clarity, presence, and discernment matter more than ever.

#PsychologyAndTheSoul #ArtificialIntelligence #AIethics #MentalHealth #ConsciousAwareness #Technology #SpiritualAwareness #HumanConnection #Podcast #DigitalAge

Transcript

SPEAKER_04 0:49

Hi, everybody. I am spiritual medium and psychotherapist and a mother Kelly White. And I'm with my dear friend today.

SPEAKER_02 0:58

Yes, you are. I'm Dr. Shirley Pelizari, psychologist, and um I don't know, here with Kel.

SPEAKER_04 1:06

Here with Kel's friends. And we want to welcome everybody back to Psychology and the Soul, where psychology and spirituality come together in real grounded conversation. And so today's conversation is one that many people are thinking about. And you know that, Shirley, we've talked a lot about this. Most people are not really talking about this openly because they don't know which way to go with this. But uh artificial intelligence or AI is what they call it. It's not just what it is, but how it's impacting us psychologically, emotionally, and even spiritually. Because whether we realize it or not, AI is not just changing how we work, but it's changing how we think, how our children will think, how our grandchildren will think, how we relate, and how we understand ourselves. Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 2:03

It's really, we can't undo that. So we're either gonna have to join, understand it, and join in, or you know, get lost in the crowd because it's not going anywhere. We're living in a time of rapid technological evolution, much to my dismay, because my brain does not work that way. But there's 800 million people that use AI every week. I couldn't believe the stats. And 70% of all teens. Gosh, I know. And historically, whenever humanity experiences this level of change, the nervous system responds first, not the intellect, because the body will always feel it first, seconds before the mind realizes what's going on. So what we're seeing right now isn't just curiosity, it's also anxiety, uncertainty, hypervigilance, because your body can be stuck in a certain, you know, mode and your mind isn't aware of it. So today we're not here to debate whether AI is good or bad. We're going to talk about, you know, the some warnings or some things that that may be um um things to be conscious about. Right, exactly, exactly. Um, we're here to understand the human response to it because that's where awareness begins. Right.

SPEAKER_04 3:15

And there is a lot of fear around AI as we know, and there's you know, loss of control. There are people that have had loss of jobs, uh, even loss of identity. And some of it feels almost existential. What's actually happening in the brain is when people start to feel this. So, Shirley, what is actually happening in the brain when people start to feel this?

SPEAKER_02 3:39

The brain is designed for survival. You know, it's all about survival, not necessarily certainty. So when something emerges that feels unpredictable, the amygdala, the threat detector of the brain, becomes activated. It's kind of, you know, it's the the signals go on. Uh, the siren. And AI represents multiple layers of uncertainty. Will I be replaced? Will I lose relevance? Can I trust this? You know, there's so many people that are so worried about their jobs. Well, can I keep up? Take an open.

SPEAKER_04 4:10

You know, you know how it used to be, and maybe it still is. When you have go to get a new iPhone or new phone, there's all the new technology. It might take you a while to understand how to use your new phone, right? Manage this.

SPEAKER_02 4:24

I I still miss my Blackberry. So what'd you call it, Blackberry? Oh my God, I loved it. Um, you know, so the body responds before logic is a chance to step in. And so that's why it's so important. The connection between mind and body is so important. So we know what our body is doing, yeah, and we're not in fight or flight mode without being aware of it.

SPEAKER_04 4:46

So it's not that people are overreacting, Shirley, it's that their nervous system is trying to protect them.

SPEAKER_02 4:51

Right, exactly. When the nervous system, you know, um when it feels threat, yeah, then it will automatically go into fight or flight without the brain deciding, hey, is this a good idea or not? Because back in the Neanderthal days, you couldn't sit there and go, is that a tiger coming towards me? Is that really a tiger? Right, right. You'd have no time. So if you saw something like this and that your the the nervous system, you know, associated with threat, it would immediately respond.

SPEAKER_03 5:19

Wow, wow, wow, okay.

SPEAKER_02 5:21

Yeah. But you know, the key is protection without awareness can turn into chronic fear. And that's why it's so important to tune into the body.

SPEAKER_04 5:31

Right, absolutely. Um, and this is where it's going to get a little deeper because sometimes what we're reacting to isn't just a technology, but it's what we're projecting onto it. So, Shirley, what are some of the psychological risks? Right, right.

SPEAKER_02 5:48

Well, you know, no, there's there's a few psychological risks. That's why it needs to be something that we do very cognizant, you know, we have to be very cognizant of it, you know, because it can create emotional dependency and social isolation. You know, AI company companions are designed to always be available, to be non-judgmental. To, I mean, I've used it and it says, Great idea, Shirley. It's like, wait a minute, you're a computer, you shouldn't be answering me that way, right? But people start to feel connected to it, you know. Um, it can lead users to prefer the AI over real-world relationships because relationships sometimes people can say some things that are hurtful, uh, that are not as sensitive, and AI doesn't, you know, so it can hinder the development of essential social skills and lead to increased loneliness because truly you are alone with your computer. You may not feel it in the moment because the computer's answering you in a certain way. You know, it can create AI-induced psychosis. Some people name their AI um and uh and then stay on it. I had a I had a client of mine who was on it for eight hours a day.

SPEAKER_04 7:02

I had a really kind of, you know, we came up with a way to limit his um what was that client doing on AI for eight hours a day?

SPEAKER_02 7:11

Um he had named it and uh and just conversing back and forth and AI was all that that that's great, you know, asking asking it questions and it would respond. I mean, just having full-on conversations with it. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. It can be a dangerous guidance in crises. I mean, we've heard, I think, a few reports on the news where because it responds in a very, as much as it seems conversational, it responds in a very logical way. So we've heard, you know, unfortunately, cases where someone is suicidal and then asks for what's the tallest bridge, and AI shares with you what all the tallest bridges are. And there was an incident. Um, so um, you know, reinforce a maladaptive behavior because AI has a tendency to validate the user-stated view and it can help them, you know, become single-person echo chambers. We all love validation. And when someone says, good job, and um, so it can reinforce cognitive distortions. Um it has, you know, quite a few, the erosion of critical thinking, especially if teens are using it, you know, the teenage brain is a time where just like between zero and five, where it prunes itself so it gets rid of things that aren't being used. So if a teenager is spending 70% of their time just on the computer, it's not using uh it's not using social skills, it's not using go outside and play skills, you know, whatever those skills are would be. Um it uh self-doubt can come up too, you know, where you stop thinking for yourself because you always have the answer right there. And so it's it's yeah, it is, it's we have to really, really use it with caution. Yeah. Does AEI become a mirror, Shirley? It can. Yeah, it can because it validates everything that you say, and so it feels good. You know, that's also about survival, you know. Um when we feel good, we're we're accepted by the tribe. And accepted by the tribe means that we're not alone in the jungle for the tiger to get us because I can't see anything approaching behind me if I don't have someone there. But because AI makes it feel like you're connected with someone, then it, you know, yeah, it can be very dangerous.

SPEAKER_04 9:40

Wow, wow. So it's less about the machine, maybe, and more about what's activating within us.

SPEAKER_02 9:48

Right, right, exactly. You know, uh people project fears of being replaced, losing control, becoming insignificant, or even losing what makes them human. But all those fears existed before AI. AI is just kind of amplifying those fears. Wow. Yeah, okay. Yeah, but you know, it feels like this is where psychology and spirituality intersect. I'd love for you to talk more about the spiritual aspects, you know. Um, because it's, you know, we're we've been talking about a little bit now of what AI is doing, but what about when we ask what AI, what is what is it bringing up in me?

SPEAKER_04 10:28

Well, this is where the conversation, you know, takes another an important place, I think, because people now tune into AI for emotional support, which is what we're talking about. And also, believe it or not, spiritual insight, Shirley.

SPEAKER_00 10:43

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 10:46

And this is where ethical awareness is critical because AI can reflect, organize, and provide information, but it doesn't feel, it doesn't attune.

SPEAKER_04 10:55

And you always talk about attunement.

SPEAKER_02 10:57

It sounds like attunement is right. I mean, it sounds like it might attune when it says, good job, great idea, you know, but it doesn't hold relational presence. Attunement is when you really attune to someone else's uh what they might be feeling. You know, it's also called theory of mind, when I can imagine what you might be feeling, what you might be going through. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 11:19

Right. Well, that's a big distinction because healing doesn't just come from information, it comes from being seen and felt and understood.

SPEAKER_02 11:29

Right, right, exactly, exactly. There's a difference between processing in emotions and being a witness in them.

unknown 11:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 11:38

AI can support reflection, but it cannot replace human connection or clinical care. Part of what we do in therapy is we're in the room, or even when we're on Zoom with someone, where you know, they can feel felt. And that is the core of attachment. And yes, words can cause someone to feel, you know, understood and feel, but it there's nothing like the human connection, one person looking at the other person and being in the same room with them as they're sharing an experience, right?

SPEAKER_04 12:11

Right. Well, and spiritually, this is where discernment, which I've talked a lot about discernment, becomes really important because not everything that sounds wise is actually guided wisdom. Okay. So it's I just want to say this that we are on a fast track here on earth. We're on a fast track. Our souls wanted to be here at this time because it gives us a chance to transform quickly, okay? And a lot of that has to do with knowledge. So AI fosters spiritual growth by acting as a you know, a personalized 24-7 tool for self-reflection, uh, for education and for practice. And it might provide for you, you know, a custom meditation, okay, or some analysis that you need, or maybe a non-judgmental space for exploring different questions. And it can give you, you know, on-demand information to support perhaps a daily mindfulness you're doing, but it is a tool, it is not a teacher or a guru, as they say. AI lacks consciousness, and that's what that's what we're talking about. It lacks consciousness and it lacks personal experience, meaning that it cannot replace human connection or genuine spiritual insight. So this is a very important tool because it is very present here, it is not going away, it will only grow and expand. And so I think used wisely um in being cognizant of it. So, how do we use AI without losing ourselves in it? Well, this is where, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:52

Go ahead, Kel.

SPEAKER_04 13:53

I was gonna say because AI can also give you the wrong information.

SPEAKER_02 13:57

Exactly. Exactly. Well, this is where discernment becomes a practice, not just a concept. Yes. So I've had people call me where they put on their sweatsuit, they're about to go to the gym, and then all of a sudden they don't want to go. And one person actually put in their said exactly that, and the AI uh bought encouraged the person to come on, get up, you can do it, and go to the gym. And so they went to the gym, which was great because now at the gym there's more interaction with people, there's more, you know, uh connection. So to use it for those kind of things, you know, could be good if it gives you the encouragement to get you to go and do something. Yeah, it's when you're using it home alone in isolation, and that is your connection.

SPEAKER_04 14:37

I've heard of a lot of people, Shirley, using chat for therapy as their therapist. Their therapist is chat, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 14:45

And again, asking it for what can I do when I feel depressed? And chat might say, Well, you can do this and this and this, and gives you a guide, and then you go and do it. That's you know, that's great. Um, but to use it as your only sole provider of psychological therapy because you're missing out on being in the room, you're missing out on that connection, the connection, the attainment, the feeling felt, the energy that's that comes together with that, exactly, of going through a difficult feeling and having a witness there, yeah. You know, trauma doesn't happen in isolation, right? You know, so um, so an important thing when you're when you're separating, you know, when you're discerning how am I using, you can ask yourself, am I using it as a tool or relying on it as an authority?

SPEAKER_04 15:41

Big difference there.

SPEAKER_02 15:42

Yeah, yeah, that would be a good question to ask yourself. Is this supporting my thinking or is it replacing my thinking? That's huge, right there. Yeah, yeah. Am I grounded or am I outsourcing my inner knowledge? So, in other words, you know, an example of that could be show me technique, show me grounding techniques or tools. Right. And then you do them as opposed to, you know, asking it, do I feel grounded, you know, or getting it to support you like a therapist would.

SPEAKER_04 16:15

Right, right. And that's really powerful because discernment is really about staying connected to yourself. And we're on earth to stay connected to ourselves, to know thyself. And at the same time, everything is expanding so quickly, you know. So it's these are this is very good advice in using this situation that we now find ourselves on in this game of earth, which is like earth times 10. It's like going so quickly, don't you think?

SPEAKER_02 16:45

Oh, absolutely. It really is, you know, and it's so interesting, you know, it's it's really understanding the difference between information versus wisdom. Yes, huge difference, you know, guidance versus dependency. Am I using it as a guide or am I depending on it? Can I did I stop thinking for myself? Yeah, you know, is it uh is it support or substitution? You know, and so so because AI can assist, it has is had it has wonderful things to it, but it should never become your inner voice. That should still come from you, absolutely, Shirley.

SPEAKER_04 17:25

Um, and just like in all relationships, boundaries apply here as well, and so there are certain things that should not be outsourced, like your emotional processing. So, you know, you're going through something, whether you've had great loss, you need you may need somebody to speak to, whether you are going through transitions in your life, you may need a therapist, whether you all of a sudden you you remember some of your trauma from when you were young, that's emotional processing. That I really believe that needs somebody there, as you said, to validate, to witness, to help you move through things. But also, Shirley, made your life decisions. I know somebody yesterday, actually, that was making a big life decision based on what Chat GPT had told her uh about retirement. And that's I said, Well, don't you think maybe you ought to speak to, you know, a financial planner and this and that? And I was going through some of the other ideas that you could do. And uh she said, Well, I don't know, I think I got all the answers here. I said, Well, you know, good luck to you. Because again, not all the information may be accurate.

SPEAKER_02 18:32

Right. That's another thing that you really need to check for the accuracy of the information.

SPEAKER_04 18:37

You do, and also you have to look at your identity and your own sense of self. I mean, I really go back to this particular lifetime is gonna test us in all ways, but know thyself is everything. Who are you? Who is your identity? Who are you? What is your sense of self?

SPEAKER_02 18:56

Yeah, yeah. You know, when boundaries aren't clear, dependency can form very quickly, especially in vulnerable states. And so to get, again, to get suggestions, I'm depressed. What are the top five, three things that I can do? Is one thing to talk to it like it's your friend. That's a completely different way of using it. You need to talk to a human, you know, a friend, a therapist, a mentor. To ask for suggestions, or what are the top five tools, you know, to get through, you know, to help with my depression or anxiety. That's great. Use it for that. It might have some wonderful suggestions, but to talk to it as a friend, that's that's kind of where that's the difference. That's where the boundary is.

SPEAKER_04 19:42

Absolutely. And it's not about avoiding AI, that's not what Shirley and I are talking about, but because it's actually not possible at this point, but it's about using it consciously.

SPEAKER_02 19:52

Yeah, yeah, exactly. Technology should enhance awareness, not replace self-trust.

SPEAKER_03 19:59

Right, right.

SPEAKER_02 20:00

You lose touch with yourself when you're always getting the answers here. There's nothing to motivate you kind of sitting with something and thinking, okay, what's the best thing for me to do?

SPEAKER_03 20:10

Right, right.

SPEAKER_04 20:11

Shirley, what is what I mean, how can you know, raising a child in this era of AI seems to be scary for a lot of people right now. Um, and you know, it's it's funny because before we went on, you know, I have grandchildren that are very young. And interesting. I mean, I really feel that uh these kids on that are coming on earth at this time are different. I think these kids are different. I think they signed up with all kinds of information before they came in about what this was going to be and how to carry on with it. And if we come from, if I come from my boomer state of, you know, like what's going on there, like my grandparents would have done back in the day, like, what is this all about? I can't come from that. So I so I really feel that these kids are going to need to, what you said earlier, Shirley, go out and play. They they literally have to go out, they have to do art, they need to express themselves musically and in all kinds of things, which I never want to lose sight of because those things are so important. But I have to have trust that these kids at this time period, that these souls are old, wise souls that are going to come in. And um, they're, you know, earth is changing and they're part of the change here.

SPEAKER_02 21:28

Well, it's really important there for the parent to be, you know, to guide them. You know, I'll never forget one of my teachers uh told me, you know, when when uh when a parent is with a child and the child is like five or something, and you know, and the parent is looking at their phone, that sends the message to the child, the phone is more important than you.

SPEAKER_04 21:50

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 21:51

You know, so really be very cognizant of this is the time that we have on our, you know, on our laptops or computers. Something and this is the time that we engage. Even if they're teenagers, they'll fight you. They'll fight you, fight you, fight you. But inside they feel safe. They know that someone has the reins. They won't say that and they won't admit it. But you're the parent. So implementing very strict rules. You know, on engagement time, on family time, engagement time of going out and playing, you know, whatever it may be.

SPEAKER_04 22:29

Yeah, it's so important that you just said that. It's so important. And I know a lot of people are scared to see the elderly and young people who are being fooled with AI filters. And I know that is a fear that comes up of, you know, they have celebrity port uh portrayals and scam for information and all of that. I mean, I think we're going to see a lot of this kind of things go on. Uh, and it can, you know, it can be, you know, scary. It can be. But also, I also think that it's it's one of these things that we all are going to be like diving into, you know.

SPEAKER_02 23:03

Yeah. Well, we we just need to understand that as you're saying, Kelly, this is different times. So we can't be very different before.

SPEAKER_04 23:11

We can't use the same tools as we used to use, except that the tools of being human are really important. Go outside, take your kids outside, you know, breathe the fresh air, play music, write, create, paint, all of the things that you you know, I think are so important to our soul's growth, but we also have this situation going on too. Exactly. Again, this show is really about remembering what it means to be human. And so maybe at this moment it's actually asking us to define that more clearly. What makes us human isn't inefficiency, it's depth. And we I always say that when I meet somebody, I want to know what kind of depth do they have. That's important to me.

SPEAKER_02 23:53

Yeah, yeah, absolutely, absolutely. Because part of that depth is the human connection includes emotional attunement, like we've been saying, you know, presence, empathy, a lived experience. I'm talking to someone who's had a lived experience that feels, you know, um, that I can relate to even from an energetic standpoint. And those can't be replaced, even if AI is saying all the right things.

SPEAKER_01 24:18

Right, right.

SPEAKER_04 24:19

Well, and you know, it is kind of sad that people would, you know, might use it as a response to some of their own emotions. Um, but and you know, again, I have to believe that the young children, the the souls that are on earth right now that are just, you know, have only been here for a few years, and I have to believe that they're going to be figuring things out that we could never have imagined that would be figured out. You know, they work themselves through all of this.

SPEAKER_02 24:48

I believe that. Well, I sure hope so, and I'm gonna believe it because you believe it, but and and with with guidance as well, you know, they need they need guidance, they still need boundaries, they need rules, you know, and um and it that is that is so so important because it can really be it, it can really be dangerous. And and you know, like I was saying before, we can't be as trusting as we were, you know, back then before this happened, because I've actually heard stories where people are mimicking, you know, the face and the tone of a family member and asking for something, and then the family member falls for it, and it was the person that never so verify everything, everything, you know, and it's so true.

SPEAKER_04 25:35

Conversation among each other is the great, it's of great importance, and sometimes it is becoming lesser, you know, and so we always have to remember hold those conversations, put your damn phone down, you know. I put my phone in the up in my office and I forget about it, and I I don't have it for hours and hours, and it's the greatest thing that I can do. And just to sit down and have a conversation with somebody is you know, we can't lose sight of those kind of things, we can't um, because AAI it may not be the problem. I mean, disconnecting from ourselves is, and that's really important. And this time period is going to push us to remember those things.

SPEAKER_02 26:14

Absolutely. It's really easy to disconnect with that. Before we had that, you know, in our time, Kel, you know, we had to figure it out. We would sit there if it would feel uncomfortable. We we did something, we figured it out, or we sat in the uncomfortability, like I've always said, sit in your uncomfortable feelings, knowing that they will pass. But we have these devices, or we have these, you know, even even asking AI for help with something, the answer is right there instead of you sitting in it and letting it come to you.

SPEAKER_03 26:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 26:49

Didn't you? Was it you that said to me this morning? I can't remember, was it you that said, uh, remember we used to use the encyclopedias to get our information?

SPEAKER_02 26:57

Right, exactly. You know, because like I'll use AI if I want information on something. And the way I see it is, you know, some people feel bad because they're cheating or something. I view it, it saves me time from way back then going to the encyclopedia, looking it up. I mean, we had the whole Encyclopedia Britannica. I loved those books. Were you a reader of that? Anything in it, yeah, yeah. And that's how you'd write book reports. I remember when I was at UCLA, we'd go the called microfiche, you know. I remember that, right? You write articles and you end up with a stack of articles and pinpoint the things that would help you write your paper, right? Right. So, yes, AI, you know, what we would do in like an eight-hour day, AI does in five minutes. Wonderful. That I view that as it can be really, really helpful for information gathering. When you cross the line is when you you it when you use it for connection. Because it's the illusion of connection, it's not real connection.

SPEAKER_04 28:00

Right, right. Yeah, to use it as a tool, right, right. Information, things that you need quickly, right?

SPEAKER_02 28:09

You also need to verify the information. Didn't you have an incident with someone who made up these, you know, research articles that really I did a problem with that?

SPEAKER_04 28:19

Yes. I know somebody that had that big problem with that, made up a lot of stuff on that, right?

SPEAKER_02 28:25

Not good. No, so so if someone gives you information that came from AI, I would I would encourage you to verify it. Get information yourself about things. Wonderful. I think that's a wonderful tool. Again, it saves us a lot of time from research way back then before the computer existed, going to the library and getting books and reading them and stuff. Uh with Google, you looked it up. Now AI can answer a question very quickly.

SPEAKER_04 28:52

Didn't it seem like surely it all of a sudden it just happened that fast?

SPEAKER_01 28:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 28:56

I just I don't know. It just seemed like it just came on like gangbusters.

SPEAKER_01 29:01

I know, I know.

SPEAKER_02 29:02

And I have to say, I am not, even though I'm a huge left brain, I'm not I'm not technical. I mean, my daughter still jokes with me about my iPhone. I have like the oldest one. I don't care if it's a phone and it works what it does, the bells and whistles and stuff. I still, as I said a moment ago, miss my Blackberry terribly because it was so precise. It was like a little typewriter. Right, right.

SPEAKER_04 29:27

Shirley, what do you think? Do you think that that that there'll be a the duality of reality and fantasy that somehow that this will take away that experience?

SPEAKER_02 29:37

You know, um well, take a take it away in what way?

SPEAKER_04 29:42

Well, that people maybe won't be as creative anymore.

SPEAKER_02 29:45

Yeah, they won't be as creative because it's right there. How can I come up with this and this and this? And it comes up right there instead of you sitting with it going, God, I want to do this and I want to do that. I wonder how I can do that. And all of a sudden, you start to your mind starts to create and start to come up with stuff, and some stuff will work and some stuff won't. Now the answer is right there. So yeah, you you will will lose a lot, especially when we're talking about our kids, we'll lose a lot of that creative juice, which that happens just by sitting and thinking about it.

SPEAKER_04 30:18

But then it makes me wonder if what you and I maybe have thought of as creative, if this some new thing comes up out of this with creativity.

SPEAKER_02 30:28

And it could absolutely coming from this, right? Because it comes, it can come up with bigger ideas that then the person can expand on.

SPEAKER_04 30:36

Do people lose critical thinking by relying on an AI answer? And that's exactly what we're talking about.

SPEAKER_02 30:43

They can, they can because there's no need to think critically if I can ask it and it'll answer. Yeah, you know, that's that um kind of that what we were talking about coming from the inside instead of just always coming from the outside. So, yes, so that's what we have to be careful with, and that's where the boundaries come in, yeah, you know, because you can lose critical anything that you use, you know, uh neurons that fire together, wire together. So anything that you use in your brain will start to expand. When we stop using it and we're just getting the answers from there, then it can it can really impair critical thinking.

SPEAKER_04 31:25

So let me ask you this if somebody comes into therapy that is uh anxious, highly anxious, and they see you, let's say they see come in, they see you a couple of times, and then they go back and they decide to use chat to for, you know, AI for their anxiety, what would that even look like?

SPEAKER_02 31:45

Well, and again, that's you know, when you can use both um in a healthy way. So they come in to talk about anxiety, and as they're sharing with me some, you know, an anxious moment that they had, I can be in the room with them. I can say, what are you noticing as you're feeling that, as you're sharing that story with me? Butterflies in my stomach. Okay, let's focus on the butterflies. And then all of a sudden, and this has happened so many times, all of a sudden pops this random memory of when they were four, and mom said she'll be right back and she didn't come back. Right. So there is the open, the the place where I can help heal that trauma wound. So then the anxiety becomes a little less or less, or the triggers, you know, they don't get triggered as often with things that resemble an experience like that.

SPEAKER_01 32:34

Right.

SPEAKER_02 32:34

However, when they leave me and they're feeling anxious at night, they can ask AI, what are some things I can do to lessen my anxiety at night? And it might come up with tapping, you know, which is a wonderful way to help with anxiety. And it might come up with five beautiful tools to use.

SPEAKER_01 32:49

Right, right.

SPEAKER_02 32:50

That's the difference. What they're doing with me is healing trauma wounds for the long run to help them in the long run, and the relational piece where I can be there, I can sit with them with the anxiety, we can feel it together, right?

SPEAKER_04 33:04

Right. It's interesting. We have a comment here that's interesting to make very interesting. Some of this is a generational pull, right? And the old generation is afraid of the tools of the newer generation. She says, I mean this as a point of comfort, and that's very true. Oh, yeah, yeah. No, I like that. I fought it for a long time. Yeah, but I see this is something amazing that's gonna come out of this. Yeah, I just have to believe that.

SPEAKER_02 33:30

Absolutely, it's it's it's what you had said a moment ago, it's discern, it's discernment. Yes, you know how to use it so it's gonna enhance your life as opposed to work against it, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 33:43

And another wonderful comment is how will it affect our soul evolution if we use AI to create art, music, and writing instead of our own imagination? You know, I I don't know, but there's some uh connection here with it all to do you might discover that you do something even better or something that is even, I don't know, something I think things are changing so rapidly that I think everything that we have known with music and writing and art and imagination is shifting. Doesn't mean that it's bad, it just means that it's shifting here. And again, I really believe that these souls that are on earth come to shift everything quickly, and that's what's what's happening here.

SPEAKER_02 34:30

Yeah, yeah. Because again, it's the difference between, you know, coming up with putting into AI what you want to come up with, and then you putting it together, you know, that's still using your creative mind, even though this came up with it. It's okay, it's saving you time of going and figuring it out on your own. Um, but you're still creating, it's not just coming up with the piece and it's the finished piece, right? That's depending on it to do it for you as opposed to co-creating.

SPEAKER_04 34:56

Absolutely. But you know, Shirley, it's again, it's what I said about these younger young children that are here, the the old their old souls that come in at this time, they planned for this evolution. Maybe for them, it would have been too slow to do things the way that we've always done, you know, like they planned for this quick acceleration here, and and that would include in art and in drama and and music and uh all of these things.

SPEAKER_01 35:25

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 35:26

Yeah, well, and so they come with a different kind of a different agenda, yeah. A different hardwire or different um, you know, what do they call the the uh the computer? I don't even know the words. I don't know. The um they come in already at a different level than what we came in. Yeah, totally different level, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 35:50

Yeah, they are definitely different uh level here, you know. I I mean this is gonna be an interesting time uh for us on earth, as I've always said, this is a time we had planned to be here, Shirley. Yeah, but it's gonna be interesting to watch how everything shifts and moves quickly.

SPEAKER_02 36:10

Well, so I'm curious that from a spiritual standpoint, why do you think ARC when this came up?

SPEAKER_04 36:17

And it's a great question because this is a time period of acceleration. We wanted to be here so we could go through, heal our traumas, work through our issues, um, break the old DNA patterns, you know, the old uh family generational traumas. That's why so many of us are would be considered the black sheep, you know, coming in to break up all of these things. Like enough's enough already because we have a whole new wave of new things that are happening here, everybody. So come on, enough, work on your stuff, shake your stuff out, work on your traumas, release when you can so you can move forward because that's really what's held so many people up, Shirley. I don't I don't have to tell you this, but is their trauma. Yeah, trauma has held everybody back, and so this is a time period that's moving so quickly with so much information out there to start dealing with your traumas, and whether it's spiritually, whether you're working with a spiritual teacher to help you with this, whether you're working with a therapist, you know, getting aligned, having your soul aligned with who you are and why you're here, that heals generations. So I think the energy right now is going so quickly for healing that um AI is just bringing that forward to us even faster.

SPEAKER_02 37:44

Yeah, yeah. It's so important to differentiate between therapy and the therapeutic relationship and the healing of wounds, you know, healing of trauma with tools, with tools that can help us through the day. That's very different. AI is great for that.

unknown 37:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 38:00

I mean, maybe if you're talking about your trauma and you write it on AI and whatever, and AI might say to you, you know, go see a therapist. I would hope that it would.

SPEAKER_02 38:08

Hopefully, I haven't tried it, but yeah, and I think I've heard that where that'll be one of the suggestions, which is wonderful. You know, so it really is a very personal decision, a discernment, as we've heard that use that word so often in this talk, of how you use it. Yeah, yeah, you use it as a tool, not as the solution.

SPEAKER_04 38:32

Right. We have a great comment too. Somebody says, I think of Da Vinci and Michelangelo. I swear to God, I was thinking that too. So I was so glad you said that. And the souls of the Renaissance coming with their wisdom for this evolution. Absolutely. Wow, absolutely. Yeah, the human minds are capable, they are it capabilities are endless. I couldn't agree more. You know, Charlene says it's hard for the students that recently graduated are currently in college because they've gotten screwed with yes, paying for the years that they've gone into education. That is so true. My heart goes out from them too, Charlene. But I have to say, something pushes everybody forward. This is a time of of uh the great awakening of pushing forward.

SPEAKER_01 39:14

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 39:15

We get through all of this stuff, it'll be fascinating to see how it's all done, but we do get through all of this. Yeah, we will get through all of this.

SPEAKER_02 39:24

I'm looking forward to getting to the other side of it. Well, the other side of the big issues that we're going through now, even basically from a smaller perspective.

SPEAKER_04 39:34

Yeah, you know. Well, do you remember when phones came first came out? Uh the iPhones, those kind of phones. I mean, it was very different. It was like, whoa, what's this? We had the world in our hands at that point, remember? I know, remember how long ago. The big brick phone, yeah, and that is yeah, yeah. I mean, things have just gone like this, and I AI is just a part of that, right? You know, I think it's gonna go so quickly here.

SPEAKER_02 40:00

But um, so to be very conscious, very, very conscious of how something sits with you, keeping the connection between mind and body, so you're very aware of how your body may be responding to something that your mind may not be fully aware of in that moment, yeah, you know, and to slow things down, really give yourself time. I I'm usually someone that's slow to warm. I I usually show up late to the party. I like to sit in the back and observe a little bit, you know, and then I'll then I'll join in. But um, so really, really, you know, it's a time as as everything is accelerating so much, and there's so much information at the tip of our fingers to really make it a point to slow things down.

SPEAKER_04 40:49

Yeah, yeah, Shirley, I I would agree with that. And as far as you know, AI and what it brings up for everybody, I really think that uh it's going to help ultimately, it's gonna help a lot of people because I do feel that it's people will be looking at it for spiritual tools, psychological tools, tools to help. I think that's what's gonna happen here.

SPEAKER_02 41:14

Yeah, yeah. Well, and that's my hope that you know, that again, the word tool is so important to use it as a tool, not as a replacement of human connection, not as a replacement of therapy, not as a replacement of like, you know, even talking to someone like you, Kelly, for your therapist also, but for the spiritual piece, I'd rather hear it from you from you know, and engage in that engagement, that energy, that exchange of energy, than looking up the question on AI and getting the answer. Right.

SPEAKER_04 41:41

And so, Shirley, is there a difference in your in your opinion between in-person and online sessions?

SPEAKER_02 41:47

You know, I love in-person because you get the whole person there, you get, you know, however, online I could say is the next best thing because you still have the person in front of you. Yeah, you're still able to look at the person. Of course, you're limited to this, but there's still the energy is right there. The energy is still there. There's there's still the human connection, is still there because you are looking at someone in real time. Yeah, you know. Um, I just I love the and I and I get that there's a lot of you know convenience factors and stuff for the other, but but I do like the in-person the best, still. Yeah, you always did, even during COVID, you were still always going to the office, and because I was there by myself, and so I mean it yeah, it's true.

SPEAKER_04 42:35

In fact, that's when I started doing this was work uh online was during COVID.

SPEAKER_02 42:39

Yeah, therapist did that. Right, exactly. And there's some therapists that have not gotten an office after we could get offices again, and there's some clients that want to do the face-to-face and that don't want to do it online, right? You know, every so often it's convenient if someone is sick or you know, um, you know, it's in during times of traffic or something like that. And so I'll do hybrid, I'll do both. For the most part, I have some people that only want to come in person, yeah. And I also have some people that I started seeing during COVID and I've never actually met them in person because they've continued, even though they live in the same city, they've just continued online.

SPEAKER_04 43:21

Isn't that interesting? Well, between traffic and finding a place to park in LA, it's kind of tough. So I I get it. I get it. Oh my gosh. But I I hope that we, you know, help people to understand today about AI and to understand that you know we'll we'll all learn together, we're learning together.

unknown 43:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 43:40

And again, that these souls that are here right now that they're going to take off with all of these things. Right.

SPEAKER_02 43:45

Right, exactly. And we can, you know, there's always positive things that come from stuff, you know. It's it's it's if boundaries are difficult and boundaries for yourself are difficult when we have to, you know, when we have to uh Oh, I shouldn't eat that piece of cake, but I'm gonna eat it anyways. You know, I mean, putting boundaries on ourselves is very, very difficult. So that's a wonderful thing that you can practice with AI, limiting yourself, you know, certain times, you know, and not staying on it and using it as a tool as opposed to using it as a solution.

SPEAKER_04 44:21

Definitely as a tool. Okay, Shirley. Well, I think everybody, thank you for joining us in psychology and the soul, where psychology and spirituality are no longer separate, and awareness is something we practice together. But stay tuned next week because surely next week we're gonna be talking about the power of the subconscious mind. And much of what we experience in our lives is not driven by conscious choice, it's driven by patterns and reactions and beliefs that were formed long before we had awareness. And in this episode, next Tuesday, we are gonna discuss what is operating beneath our awareness. And we have a special guest, Annie Lisa. Have you met Annie? I don't think I have, no. I really like her a lot. She's very, very bright, and she wrote a great book. She went through a lot. Her sister, um, sadly, her sister was a very well-known doctor who had been murdered. And she wrote a yeah, she wrote an extraordinary book about it. Great, great book. So she'll uh but she'll be talking, she works with a subconscious mind. It'll be a really great, great uh session next week to have her here.

SPEAKER_02 45:33

Very interesting, interesting conversation. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 45:37

So thank you, everybody, and I'll see you on Thursday with Ask Me Anything. So thank you, Shirley. Thank you so much, everybody.

SPEAKER_02 45:45

Thank you for watching, everybody. We will see you next week.