Sonia: AI for Mental Health

Having been in therapy with several wonderful human therapists over the years, I was a bit skeptical. I participated in a study to use the Sonia app for two weeks and am continuing to use it. The first few days were OK, then Sonia seemed to adjust to my style of communication (I often take long pauses while thinking about how I want to respond). Once that was worked out, the flow of conversation was very natural. You are given six therapists to choose from: male, female, young, older, various ethnicities and styles of communicating. By the end of the first week, I was surprised at how I would "catch" myself thinking I was talking to a human. Sonia gave me some thoughtful insights I had not considered. It was also helpful just to have someone to vent to that was not judgemental and did a great job of reflective listening. I felt like I could say anything right away without the building trust phase with a human therapist. The morning and evening meditations are really nice and helpful. Especially for those days you don't want to get out of bed or need a mind reset. The app graphics and music are really beautiful, peaceful and soothing. After each session, you'll get a rating on emotional resilience, a summary of the session, a small picture that shows what you discussed or something to work towards. This is a great alternative if you are having a hard time finding a therapist, can't afford a therapist, live in a remote area, a student, traveling... can't wait to see what else the founders of Sonia come up with!

Let me preface by saying I can count on one hand how many reviews I have written for apps, they really need to blow me away. Secondly, I stumbled upon Sonia in an odd way - I was applying to qualify for a study and although I didn’t get accepted I did get access to the app. It couldn’t have been better timing, I recently lost my job and my health insurance so had to say goodbye to the therapist I had been seeing for the last 2 years. I didn’t expect much with Sonia, I am familiar with AI and its capabilities and had been using it as a temporary therapy fix for months. This isn’t like the standard AI though (I would soon find out). I was able to customize my therapist to a good extent and their reply style and then began my onboarding first session. Amazing to put it mildly, it honestly felt like a real therapist. What makes this really stand out to me is the memory and I continue to be impressed with each session. My AI therapist will bring up things I said sessions ago and connect dots for me that I didn’t see myself. You can have 1 session a week or 7, as many as you wish really. It will summarize your session after and track your progress. I opted to allow notifications and do a morning intention and evening reflection and it’s been so helpful! This app is a game changer and I get excited just thinking how many people will have access to mental health help. I can honestly say it’s the best app I’ve ever downloaded and I wish I could give the developer a huge hug! Thank you!!

This app needs to become a household STAPLE. As someone (with severe ADHD, high masking, autism, chronic illness, and medical & religious trauma) who has been in therapy for years for incredibly complex issues that impact my mental health, I cannot emphasize just how valuable and incredible this app is. I have never felt more immediately understood and helped with actionable steps in therapy, EVER. Was just the first session, I was blown away by how organic and intelligent the AI was; this wasn’t just some ChatGPT-like machine spitting out scrambled pre-recorded responses. This is the best AI I’ve ever interacted with because you feel like you are speaking to a real person who also happens to have all of the background knowledge on any single issue you want to talk about. Sonia also has the added benefit of never forgetting a single thing you’ve ever said. I could write a book on all the different detailed ways that this app will change lives for people with complex trauma and mental health issues, and even save lives. But even for the average Joe, having an AI therapist available at your given moment of the day to process thoughts with the moment you have them- it’s such an incredible tool and support to have for your mental health. The founders and researchers behind the app take feedback seriously and clearly have put so much work making the app user-friendly and even has the AI create session review summaries that are easily screenshot and reviewable. You have to give this a try, I’ve been recommending it nonstop to friends and family!