I’m glad this sort of treatment is getting more exploration and research. While I’ve never heard voices myself, childhood trauma did teach me to anthropomorphiz

I’m glad this sort of treatment is getting more exploration and research. While I’ve never heard voices myself, childhood trauma did teach me to anthropomorphize my thoughts so I could discuss things more casually, instead of clinically; I felt more at ease verbally sparring with myself in isolation instead of cooping big, complex thoughts inside my head or onto paper. I chalked it up as a quirk until a therapist recently told me that sort of coping mechanism was quite healthy and “advanced, something it can take patients years to develop with guidance” - so I keep doing it. Avatar therapy could have implications far beyond psychosis, I think. My “round tables” have helped me begin piecing together why certain behaviors follow seemingly unrelated events (e.g., why going for a walk often ends with my coming home with candy), and untangle the automatic decision-making processes of my own brain. It’s also helped me identify what I actually desire in my own life, as opposed to what I’m sold on during “autopilot”. Said revelations have steered me back towards therapy yet again, seeking professional guidance on my own observations, which I think is the best possible outcome for mental health quandaries. All of which is to say, I hope to see more human to human research on this topic. The end part, where they want to place AI in command of the voices so it can scale, seems incredibly risky for all but the most “mainstream” of cases, and far too risky for those struggling with literal psychosis; then again, I’m not a Doctor, so I could be very wrong in my concerns. Guess we’ll see when the study wraps.