What are Interactive Vignettes?
Interactive vignettes are engineered large language models prompted to behave in ways consistent with common clinical presentations such as depression. With the intention to provided a safe training environment where therapists can practice their therapeutic skills.
Currently one Interactive Vignette has been developed “Marvin”, which has successfully demonstrated appropriate responses to a Cognitive Therapy technique, a transcript of a full therapy session can be found here. Further research is intended to ensure consistency, acceptability and to explore diverse presentations.
What might the benefits of Interactive Vignettes be?
Privacy and Confidentiality: AI-based training eliminates the risk of exposing real patients’ and therapists personal and sensitive information, as the scenarios are entirely fictional and generated by the AI. This protects patient confidentiality while still providing realistic training opportunities.
Reduction in Harm: Using AI avoids putting real patients at risk of emotional distress or harm that might arise from interacting with inexperienced trainees.
Safe Learning Environment: Trainees can make mistakes in a controlled, virtual environment where there is no real-world consequence. This can encourage more open learning and experimentation without the fear of causing harm, fostering a better educational experience.
Accessibility and Repeatability: AI-based scenarios can be accessed and repeated any number of times, allowing trainees to practice difficult scenarios as often as needed to improve their skills. This can be more cost-effective and logistically feasible than arranging repeated sessions with human actors or patients.
Who are the researchers?
Rory Laing is a Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapist based in Deal, Kent. He is accredited by the British Association of Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies and is registered as a Social Worker with Social Work England. Rory has a diverse professional background, having worked in both NHS primary and secondary mental health teams. Rory is a visiting lecturer and a marker for Universities. For more detailed information about Rory Laing, you can visit his website at Kent CBT.
Leah Fung is an accredited Cognitive Behavioural Therapist and Clinical Supervisor with over 14 years of experience in the mental health industry, including 12 years within the NHS. Leah is currently a Clinical Supervisor at a University for trainee CBT Therapists. For more details regarding Leah you can visit her website at Your Therapy With Leah.