Project Goals
Our current focus is on building multidisciplinary teams of scientists and clinicians to curate novel audiovisual datasets to develop these AI-based clinical tools (e.g., alliance and symptom monitoring, automated feedback tools). Moreover, we have started to translate our tools and assessments into Chinese. We are now collaborating with affective computing experts from NYU Shanghai, and Jiaotong University to finetune the automated measurements of alliance and therapists skills, develop feedback tools, and avatar-based training tools so that we can conduct initial implementation studies in the USA and China in 2025-2026.
Our computational clinical psychology research is focused on the following three pillars:
AI-based Symptom Measures
-
Development of AI-based multimodal measurements of depression, anxiety, suicide and PTSD
-
Development of AI-based clinical interviewing avatars for the assessment of depression and anxiety
-
Integration of ambient mental health symptom assessments within educational programs (AI for education)
AI-based Mental Health Treatment Interventions
-
Development and feasibility of a LLM-based digital mental health intervention .
-
Development of AI-based multi-modal measurements of the therapeutic alliance
-
Assessment of self-reported attitudes towards AI use in mental health interventions (chatbot, avatars, vs teletherapy and in-person) in the USA and China (survey studies)
AI-based Clinical Training for Professionals
-
Development of AI-based multi-modal measurement of therapists skills (empathy, alliance etc)
-
Efficacy and feasibility of therapeutic skills training and assessments in the USA and China (RCT)
-
Development of training in therapeutic responsiveness to individuals who experience suicidal thoughts