How to Use AI Strategically to Learn English as a Therapist
Do you remember the first time you used ChatGPT?
To me, it felt a bit like learning to ride a bike—impossible to really understand until I tried it out for myself. Of course, someone can explain how to balance, steer, and pedal, but until you actually get on and wobble your way forward, it doesn’t quite click.
Fast forward a few years, and now it seems like everybody and their dog are using it! I’ve lost track of how many times my students have said, “Chat GPT corrected my email”, “I asked it for a list of useful words,” or “I simplified an article using Chat GPT”
I even had a surreal “pinch me” moment when a Gestalt psychologist in Kazakhstan booked a consultation with me after finding my services… through ChatGPT.
Artificial intelligence has become a hugely popular language-learning tool — and with good reason. Research shows that it offers a personalized, low-pressure environment for learners. You can practice language skills whenever and wherever you want, get instant feedback, and tailor exercises to your needs—all for free. It makes language learning more flexible, convenient and uniquely suited to you.
Because this new technology keeps evolving by the day, we have to seriously reconsider traditional classroom methods and the role of technology in learning. Part of my role is to encourage students to reflect on how best to use AI tools to become a more confident, independent speaker of English rather than more dependent, hesitant and insecure.
That’s why in this post, I’ll be sharing my personal dos and don’ts for using AI (mainly ChatGPT) as a therapist looking to improve your English. I’m far from a tech expert— I’ll just be drawing from my own experience and that of my students.
1. VOCABULARY
Let’s start with vocabulary, easily the biggest concern for most mental health professionals I’ve worked with. After all, it’s essential for improving spoken fluency and expressing subtle nuances. So, how can you use ChatGPT to grow your vocabulary?
DON’T: Generate random lists of words to memorize.
DO: Use ChatGPT as a revision tool.
I’ve never been a fan of memorizing long lists of random vocabulary.
Sure, it can help grow your passive vocabulary (the words you understand), but it’s not as effective for building your active vocabulary (the words you actually use in sessions).
While you can ask ChatGPT to generate specific lists of words, I still recommend thinking critically about them. Decide which ones actually fit your needs and that you want to learn.
For instance, I tested out the following prompt: “Can you make a list of vocabulary I should know to navigate a client’s suicide crisis?”
While all of the terms that came up when I did this were relevant to the topic, most of them were terms like psychache, lethal means restriction and psychiatric hold. I would use these with other mental health professionals, not with clients themselves.
For example, to ask a client about the protective factors in their life, I wouldn’t say, “Tell me about the protective factors in your life”. I might ask something like, “When things have felt really difficult in the past, what has helped you keep going?”
That’s why I recommend picking up vocabulary from therapy sessions instead. When you hear a therapist or a client using a word in a real-world context, you gain a much better understanding of its meaning, register, and connotation.
But ultimately, to grow your active vocabulary, you should focus on practicing and revising useful words you might already recognize but don’t use, not try to memorize every new word you come across.
Luckily, revision is where ChatGPT truly shines. I love using it to create personalized quizzes for my students. I often use prompts like:
"Can you use these pieces of vocabulary (copy-paste the list you want to revise) to create a gap-fill exercise?"
"Can you create a matching exercise for these terms (with definitions or synonyms)?"
"Can you use the following words in a sentence?"
"Can you create a short story that includes the following expressions, and then blank them out so I have to guess which ones to use?"
Another helpful artificial intelligence website is Twee. It is specifically designed for language teachers. The exercise builder called “Rephrase Using the Word Given” creates an exercise in which someone needs to rewrite sentences using one of the words you choose to study.
For instance, if you want to practice the phrasal verb “bottle up”, the program could create a sentence like “she never expressed her anger towards her mother”. You would then rewrite it as, “She always bottled up her anger towards her mother”
I can’t stress this enough: If there is only one thing you choose to do with Chat GPT, make it revision. This will help you progress so much faster and really make the most out of your English classes.
2. WRITING
DON’T: Ask ChatGPT to write emails for you.
DO: Ask it to proofread and justify its answers.
As you read this, you might have groaned a little. “Don’t ask ChatGPT to write emails, Sophie? Don’t you know how much time that saves me every week?”
And I totally get it. I’m sure your dream growing up wasn’t getting your mailbox to zero unread messages.
But let me show you a couple of real-life examples.
The first one is from a lovely client that I’ll call Paula. She reached out to me after the summer holidays to resume our classes. I asked her to share her specific goals. A few days later, she got back to me to say that after reflecting on it, she realized it wasn’t the right time for her. Here’s the exact email I received:
Hi Sophie,
Sorry for the late reply, and thank you for your thoughtful questions—they made me reflect deeply on my objectives.
English Proficiency after My Holiday
Although my English has stayed steady, I feel comfortable with conversations and understanding others. Expressing myself as I’d like is still the most challenging part.Current Goals and Timing
Your questions helped me realize that I initially viewed the course as a great use of my free time before my baby arrives. However, starting this now doesn’t seem feasible, especially since I’m already well into my sixth month of pregnancy. After my daughter is born, it still might not be the right time for me to focus on English-speaking clients.Reflecting on Feasibility
Given all this, along with the financial considerations for preparing for my daughter’s arrival, I’ve realized that now might not be the ideal time to pursue this project. But I’m really excited to revisit it in the future when I’m better prepared to apply what I’ve learned.
Thank you once again for your understanding and support during this decision-making process.
Best regards,
Paula
The problem? I know how she expresses herself, and this email didn’t sound like her at all.
She’s a warm, empathetic person who speaks informally and spontaneously. Sure, writing is often more formal than speaking, but this email feels much too stilted. The numbered bullet points don’t suit the personal context, and phrases like “considering my current budget constraints, I’ve come to think…” just don’t sound natural at all.
It’s even worse when students copy-paste their email and the version ChatGPT wrote (this happens more often than you’d think!). I’ll call this student Thomas:
Thomas’s Email:
Hi Sophie,
I hope you are well. Thanks for all the docs! The transfer regarding January’s bill has just been done.
Regarding my first two sessions with the new clients, surprisingly, I experienced very different feelings.
(Note: I have not included this part of the email, as it contains private information)
I booked a slot for tomorrow, luckily you had some availabilities.
Have a lovely day,
Thomas
ChatGPT Version:
Hello Sophie,
I hope you are well.
Thanks for all the documents! The transfer for the January invoice has just been made.
As for my first two sessions with the new clients, surprisingly, I felt very different feelings.
(Note: I have not included this part of the email, as it contains private information)
I booked a slot for tomorrow, luckily you had availability.
Have a lovely day!
Thomas
Apart from it being very obvious that Thomas used Chat GPT, some correct parts of the email were changed unnecessarily (ex., experience a feeling was changed to feel a feeling, which makes it sound redundant). That’s why it’s important to use your own judgment to either accept or reject corrections. If you believe everything Chat GPT says, you may assume your English is worse than you think.
More importantly, if you completely outsource your writing to ChatGPT, how will you improve?
Instead, my recommendation is to write your email without overthinking every word. Once you’ve drafted it, correct it yourself. Then copy-paste it into ChatGPT and add:
"Please correct my vocabulary and grammar, and make any improvements needed for the email to flow better. Explain why you made these changes so I can get better at writing emails in English."
That way, you won’t just get your email proofread. As long as you think critically about Chat GPT’s corrections, you’ll improve your writing abilities, too.
3. GRAMMAR
DON’T: Rely solely on ChatGPT for grammar explanations.
DO: Use it to generate exercises and real-life contexts for extra practice.
One of the trickiest things about ChatGPT is the way it expresses itself with total confidence—even when it’s completely wrong.
For example, when ChatGPT proofreads a text and explains its corrections, it sometimes makes mistakes but presents them as absolute truths. It doesn’t soften its statements with modal verbs like might, may, or could, which makes it harder to think critically about the information it provides.
If only there were a free, reliable, and human-created resource for grammar explanations, right?
Good news—there are plenty!
My favorite is perfect-english-grammar.com by Seonaid Beckwith. Her site is packed with clear explanations, infographics, and exercises, making ChatGPT completely redundant for grammar theory.
So, what is ChatGPT useful for when it comes to grammar?
Well, there’s a big difference between understanding grammar rules and using them accurately in conversation. Just like vocabulary, grammar needs repetition and practice—not just passive learning. Instead of relying on ChatGPT to explain grammar, try using it to apply and revise what you’re learning.
Here are a few ways to do that:
If you have trouble with tenses, ask ChatGPT to write a short story using a mix of past tenses (simple, continuous, perfect, etc.) and challenge yourself to explain why each tense was used.
If word order confuses you, have ChatGPT scramble sentences so you can put the words in the right order—this is great for practicing direct and indirect questions.
If prepositions trip you up, try this prompt: “Can you create a multiple-choice quiz where I have to choose the right preposition (on, in, out, off, at, etc.)? The sentences should be things a therapy client might say in a session.”
If you want to practice tricky grammar in conversation, ask ChatGPT to “interview” you with a focus on a specific grammar point. For example: “Can you write interview-style questions that require verbs followed by a gerund, like ‘consider doing’ or ‘mind doing’?”
The idea is to use ChatGPT as a practice tool, not a grammar guru.
4. CREATING A STUDY PLAN
DON’T- Set unrealistic revision goals that are impossible to stick to.
DO- Brainstorm ideas to incorporate English into your weekly routine.
A fellow English teacher once shared a great analogy with me. She said that someone learning the piano would never expect to improve by going to class once a week. They would need to practice every day. Learning a language is no different.
That said, there’s no need to spend hours and hours a day learning English. It’s much more productive, fun and realistic to revise a little every day.
I used the following prompt as a starting point: “Please provide a practice plan for a C1 speaker of English who has 15 minutes a day to grow their therapy-related vocabulary.”
This is what Chat GPT came up with :
This plan is a great starting point. It’s varied and balances out all four language skills (speaking, listening, reading and writing), yet it is achievable.
5. LISTENING SKILLS
DON’T: Use Chat GPT for listening practice
DO: Listen to therapy sessions
While you can use the ChatGPT mobile app to listen to messages out loud, the voices offered so far only have quite generic American and British accents. It’s also incredibly helpful to listen to non-native speakers. Take Esther Perel, for example. She models a beautiful, expressive use of English with her own distinct accent, which makes her an empowering role model for any therapist offering sessions in their second language.
What’s more, the voices Chat GPT can use are very polished.
But here’s the thing — therapy isn’t polished. People don’t speak in perfect, evenly-paced sentences. They hesitate. They mumble. They choke up. They go off on tangents, make mistakes or start to cry. AI voices just don’t capture that messy, very human reality — and that’s exactly what makes listening to real therapy conversations so valuable.
If you're working on your listening skills, I’d recommend tuning into real-life sessions instead. You’ll hear authentic accents, real emotions, and the kinds of spontaneous language that actually comes up in therapy. I’ve listed some of my favourite podcasts where therapists work with real clients here.
6. SPEAKING
DON’T: expect AI to replace real conversations.
DO: use it to brainstorm speaking topics.
I saved the best for last— speaking!
ChatGPT can be a great tool for coming up with topics to discuss. For example:
“I’m going to practise my English speaking skills with a friend by debating. Can you suggest five controversial topics in the field of psychology for us to discuss?”
“I’m going to role-play a therapy session with an English speaker to improve my skills. Can you give me three examples of cases I could use?”
But if your goal is to develop fluency and confidence in real conversations, you can’t rely on conversations with Chat GPT. You’ll need to practise with flesh and blood humans.
Speaking involves so much more than just words. There are facial expressions, body language, tone of voice, prosody, intonation, pauses, and even what isn’t said. These subtle cues are essential in therapy.
Even if there were an AI app that mimicked all of that perfectly, there’s still the most crucial element — growing your confidence around speaking English.
Communicating with other people in English can feel scary. Vulnerable. Awkward. All of that discomfort is part of the process and is what makes you grow. If you want to feel more confident, you have to go through it — not around it.
That’s why the sooner you find ways to regulate your emotions around speaking English, the better. And it’s also why I recommend practising in a space where you feel safe and won’t be judged.
That’s the whole idea behind my courses:
Talk Therapy 1 – Take Root is for therapists who haven’t used English in a while and want to reconnect with the joy of speaking — in a psychology-focused context.
Talk Therapy 2 – Branch Out is for therapists preparing to offer their first sessions in English.
These courses aren’t just about improving your English — they’re about helping you feel grounded, prepared, and emotionally equipped to use English, whether that’s with other professionals or in sessions with real clients.
Ultimately, ChatGPT is, as one recent study put it, “a versatile and valuable tool with significant potential to promote engaging and adaptive language learning”. And as we’ve seen, it can support your learning in many ways — from helping you brainstorm speaking topics to offering personalised study plans to editing your emails.
Where it really shines is in the repetitive, structured parts of learning — the kind of work that benefits from quick feedback and lots of examples. But the key takeaway is this: It’s an assistant, not a replacement. Because of its limitations, it shouldn’t be the only tool you rely on. To grow confident and fluent in English, especially in a therapeutic context, you need to use it strategically — to enhance, not replace, your real-world practice.
Think of it as a powerful support to help you get the most out of your conversations with real people in English. If that’s what you’re working towards, you can book a free consultation with me here.
