It’s an honour to be the Counselling Australia editor, and play a role in promoting positive change through counselling and mental health conversations.
These conversations are today much more in the open – society is more readily discussing and recognising clinical, environmental and social pressures that can impact on mental health and general wellbeing.
The sustained encouragement through the media, sports bodies and various agencies for people to reach out for support is helping to demystify and destigmatise mental illness, and even just day-to-day coping difficulties.
However, the pace of technological change combined with the unceasing media exposure to global conflict – in addition to the worsening consequences of climate change – is having a clear impact on people, especially young people.
Today’s adolescents and young adults report increasingly high levels of depressive symptoms, stress and loneliness compared to past generations. Very broadly speaking, this trend is seen to be a result of the pressures of modern culture, including technology such as social media, more sedentary lifestyles, and the inescapable geopolitical and environmental stresses.
It is no surprise that surveys show an increasing trend towards the use of AI-enabled online tools with which people are seeking to self-diagnose or self-help their way out of the mental health consequences of all of these life pressures.
While on the one hand this can be seen as an encouraging sign that people are looking to ‘problem solve’; it also presents new challenges for professional counsellors who are responsible for ensuring ethical, safe and high-quality care – not to mention client and client data privacy.
It is no surprise that surveys show an increasing trend towards the use of AI-enabled online tools with which people are seeking to self-diagnose or selfhelp their way out of the mental health consequences of all of these life pressures. While on the one hand this can be seen as an encouraging sign that people are looking to ‘problem solve’; it also presents new challenges for professional counsellors who are responsible for ensuring ethical, safe and high-quality care – not to mention client and client data privacy. In navigating the realm of AI, one of the formidable challenges lies in managing its swift expansion and the continuous emergence of new applications. It is imperative to establish robust protocols to counteract the escalating risk associated with users relying on non-evidence-based apps for self-diagnosis. The potential consequence of misinformation or misdiagnosis underscores the need for proactive measures to collaborate with technology, safeguarding the well-being and safety of users.
In this summer edition of Counselling Australia, we focus on where to find information and resources to learn about digital health and the challenge of loneliness at this time of year, and profile some incredible counsellors who are bringing new research and thought leadership, who offer great insight to help advance our profession.
This is your publication – ideas are welcomed to drive our community conversation (email editor@theaca.net.au).
Thank you for being involved in our counselling community. ■

Jodie McKenzie