Research

My research can be divided into two main domains: (1) studying close relationship processes and their impact on relationship and mental health and (2) digital health interventions. These domains synergistically inform my goal of improving individual and relational well-being through innovative, technology-driven solutions.

As a licensed relationship therapist and academic researcher, my aim is to bridge the gap between clinical practice and research. I am particularly interested in using technology to improve psychological interventions and to better understand user experience and engagement. For example, in collaboration with a relationship therapy application Blueheart, I developed a digital intervention to help improve emotional and physical intimacy for couples. I found that the treatment was effective, but the drop-out rate was high in line with findings from most other digital intervention studies. The difficulty with user engagement has prompted me to look into alternative options to improve digital health interventions.

This led me to explore whether chatbots (i.e., computer programs designed to engage with a human) powered by generative artificial intelligence could be used to improve user engagement. Chatbots can personalise the experience to the user, they have been shown to facilitate the creation of a therapeutic alliance, and they can increase accountability, all of which are lacking in traditional digital interventions. As such, they provide a promising future avenue for developing digital interventions.

In a recent study I showed that humans found relationship advice created by chatbots more empathic and helpful compared to relationship experts. In another study participants interacted in a single session therapeutic intervention with GPT-4 and perceived the chatbot as human-like, empathic, and helpful for their issue.

Studying AI for interventions provides an exciting and innovative area for research but it also raises many ethical questions around bias, fairness, and patient safety. I am currently working on several projects to address how we can use AI chatbots in a safe and ethical way to improve access to relationship interventions for a wider population including underserved communities who traditionally may not have had access to relationship support. You can read more about the different projects below with examples.