Negotiate The Future

                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          8484

                               2025-2026 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                     August 20, 2025
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by Sen. GONZALEZ -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules

        AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to regulating the use  of
          artificial  intelligence  in the provision of therapy or psychotherapy
          services

          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section  1.  Short  title. This act shall be known and may be cited as
     2  the "oversight of technology in mental health care act".
     3    § 2. The education law is amended by adding a new section 6517 to read
     4  as follows:
     5    § 6517. Use of artificial intelligence in mental health care. 1.   For
     6  the purposes of this section:
     7    (a)  "Administrative  support"  means  tasks  performed  to  assist  a
     8  licensed professional  in  the  delivery  of  therapy  or  psychotherapy
     9  services  that  do  not  involve communication. "Administrative support"
    10  includes, but is not limited to, the following:
    11    (i) managing appointment scheduling and reminders;
    12    (ii) processing billing and insurance claims; and
    13    (iii) drafting general communications  related  to  therapy  logistics
    14  that do not include therapeutic advice.
    15    (b)  "Artificial  intelligence"  has  the same meaning as such term is
    16  defined in section seventeen hundred of the general business law.
    17    (c) "Consent" means an affirmative  written  agreement,  including  by
    18  electronic  means,  which  unambiguously  communicates  the individual's
    19  explicit, express,  freely  given,  informed,  voluntary,  and  specific
    20  agreement,  and which is revocable by the individual. "Consent" does not
    21  include an agreement that is obtained by the following:
    22    (i) the acceptance of a general or broad terms of use, agreement or  a
    23  similar  document  that contains descriptions of artificial intelligence
    24  along with other unrelated information;

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD13621-02-5

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     1    (ii) an individual hovering over, muting, pausing, or closing a  given
     2  piece of digital content; or
     3    (iii) through the use of deceptive actions.
     4    (d)  "Licensed  professional"  means  an  individual who holds a valid
     5  license, credential, or certification issued by this state  to  practice
     6  as  a  psychologist,  social worker, mental health practitioner, profes-
     7  sional substance use counselor, professional  substance  use  prevention
     8  practitioner,  or to otherwise provide therapy or psychotherapy services
     9  including:
    10    (i) a licensed mental health counselor;
    11    (ii) a licensed marriage and family therapist;
    12    (iii) a licensed creative arts therapist;
    13    (iv) a licensed psychoanalyst;
    14    (v) a licensed master social worker;
    15    (vi) a licensed clinical social worker;
    16    (vii) a credentialed alcoholism and substance abuse counselor;
    17    (viii) a credentialed prevention professional;
    18    (ix) a credentialed prevention specialist;
    19    (x) a credentialed alcoholism and substance abuse  counselor,  creden-
    20  tialed  prevention  professional,  or credentialed prevention specialist
    21  with an additional gambling designation;
    22    (xi) a certified problem gambling counselor;
    23    (xii) a credentialed alcoholism and substance abuse counselor trainee;
    24    (xiii) any other person holding any other credential that may be over-
    25  seen by the office of addiction services and supports; or
    26    (xiv) any other professional  licensed,  credentialed,  certified,  or
    27  otherwise  authorized  by this state to provide therapy or psychotherapy
    28  services, except for a physician.
    29    (e) "Peer support" means services provided by individuals  with  lived
    30  experience of mental health conditions or recovery from substance use or
    31  gambling  that  are  intended to offer encouragement, understanding, and
    32  guidance without clinical intervention.
    33    (f)  "Religious  counseling"  means  counseling  provided  by   clergy
    34  members,  pastoral  counselors, or other religious leaders acting within
    35  the scope of their religious  duties  if  the  services  are  explicitly
    36  faith-based  and  are not represented as clinical mental health services
    37  or therapy or psychotherapy services.
    38    (g) "Supplementary support" means tasks performed to assist a licensed
    39  professional in the delivery of therapy or psychotherapy  services  that
    40  do not involve therapeutic communication and that are not administrative
    41  support.  "Supplementary  support"  includes, but is not limited to, the
    42  following:
    43    (i) preparing and maintaining client records, including therapy notes;
    44    (ii) analyzing anonymized data to track client  progress  or  identify
    45  trends,  subject  to  review  by  a licensed, credentialed, or certified
    46  professional; and
    47    (iii) identifying and organizing external resources or  referrals  for
    48  client use.
    49    (h) "Therapeutic communication" means any verbal, non-verbal, or writ-
    50  ten  interaction conducted in a clinical or professional setting that is
    51  intended  to  diagnose,  treat,  or  address  an  individual's   mental,
    52  emotional,  or  behavioral  health concerns. "Therapeutic communication"
    53  includes, but is not limited to:
    54    (i) direct interactions with clients for the purpose of  understanding
    55  or reflecting their thoughts, emotions, or experiences;

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     1    (ii)  providing  guidance,  therapeutic  strategies,  or interventions
     2  designed to achieve mental health outcomes;
     3    (iii)  offering emotional support, reassurance, or empathy in response
     4  to psychological or emotional distress;
     5    (iv) collaborating with clients to develop or modify therapeutic goals
     6  or treatment plans; and
     7    (v) offering behavioral feedback  intended  to  promote  psychological
     8  growth or address mental health conditions.
     9    (i)  "Therapy"  or "psychotherapy services" means services provided to
    10  diagnose, treat, or improve an individual's mental health or  behavioral
    11  health.  "Therapy  or psychotherapy services" does not include religious
    12  counseling or peer support.
    13    (j) "Permitted use of artificial intelligence" means the use of  arti-
    14  ficial  intelligence  tools  or  systems  by  a licensed professional to
    15  assist in providing administrative support or supplementary  support  in
    16  therapy  or psychotherapy services where the licensed professional main-
    17  tains full responsibility for all interactions, outputs,  and  data  use
    18  associated with the system and satisfies the requirements of subdivision
    19  two of this section.
    20    2.  No  licensed  professional  shall  be  permitted to use artificial
    21  intelligence to assist in providing supplementary support in therapy  or
    22  psychotherapy   services  where  the  client's  therapeutic  session  is
    23  recorded or transcribed unless:
    24    (a) the patient or the patient's legally authorized representative  is
    25  informed in writing of the following:
    26    (i) that artificial intelligence will be used; and
    27    (ii)  the  specific  purpose  of  the  artificial intelligence tool or
    28  system that will be used; and
    29    (b) the patient or the  patient's  legally  authorized  representative
    30  provides consent to the use of artificial intelligence.
    31    3.  (a)  An individual, corporation, or entity may not provide, adver-
    32  tise, or otherwise offer therapy or  psychotherapy  services,  including
    33  through the use of internet-based artificial intelligence, to the public
    34  in this state unless the therapy or psychotherapy services are conducted
    35  by an individual who is a licensed professional.
    36    (b)  A  licensed  professional may use artificial intelligence only to
    37  the extent that such use meets the requirements of  subdivision  two  of
    38  this  section.  A  licensed  professional may not allow or otherwise use
    39  artificial intelligence to do any of the following:
    40    (i) make independent therapeutic decisions;
    41    (ii) directly interact with clients in any form of therapeutic  commu-
    42  nication;
    43    (iii)  generate therapeutic recommendations or treatment plans without
    44  review and approval by the licensed professional; or
    45    (iv) detect emotions or mental states.
    46    4. All records kept by a licensed professional and all  communications
    47  between  an  individual  seeking therapy or psychotherapy services and a
    48  licensed professional shall be confidential and shall not  be  disclosed
    49  except as required under any provisions of this article or section 33.13
    50  of the mental hygiene law.
    51    5.  (a)  Any  individual, corporation, or entity found in violation of
    52  this section shall pay a civil penalty in an amount not to exceed  fifty
    53  thousand  dollars per violation, as determined by the commissioner, with
    54  penalties assessed based on the degree of harm and the circumstances  of
    55  the violation. Such civil penalty shall be assessed commissioner after a
    56  complaint  is  made  and  a  hearing  is held in accordance with section

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     1  sixty-five hundred ten of this article. An individual,  corporation,  or
     2  entity  found  in  violation of this section shall pay the civil penalty
     3  within sixty days after the date of an order by the commissioner  impos-
     4  ing  the civil penalty. The order shall constitute a judgment and may be
     5  filed and executed in the same manner as any judgment from  a  court  of
     6  record.
     7    (b)  The  commissioner shall have authority to investigate any actual,
     8  alleged, or suspected violation of this section.
     9    6. This section does not apply to the following:
    10    (a) religious counseling;
    11    (b) peer support; and
    12    (c) self-help materials and educational resources that  are  available
    13  to  the  public  and  do  not  purport to offer therapy or psychotherapy
    14  services.
    15    § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.