Wayhaven CCO Interviewed on APA's Speaking of Psychology Podcast

Our Chief Clinical Officer, Ashleigh Golden, PsyD, MSCP recently contributed to the American Psychological Association's flagship podcast, Speaking of Psychology, as well as an accompanying Monitor on Psychology piece exploring how AI companions and chatbots are reshaping human connection.

In the podcast episode, Ash discussed the nuanced landscape of AI-human relationships, from the risks of "deskilling" and reinforcing avoidant coping patterns, to the potential for well-designed tools to serve as low-stakes practice spaces for social connection, especially for isolated or marginalized users. The article highlights why the design of these tools matters so much: with the right guardrails, AI can support social upskilling and real-life connection rather than undermine them. Both pieces underscore that mental health expertise needs to be embedded in wellness AI development from the start to identify and mitigate risks upstream.

That's the work that we're doing at Wayhaven: building AI wellness support for college students with evidence-based rigor and user safety at the core.