[TeMPOraL]

> Maybe if you qualify that with “unusually good” therapist.

Not "unusually good", but a working match, sure. A thing not enough people realize is that therapy is like dating. Not every therapist is going to be a "good match" for you, so if things don't seem to click for some reason, just thank them and go look for another one.

> IME even Eliza in Emacs is better than most therapists. ChatGPT surely leaves them in the dust.

If limited to textual channel, maybe. But a real therapy will have at least the visual channel (if on Zoom), or full presence (if in person) - there's a lot of information relevant to therapy that gets communicated this way. Tone, cadence, uncontrolled reactions, body language, etc. That alone gives even a mediocre therapist a leg up in this comparison.