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August 2026 RECORDED Free CEU with Michael Steube

When
08/31/2026
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Location
Online

Registration

FREE NCA Member Registration
NCA Members can register for FREE! Be sure to sign in to your account PRIOR to registering.
Non-Member Registration – $20.00
Non-members can attend for $20.

Remember! Professional membership is only $65, and you get 10 CE's free per year included! Join today!

Michael Steube, PhD, LIMHP Presents:

Romancing AI: Emerging Challenges for Clients and Clinicians

(Pre-Recorded, Available On Demand until 8.31.26!)

Please join Michael Steube for the August 2026 RECORDED CE!

With the increasing use of AI chatbots in our daily lives, a new area for clinicians to be aware of is clients turning to these chatbots for companionship. This ranges from using them as a tool for advice to relating to them as an intimate partner. The use of these chatbots may be more common than previously thought, especially amongst teens, with early surveys showing that roughly three in four have used an AI chatbot as a companion in some form. New apps and websites launch daily, and this usage often goes unmoderated and unseen by those around the user. Clinicians are working to catch up, seeking to understand both the impact this usage has on clients and the possible role of chatbots in supporting social learning and anxiety reduction.

Current research is still developing, but a growing body of work points to promising therapeutic directions clinicians can draw from (Koegel et al., 2025), alongside several concerns about how these bonds shape expectations of other relationships and carry real-life social ramifications (Ho et al., 2025) for both teens and adults. Understanding the impacts, concerns, and usage are becoming increasingly important as these LLM-based chatbots move into the mainstream.

Learning Objectives:
1.Describe the prevalence and client interest behind relationships with AI companions.
2.Identify three clinical and social impacts associated with the use of AI companions.
3. Evaluate possible therapeutic uses of AI companions, along with safety measures for clinical use.

This is a pre-recorded presentation, which you will receive access to once you have registered. Information will be sent via your registration email, including the video link, quiz link, and handouts. Please complete the quiz included in your registration email by no later than 5pm on August 31st, 2026 to receive your CE certificate. CE certificates will be sent automatically when you complete and pass the quiz (8/10 correct). You may take the quiz as many times is necessary to pass.

Interested in presenting? Contact us at nca@necounseling.org or complete this form: https://forms.gle/dWXMYAdQJHZaV3Y68

Photo courtesy of A. Hixon Photography

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