Amanda Helton is an Associate Marriage & Family Counselor, writer, and researcher. She brings an interdisciplinary, neurodivergent lens to culture, psychology, and systems, grounded in decolonial, feminist, and liberation frameworks.
AI & Mental Health
What makes psychotherapy irreducible to supportive language? Sometimes what changes us most is not what is said, but what becomes possible between people when something difficult can finally be held without collapse. A sentence may soothe, or a reflection may feel perfectly accurate, and simulated empathy can offer real relief
Poetry
My authenticity Is not a performance Moral clarity is a blessing And a curse It’s inconvenient It’s sad I wear it on my face Mask slipping Falling Ripped off Thrown across the room Here it is I can’t hold it all It’s glaringly clear Your appreciation
Labor
Recognition, Exclusion, and the Politics of Care A follow-up to “When Care Becomes Extraction” In my previous essay, I examined how care work can become extractive; this piece turns to how institutions respond when that dynamic is named. In the days following my recent statement on nonprofit labor and LGBTQ+
DSM
I’m pausing this DSM series here. Not because the questions are resolved, but because the series has reached a point where continuing would likely produce repetition rather than new insight. What began as an exploration of the DSM as a text and system has become a sustained inquiry into
Labor
A Statement on Nonprofit Labor, LGBTQ+ Community Work, and Why Workers Organize The Diversity Center of Santa Cruz County is a nonprofit LGBTQ+ community organization providing crisis support, peer connection, advocacy, education, and programming across the region. For many LGBTQ+ residents, it functions as an essential point of access to
AI & Mental Health
Even when we know an AI system is not conscious, humans often describe interactions with these systems as comforting and emotionally meaningful (Howcroft et al., 2026; Rahsepar Meadi et al., 2025). This paradox—the feeling of relational presence in something without subjective awareness—sits at the heart of modern AI
DSM
Why clinicians must understand—and explain—the systems they use For many clinicians, questioning the DSM can feel uncomfortable. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders is deeply embedded in nearly every aspect of the mental health system. Graduate training programs introduce it to many different kinds of clinicians.
AI & Mental Health
I’ve begun digging more deeply into the growing body of research surrounding artificial intelligence in mental health care and what I’ve found has left me with more questions than answers. AI is increasingly framed as a solution to the mental health access crisis. Chatbots designed to simulate therapy
We live surrounded by stories, the ones we inherit, the ones imposed upon us, and the ones we craft for ourselves. Some stories root us in belonging and affirm our humanity. Others erase, confine, and manipulate us. Stories hold immense power, they can liberate as easily as they can oppress.
DSM
Why every therapist’s practice is shaped by a system they were never truly taught to question If you’re a therapist, counselor, social worker, or coach, there’s a good chance you don’t lean heavily on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) in your actual