Computational Linguistics and Clinical Psychology: The Brave New World, presented by Dr. Rebecca Resnik
Sunday, February 16, 2025, 9:00 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.
Computational Linguistics and Clinical Psychology: The Brave New World
Presented by Dr. Philip Resnik, MPower Professor, University of Maryland College Park and
Dr. Rebecca Resnik, Licensed Clinical Psychologist, Rebecca Resnik and Associates LLC
Workshop Level: Intermediate
This workshop is for licensed psychologists who want to learn how psychologists can use language
technology for everyday tasks (such as report writing or assessing risk) ethically and with beneficence
and how language technology tools (such as chatbots) can create risk for clinicians and patients.
Program Description: Computational linguistics, artificial Intelligence, and large language models are
becoming part of clinical psychology. The advent of new language technology brings both exciting and
deeply concerning changes to clinical psychology. Dr. Philip Resnik of the Institute for Advanced
Computer Studies at UMCP, and Dr. Rebecca Resnik, Licensed Psychologist, are co-founders of the
Computational Linguistics and Clinical Psychology workshop and community (CLPsych.org), which has
been building momentum bringing technologists and clinicians from around the world together for
over ten years. In this presentation, they will describe how psychologists can use language technology
for everyday tasks (such as report writing or assessing risk) ethically and with beneficence. They will
also discuss how language technology tools such as chatbots can create serious risk for clinicians and
patients alike. The presenters will also discuss research that shows the promise of language technology
for clinical challenges such as predicting suicide risk, assessing personality functioning, diagnosis,
tracking symptoms, and monitoring patient well-being between sessions.
Learning Objectives: After attending this workshop, it is expected that participants be able to:
1. Explain how large language models can be used in clinical practice.
2. Identify ethical risks and potential danger to patients in using language technology (e.g., chatbots like
ChatGPT) in clinical practice.
3. Describe how language technology tools can augment assessment and diagnosis.
4. Describe applications of language technology for patient risk assessment and safety monitoring.
About the Presenters: Philip Resnik is MPower Professor at University of Maryland with joint appointments in the
Department of Linguistics and the Institute for Advanced Computer Studies. He earned his bachelor’s degree in computer
science at Harvard University and his PhD in Computer and Information Science at the University of Pennsylvania and does
research in computational linguistics.
Rebecca Resnik earned a Doctor of Psychology degree from The George Washington University. Dr. Resnik served as the
2022-2023 President of The Maryland Psychological Association. She served for eleven years on the association’s Board of
Directors. Dr. Resnik completed her psychology internship training in Pediatric Psychology and Neuropsychology at Mount
Washington Pediatric Hospital. Her two-year Post-Doctoral Residency in Psychological and Neuropsychological Assessment
was completed at Mindwell Psychology in Virginia. Dr. Resnik is a Licensed Psychologist in the state of Maryland. She holds
a Master of Education in Special Education (concentration in Learning Disabilities) from The University of Maryland at
College Park. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Special Education (Cum Laude and with Honors) from UMCP with a
concentration in Learning Disabilities.
Rebecca Resnik and Philip Resnik receive a speaker’s honorarium from APP for this presentation. There is no conflict of
interest or commercial support to report.
APP is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. APP
maintains responsibility for this program and its content. For more information contact apponline.org.