PatientAct: Theory-Grounded Mental Health Client Simulation
LLM-based simulated clients are increasingly used to train novice counselors, evaluate LLM therapists, and generate synthetic data. However, current simulators produce overly cooperative clients that disclose too readily, accept therapeutic reframes without resistance, and resolve core issues within a single session. We trace these issues to profiles that lack causal depth and behavioral mechanisms that treat all content as equally accessible. We present PatientAct, a framework for client simulation grounded in established clinical theories. Our profiles integrate the 5Ps clinical case formulation, providing causal depth without tying the design to any single therapeutic modality. During ...
| Authors | Sahand Sabour, TszYam NG, Yaqian Chen et al. |
|---|---|
| Primary category | cs.CL |
| Published | 13 August 2026 |
| Last updated at source | 24 August 2026 |
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