You're reading another installment of Practice, Liberated, my bimonthly(ish) email where I share actionable tools, tips, insights, and strategies for growing a thriving, values-aligned private practice.

Hi Reader,

If you've felt a little uneasy lately about AI and it's impact on our field, you're not alone.

I've been having this conversation with a lot of dietitians over the last few months... Will AI take our jobs? Are we going to be replaced by chatbots? Will anyone want to pay for a dietitian five years from now?

So much (SO MUCH) has changed in the nutrition and private practice landscape since I started my business 12 years ago. Back then, I went years without having to dramatically rethink how I marketed or ran my practice. (Ah, the good old SEO days...)

Now it feels like everything changes every few months. New AI tools. New GLP-1 medications. New platforms promising instant results. It can feel impossible to know what to focus on, or whether our profession will even look the same in a few years.

Here's what I keep coming back to:

The dietitians who primarily sell information are going to have a much harder time than the dietitians who facilitate transformation.

AI tools can generate a meal plan in seconds; they can estimate macros; they can summarize nutrition research; they can answer, "How much protein should I eat?"

And if that's what clients believe they're paying us for...then yes, AI is going to be tough competition.

But that's never been the work that changes people's lives. The clients who stay with you for months don't stay because you know more about fiber or protein timing than ChatGPT.

They stay because you're helping them do something that information alone could never do.

You help them facilitate awareness and lasting behavior change in the context of a safe, trusted relationship.

An AI chatbot can't notice when a client starts to disengage, or adjust its approach based on a subtle shift in tone or body language. It can't coregulate in session, human to human, or hold accountability and warmth in the same breath.

Think about your own clients -- how many of them already knew what they "should" be eating before they started working with you? My guess is, probably many of them.

We already know that handing someone a meal plan or a pile of education -- without ongoing, personalized support -- doesn't create lasting change. That's not because the information is wrong; it's because information is often never the actual gap (or the only gap) for most clients.

For example, the problems my clients bring to me (things like bingeing, relying heavily on processed foods, feeling unable to cook at home, being disconnected from their body cues) usually aren't about a lack of knowledge, or at least not only that. They're often what a nervous system on high alert looks like...stressed, maxed out, doing what it can to survive the day (which yes, often means binging or eating comfort foods or ordering in instead of cooking from scratch).

So just providing information does not "fix" the client's problem. And this is where we as dietitians can come in.

Safety has to be built, relationally and slowly, often before behavior change is even possible.

One of the most consistent findings across healthcare is that the therapeutic alliance (that is, the relationship between clinician and client) is one of the strongest predictors of successful outcomes.

Real behavior change happens when someone feels safe enough to be honest about what's going on. When they're met with curiosity instead of judgement, and when accountability is paired with compassion. When the dietitian (aka human) in front of them is following their energy, and bringing a calm, grounded, co-regulated connection.

So yes, AI may replace one version of dietetics (the information-focused version) -- but that's not the version that's actually transformative for people.

As dietitians, our knowledge is only a small piece of what makes us valuable. When it comes to lasting behavioral change, it's our skills at building the therapeutic relationship and connecting human to human that really moves the needle. And those are all things that AI chatbots can't do.

So if you're wondering how to "future-proof" your practice, the answer isn't to compete with AI on information (because honestly, you'll lose that race).

Instead, lean further into developing the skills that technology can't commoditize:

• Building genuine rapport and trust.
• Asking better questions than giving answers.
• Reflecting and validating, human to human.
• Helping clients explore ambivalence, instead of trying to convince them (or overloading them with info).
• Pacing sessions so change feels sustainable rather than overwhelming.
• Creating enough safety that people can actually practice new behaviors (not just understand them intellectually).
• Sitting with people in the discomfort that change can bring up.

I don't see AI as a threat to our profession. I see it as an opportunity to differentiate ourselves by leaning even further into the work that only humans can do.

Yes, these changes can be scary. But I also think it's a chance to demonstrate the value that's always been at the heart of our work.

Ok wrapping this up now and stepping off my soapbox :) I'd love to hear from you...what resonated? Do you think differently? How do you see AI affecting us? Please send any and all thoughts my way!

In the meantime, here with you in this messy middle that is business ownership <3

Warmly,

Alissa

P.S. If you're looking for more resources to build your counseling skills, check out my Client Retention Toolkit - it's a relationship-centered method to help build trust, safety, and connection while facilitating long-term meaningful behavior change.

Alissa Rumsey, MS, RD, CDN, CSCS

CEO & Founder, The Liberated Clinician Business Training

Empower Your Practice: www.theliberatedclinician.com​