{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,10]],"date-time":"2026-06-10T06:01:00Z","timestamp":1781071260338,"version":"3.54.1"},"reference-count":21,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,10]],"date-time":"2026-06-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1781049600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Digit. Health"],"abstract":"\n Introduction<\/jats:title>\n Consistent client engagement with between-therapy session activities (i.e., homework) is a strong predictor of positive psychotherapy outcomes. Because traditional homework activities aren't always tailored to the individual, they can fail to provide the support patients need to translate session insights into real-life change. The integration of digital tools into weekly psychotherapy presents an opportunity to overcome these limitations through personalized blended care.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Methods<\/jats:title>\n This study describes the development and initial validation of Talkcast, a novel AI-powered tool that enables therapists to generate personalized audio discussions (\u201cepisodes\u201d) to reinforce concepts from prior therapy sessions. We examined its feasibility (provider\/client usage) and acceptability (provider\/client quality ratings) across a five-month period (April\u2013September 2025) on a large-scale virtual therapy platform. We also used Linear Mixed-Effects Models to evaluate associations between Talkcast usage and client engagement metrics (live sessions, provider messages, client messages).<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Results<\/jats:title>\n \n Of 6,032 active providers, 46.27% generated a Talkcast, and of 105,317 active clients, 12.97% received one, with 52.70% of recipients opening it. Over 90% of sent Talkcasts rated by providers were \u201cHelpful,\u201d primarily for \u201cSession Reinforcement\/Recap\u201d. Similarly, 76.02% of client ratings were \u201cHelpful,\u201d citing \u201cPersonalization &amp; Relevance\u201d and \u201cSpecific Activities\/Tools\u201d. The analysis found a significant positive association between opening a Talkcast and higher overall platform engagement in all measured metrics (all\n p<\/jats:italic>\n \u2009&lt;\u20090.001). Qualitative feedback highlighted the need for improved content specificity and AI authenticity.\n <\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Discussion<\/jats:title>\n Talkcast demonstrated promising feasibility and high acceptability among both providers and clients. Its positive association with key client engagement metrics suggests that Talkcast is a well-integrated blended care tool used by engaged clients to reinforce the therapeutic process. Future work should focus on establishing causality and refining the AI's content generation.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fdgth.2026.1821642","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,10]],"date-time":"2026-06-10T05:20:44Z","timestamp":1781068844000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["The sound of engagement: assessing the feasibility and acceptability of an AI-generated personalized podcast as a between-session resource for therapy"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"8","author":[{"given":"Emily E.","family":"Peake","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Talkspace","place":["New York, NY, United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mackenzie S.","family":"Swirbul","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Talkspace","place":["New York, NY, United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Michael J.","family":"Rodio","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Talkspace","place":["New York, NY, United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Aarthi","family":"Padmanabhan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Talkspace","place":["New York, NY, United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,10]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"247","DOI":"10.1093\/oso\/9780197611012.003.0010","article-title":"Integrating between-session homework","volume-title":"Psychotherapy Skills and Methods That Work","author":"Ryum","year":"2023"},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"156","DOI":"10.1007\/s41347-019-00123-9","article-title":"The use of a smartphone application to complete therapeutic homework in cognitive-behavioral therapy for gambling disorder: a pilot study of acceptability and 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