Session 1 – AI & Mental Health Apps: Innovation or Illusion?
Wednesday, October 1, 2025
10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
Series Summary
Join us for a timely and thought-provoking series exploring how community colleges can evolve their mental health and wellness strategies in an increasingly digital world. These sessions will examine the role of technology, social media, and culturally responsive practices in shaping the next generation of student mental health support.
Through real-world examples and actionable tools, participants will walk away with practical ways to reach students where they are—while staying grounded in connection, trust, and equity.
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Session Description
Anxiety, depression, trauma, and grief now affect nearly one in three California community-college students (Healthy Minds Network, 2023), often long before they reach a counselor’s door. At the same time, almost half of young adult learners already turn to ChatGPT-style chatbots or wellness apps because they’re free, fast, and private. In this training session, we aim to translate the latest college campus data into an easy “stepped-care” pyramid that shows where self-help AI and app-based tools can safely sit and when a human professional is still a must. Together we’ll weigh real-world successes against documented risks, review technology safety checklists, and study campus cases that effectively blend technology with in-person care. You’ll leave with some best practice guidelines to pilot the right tools for your own campus.
Learning Objectives:
- Understand the mental health needs of community college students and identify where AI or mental health apps could help.
- Evaluate meaningful use of any AI or app for cultural responsiveness and safety.
- Create a plan to launch or improve tech-enabled mental health supports for students on your campus.
Meet the Presenter
Dr. Ritchie Rubio, PhD
Dr. Ritchie Rubio, PhD, is a clinical and research psychologist, systems leader, and equity advocate with over 25 years of experience in public health, education, and mental health systems across the Philippines, United States, and New Zealand. He currently serves as Director of Practice Improvement and Analytics for the Children, Youth, and Families System of Care at the San Francisco Department of Public Health. His work focuses on advancing trauma-informed and culturally responsive practices through implementation science, evaluation, and workforce development. Clinically, he specializes in supporting immigrant and multicultural children, youth, and families using an integrative approach that includes psychodynamic, family systems, expressive arts, and cognitive-behavioral therapies. He teaches as an adjunct professor at the Wright Institute, University of San Francisco, and Pepperdine University. Dr. Rubio also trains providers nationwide and internationally on trauma-informed telehealth and culturally grounded care. His publications and presentations address racial and ethnic disparities, culturally adapted care, and trauma healing practices. He has been recognized by the American Psychological Association with the 2023 Practice Award, 2024 Leadership in Education Award, and 2024 Teaching Excellence Award. A former Ford Foundation Fellow, he completed his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology with a Child and Family emphasis at the California School of Professional Psychology. Originally from the Philippines, he immigrated to the U.S. at age 25 to pursue his doctoral studies.