Do You Understand How I Feel?: Towards Verified Empathy in Therapy Chatbots

• URL: http://arxiv.org/abs/2601.08477v1
• Date: Tue, 13 Jan 2026 12:08:58 GMT
• Title: Do You Understand How I Feel?: Towards Verified Empathy in Therapy Chatbots
• Authors: Francesco Dettori, Matteo Forasassi, Lorenzo Veronese, Livia Lestingi, Vincenzo Scotti, Matteo Giovanni Rossi,
• Abstract summary: This paper envisions a framework integrating natural language processing and formal verification to deliver empathetic therapy chatbots.<n>A Transformer-based model extracts dialogue features, which are then translated into a Hybrid Automaton model of dyadic therapy sessions.<n>Empathy-related properties can then be verified through Statistical Model Checking.<n>Preliminary results show that the formal model captures therapy dynamics with good fidelity and that ad-hoc strategies improve the probability of satisfying empathy requirements.
• Score: 2.0452773268886126
• License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Abstract: Conversational agents are increasingly used as support tools along mental therapeutic pathways with significant societal impacts. In particular, empathy is a key non-functional requirement in therapeutic contexts, yet current chatbot development practices provide no systematic means to specify or verify it. This paper envisions a framework integrating natural language processing and formal verification to deliver empathetic therapy chatbots. A Transformer-based model extracts dialogue features, which are then translated into a Stochastic Hybrid Automaton model of dyadic therapy sessions. Empathy-related properties can then be verified through Statistical Model Checking, while strategy synthesis provides guidance for shaping agent behavior. Preliminary results show that the formal model captures therapy dynamics with good fidelity and that ad-hoc strategies improve the probability of satisfying empathy requirements.

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