# CBT-LLM: A Chinese Large Language Model for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy-based Mental Health Question Answering

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2403.16008 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2403.16008/

## Key facts

- Cited by 45 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 17 of its 45 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 24 Mar 2024.

## Builds on (most cited first, 17 of 17)

- [BERT: Pre-training of Deep Bidirectional Transformers for Language Understanding](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1810.04805/) (2018)
- [LoRA: Low-Rank Adaptation of Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2106.09685/) (2021)
- [LLaMA: Open and Efficient Foundation Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2302.13971/) (2023)
- [BERTScore: Evaluating Text Generation with BERT](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1904.09675/) (2019)
- [Self-Instruct: Aligning Language Models with Self-Generated Instructions](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2212.10560/) (2022)
- [BLEURT: Learning Robust Metrics for Text Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2004.04696/) (2020)
- [BloombergGPT: A Large Language Model for Finance](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.17564/) (2023)
- [C-Eval: A Multi-Level Multi-Discipline Chinese Evaluation Suite for Foundation Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.08322/) (2023)
- [Towards Emotional Support Dialog Systems](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2106.01144/) (2021)
- [WHEN FLUE MEETS FLANG: Benchmarks and Large Pre-trained Language Model for Financial Domain](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2211.00083/) (2022)
- [PsyQA: A Chinese Dataset for Generating Long Counseling Text for Mental Health Support](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2106.01702/) (2021)
- [EduChat: A Large-Scale Language Model-based Chatbot System for Intelligent Education](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.02773/) (2023)
- [Cognitive Reframing of Negative Thoughts through Human-Language Model Interaction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.02466/) (2023)
- [PAL: Persona-Augmented Emotional Support Conversation Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2212.09235/) (2022)
- [Mind meets machine: Unravelling GPT-4's cognitive psychology](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.11436/) (2023)
- [Training Models to Generate, Recognize, and Reframe Unhelpful Thoughts](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2307.02768/) (2023)
- [Boosting Distress Support Dialogue Responses with Motivational Interviewing Strategy](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.10195/) (2023)

## Built on by (most cited first, 30 of 45)

- [Cactus: Towards Psychological Counseling Conversations using Cognitive Behavioral Theory](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2407.03103/) (2024)
- [MentalChat16K: A Benchmark Dataset for Conversational Mental Health Assistance](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.13509/) (2025)
- [CounselBench: A Large-Scale Expert Evaluation and Adversarial Benchmarking of Large Language Models in Mental Health Question Answering](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2506.08584/) (2025)
- [Detecting Conversational Mental Manipulation with Intent-Aware Prompting](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2412.08414/) (2024)
- [MIRROR: Multimodal Cognitive Reframing Therapy for Rolling with Resistance](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2504.13211/) (2025)
- [A Survey of Large Language Models in Psychotherapy: Current Landscape and Future Directions](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.11095/) (2025)
- [Psychological Counseling Cannot Be Achieved Overnight: Automated Psychological Counseling Through Multi-Session Conversations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2506.06626/) (2025)
- [Crisp: Cognitive Restructuring of Negative Thoughts through Multi-turn Supportive Dialogues](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2504.17238/) (2025)
- [MindEval: Benchmarking Language Models on Multi-turn Mental Health Support](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2511.18491/) (2025)
- [XInsight: Integrative Stage-Consistent Psychological Counseling Support Agents for Digital Well-Being](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2603.06583/) (2026)
- [Can You Share Your Story? Modeling Clients' Metacognition and Openness for LLM Therapist Evaluation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2507.19643/) (2025)
- [HamRaz: A Culture-Based Persian Conversation Dataset for Person-Centered Therapy Using LLM Agents](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.05982/) (2025)
- [MAGneT: Coordinated Multi-Agent Generation of Synthetic Multi-Turn Mental Health Counseling Sessions](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2509.04183/) (2025)
- [ChatThero: An LLM-Supported Chatbot for Behavior Change and Therapeutic Support in Addiction Recovery](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2508.20996/) (2025)
- [DiaCBT: A Long-Periodic Dialogue Corpus Guided by Cognitive Conceptualization Diagram for CBT-based Psychological Counseling](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2509.02999/) (2025)
- [MADP: Multi-Agent Deductive Planning for Enhanced Cognitive-Behavioral Mental Health Question Answer](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2501.15826/) (2025)
- [A Comprehensive Review of Datasets for Clinical Mental Health AI Systems](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2508.09809/) (2025)
- [PsychAgent: An Experience-Driven Lifelong Learning Agent for Self-Evolving Psychological Counselor](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2604.00931/) (2026)
- [A Generic Review of Integrating Artificial Intelligence in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2407.19422/) (2024)
- [The Thinking Therapist: Training Large Language Models to Deliver Acceptance and Commitment Therapy using Supervised Fine-Tuning and Odds Ratio Policy Optimization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2509.09712/) (2025)
- [Empathy-R1: A Chain-of-Empathy and Reinforcement Learning Framework for Long-Form Mental Health Support](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2509.14851/) (2025)
- [Graph2Counsel: Clinically Grounded Synthetic Counseling Dialogue Generation from Client Psychological Graphs](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2604.20382/) (2026)
- [Therapy as an NLP Task: Comparing LLMs and Human Peers Behaviors in CBT Sessions](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2409.02244/) (2024)
- [Fine-Tuning Open-Weight Language Models to Deliver Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Depression: A Feasibility Study](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2412.00251/) (2024)
- [SpineBench: A Clinically Salient, Level-Aware Benchmark Powered by the SpineMed-450k Corpus](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2510.03160/) (2025)
- [PanicToCalm: A Proactive Counseling Agent for Panic Attacks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2510.21143/) (2025)
- [EFT-CoT: A Multi-Agent Chain-of-Thought Framework for Emotion-Focused Therapy](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2601.17842/) (2026)
- [CCD-CBT: Multi-Agent Therapeutic Interaction for CBT Guided by Cognitive Conceptualization Diagram](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2604.06551/) (2026)
- [Modeling Multi-Dimensional Cognitive States in Large Language Models under Cognitive Crowding](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2604.17174/) (2026)
- [DMT-CBT: Longitudinal Therapeutic State Modeling for CBT Counseling](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.03132/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

The recent advancements in artificial intelligence highlight the potential of language models in psychological health support. While models trained on data from mental health service platform have achieved preliminary success, challenges persist in areas such as data scarcity, quality, and ensuring a solid foundation in psychological techniques. To address these challenges, this study introduces a novel approach to enhance the precision and efficacy of psychological support through large language models. Specifically, we design a specific prompt derived from principles of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and have generated the CBT QA dataset, specifically for Chinese psychological health Q&A based on CBT structured intervention strategies. Unlike previous methods, our dataset emphasizes professional and structured response. Utilizing this dataset, we fine-tuned the large language model, giving birth to CBT-LLM, the large-scale language model specifically designed for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy techniques. Empirical evaluations demonstrate that CBT-LLM excels in generating structured, professional, and highly relevant responses in psychological health support tasks, showcasing its practicality and quality. The model is available on Hugging Face: https://huggingface.co/Hongbin37/CBT-LLM.