Online Counseling — When the line is unclear
Is using AI cheating?
The question — whether talking to ChatGPT, Replika, or Character.AI counts as cheating — doesn't have a universal answer, and anyone who gives you one quickly is skipping the part that matters. Legal and academic circles have started circling the same problem: a 2025 Richmond Journal of Law and Technology piece on AI infidelity noted that existing frameworks for emotional infidelity and parasocial attachment weren't built for this. What the question is really asking is: what agreements exist between you and your partner, and has something changed? Stefan Kohlweg holds an MSc Psychosocial Counseling degree from Sigmund Freud University and is based in Vienna; he works with exactly this in asynchronous email counseling at €99 per session. The frame he brings isn't verdict — it's inquiry. Not "did you cross a line" but "where do each of you think the line is, and do those maps match?" That's the conversation worth having. This page is a way in.
€99 per session · 24h email reply · no subscription
What you're really asking when you ask this.
You found the conversation logs — or they told you, or you noticed the hours going somewhere you couldn't account for. Maybe it was Replika, or ChatGPT running as a persona, or Character.AI at 2am. The content wasn't what you expected: it was tender, or confessional, or intimate in a way that felt like it belonged to you. You didn't know what to do with that. You still don't. "Is this cheating?" is the sentence that came out, because it's the closest available frame. But it already feels like it might be the wrong question.
The category "cheating" was built around a specific model of what relationships are and what breach looks like. It assumes agreed-upon rules, an act that crossed them, and a verdict. What it doesn't have room for is the situation you're actually in: two people who probably never discussed what emotional intimacy with a non-human means, discovering they have different intuitions about it at the worst possible moment. The right frame isn't "did someone cheat." It's "what did we each think the agreement was, and what do we want it to be now?" That's a harder conversation — and a more honest one.
Counseling doesn't give you a ruling. What it gives you is a structured way to find the actual question underneath the one you came in with — and language for a conversation that won't just collapse into defense and accusation. Stefan works with both the person who was using the app and the partner who found out, because the dynamic underneath is usually the same: something wasn't being said, and the chatbot was where it went instead. Understanding that is what changes things.
Background reading: What systemic counseling is — and what it isn't · Why AI is actually better for systemic counseling · The two kinds of boundaries in AI relationships →
02 — The Approach
Clarity.
Not judgment.
Counseling gives you a structured space to name what's actually going on — without defensiveness, shame, or pressure. You write what you've lived. A reply comes back, in your inbox, within 24 hours: not advice, but the dynamic underneath, in language you can use.
03 — Sessions
One email.
Real clarity.
Asynchronous email counseling. No scheduling, no retelling your story, no subscription. Pay per session.
Systemic
Counseling
Email-based · asynchronous · 24h turnaround
€99 ≈ $110 / £85 · pay once, no subscription
- Systemic counseling techniques, reviewed by a human counselor
- For individuals, couples, or partners
- Your context lives in your emails — no need to retell your story
- 24-hour turnaround on every session
- No scheduling — fits your life, not the other way around
04 — About
Stefan Kohlweg —
counselor & technologist
I hold an MSc in Psychosocial Counseling from Sigmund Freud University in Vienna, and a BA in Recording Arts from SAE Institute Vienna. The combination — a technical background alongside formal counseling training — shapes how I think about the intersection of people and the systems they live inside.
I work with individuals and couples through asynchronous email counseling that fits your life. Systemic techniques, always reviewed by me before delivery. The approach is rooted in communication and emotional dynamics, not in judgment.
The goal stays the same across every situation: clarity, less shame, and better conversation.
Every reply is a structured email written for the situation you've described. The clearest way to see what one looks like is to read a worked example end-to-end.
See what a reply actually looks like →If €99 is out of reach right now, write to [email protected]. Each request is read quietly.
This service is systemic counseling (Lebens- und Sozialberatung) pursuant to Austrian Gewerbeordnung. It is not psychotherapy and does not address diagnosis or mental illness. If you are experiencing a mental health crisis, please contact a licensed psychotherapist or emergency services.