For product leaders building tools that help users heal.
I’ve helped product leaders train AI therapy models to make them more accurate, inclusive, and safe. I am Max Littman, IFS therapist, consultant, and author of Internal Family Systems Therapy for Gay and Queer Men.
Case studies
These illustrative examples are based on the types of clinical response improvements I have helped teams make in real mental health and wellness products.
01
Shifted the product from pushing for deep disclosure to supporting pacing, consent, and emotional safety. That changes the experience from pushing toward disclosure to supporting regulated reflection.
02
Shifted from labeling coping strategies as problems to honoring them as protective parts of the system.
03
Shifted from sounding like a therapist to being supportive within the product’s real role and limits.
Focused services
Review AI generated responses for clinical tone, pacing, safety, boundaries, and user trust.
Align parts work, inner dialogue, journaling, and emotional mapping tools with the spirit of IFS.
Review sensitive flows for pacing, containment, choice, and user agency.
Make product language, examples, prompts, and assumptions more attuned to LGBTQ+ users.
Clinical and cultural product feedback for mental health apps and AI wellness products.
Why product teams bring me in
Product teams bring me in when a mental health tool is starting to touch vulnerable material, when AI responses need clinical review, when parts work language needs more care, or when the team wants a product to feel useful without pretending to be therapy.
What you get
Consultation can translate clinical nuance into product decisions, language changes, prompt improvements, and risk notes that help teams move with more care and confidence.
A clinical and cultural product review that identifies strengths, risks, and concrete opportunities to improve the experience.
Specific notes on prompts, flows, copy, onboarding, summaries, AI responses, and sensitive user moments.
Suggested wording that can make product interactions feel more respectful, boundaried, trauma informed, and useful.
Clear flags for places where a product may overreach, escalate vulnerability, imply therapy, shame users, or miss context.
Guidance your product, design, clinical, research, and AI teams can take into planning, QA, and release decisions.
Common reasons teams reach out
The kind of feedback I offer
I look for the places where a product may be useful, but also where it may be doing more than it realizes. I may notice when language sounds subtly shaming, when a prompt assumes too much, when a product bypasses psychological defenses, when a feature encourages over analysis, when a user could feel exposed rather than supported, or when queer users might not see themselves reflected in the product’s assumptions.
I also help identify what is already working. Sometimes a small shift in language, pacing, hierarchy, or framing can make a product feel more respectful, more grounded, and more trustworthy.
Why work with me
I am a California Licensed Clinical Social Worker, psychotherapist, consultant, author, and Internal Family Systems therapist. My clinical and consulting work centers on IFS, trauma, attachment, shame, attunement, therapist development, and the lived experiences of gay and queer men.
I am the author of Internal Family Systems Therapy for Gay and Queer Men: A Companion for After Coming Out, a guide for gay and queer men, therapists, and allies working through the lens of IFS.
I also publish clinical writing on IFS, trauma, attachment, shame, identity, sexuality, and queer mental health. That writing reflects the same clinical judgment I bring to product consultation.
I have consulted on therapy adjacent technology, including work with Parts Companion to help align product design with the IFS model while making the product more clinically careful and culturally sensitive to gay and queer clients and therapists.
“Max’s commitment to his clients and consultees, and especially to the gay and queer community, is evident in this book.”
Susan McConnell, founder of Somatic IFSClinical writing and thought leadership
Max’s book and publications give product teams a clearer sense of the clinical lens behind his consultation.
A companion for after coming out, written for gay and queer men, therapists, and allies.
PublicationsRecent writing explores right sized responses, protective systems, Self energy, and the relational field.
Engagement packages
Choose a focused review for one feature or a broader advisory relationship across product, clinical, design, research, and content work.
A focused review of one product area, feature, flow, prompt set, or user experience with written feedback your team can use quickly.
Clinical review of model outputs, prompt patterns, crisis language, emotional tone, boundaries, and user safety.
A specialized review for products using IFS, parts work, inner child language, self leadership, or emotional multiplicity.
A focused consultation on how a product may be experienced by gay, queer, and LGBTQ+ users or therapists.
Regular consultation across releases, including product discussions, prompt review, language refinement, team education, and clinical feedback.
Product teams value Max’s ability to translate clinical nuance into practical product decisions.
“Max set the bar for quality in these terms on the first project we undertook, allowing us to immediately level-up the attunement of our AI systems for specific audiences.”
Adam Taylor, Senior Director of Product, Evolve Labs
One of Max's greatest strengths is his ability to bridge two worlds that rarely meet successfully: deep clinical expertise and practical product development.
He helped us translate nuanced therapeutic concepts into structured guidance that directly improved the quality, safety, and attunement of our AI systems. His recommendations were clear, actionable, and easy for our product and engineering teams to implement.
The process and framework he developed became the model we used with the rest of our clinical reviewers, raising the quality and consistency of our work across the organization.
We would enthusiastically recommend Max to any team building technology that supports mental health, personal growth, coaching, or emotional well-being.
FAQ
Short answers about scope, fit, and how product consultation works.
Clinical and cultural review of product language, AI responses, prompts, user flows, onboarding, and sensitive product moments for teams building mental health, wellness, coaching, or therapy adjacent tools.
Yes. Max reviews AI generated responses for clinical tone, emotional pacing, user safety, cultural sensitivity, therapeutic boundaries, and places where the product may sound too certain, too intimate, or too much like therapy.
No. Product consultation helps teams make mental health technology more clinically careful and emotionally attuned. It does not provide therapy, clinical supervision, legal advice, or regulatory compliance review.
Max works with tech companies, AI wellness products, journaling tools, IFS and parts work platforms, therapy adjacent products, clinician support tools, coaching products, and teams serving LGBTQ+ users or therapists.
A product audit is a focused review of a feature, flow, prompt set, response pattern, or product experience. Teams receive practical feedback on strengths, risks, language, pacing, boundaries, and suggested improvements.
Contact
I would be glad to help you think through the clinical, cultural, ethical, and relational dimensions of your product.
Whether you are refining an AI response pattern, building an IFS informed feature, reviewing language for queer sensitivity, or trying to make sure your tool supports users without pretending to be therapy, consultation can help your team move with more clarity and care.
Phone: (650) 420-3274
Website: maxlittman.com