Rosebud, AI Therapy & the Religion of the Future?

In this episode: Sean Dadashi, the founder of the mental health AI app Rosebud, joins us to unpack the collapse of traditional therapy—and why LLMs might become your next therapist.

We dive into how childhood trauma, spiritual epiphanies, and ancient Buddhist practices shaped Sean’s journey… and how AI is now helping people do the inner work that human therapists often can’t.We also debate the hierarchy of religion, how Buddhism became a luxury belief, and why the future of mental health might be on your phone—not a therapist’s couch.

Follow Dilan: https://x.com/dilan

Follow Ben: https://x.com/btaubster

Follow Sean:

- X: https://x.com/seandadashi

- Instagram: : https://www.instagram.com/dadashi/

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seandadashi

- Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/dadashi

Try Rosebud: https://rosebud.app

Chapters:

00:00 – Intro & Guest Welcome

01:24 – Sean's Background and Rosebud’s Vision

03:06 – Journals, Habits, and Personal Mentors

04:19 – Growing Up in Conservative Orange County

05:59 – First Encounter with Depression

07:05 – How a Forum Led Sean to Meditation

08:24 – Spiritual Epiphany at Age 14

11:02 – “I Am God” and What That Actually Means

13:05 – Escaping the Mental Cage of Religion

15:43 – When Buddhism Fails You (Literally)

17:33 – Trust vs. Faith in Religion

20:30 – Integration: The Real Goal of Spirituality

25:36 – The Hierarchy of Religion (Poor vs. Rich Man’s Belief)

28:33 – Therabody: AI Therapy Gets Real

30:29 – Why Sean Built Rosebud

37:17 – Depression, Isolation & the 3am Spiral

41:09 – Finding a Therapist is Broken

44:17 – Can AI Replace Your Therapist?

47:08 – “Most Therapists Are Useless” Debate

51:16 – When Friends Just Project Their Trauma

53:42 – Why Men Might Open Up to AI First

55:10 – HelpBench, GPT-4 & LLMs in Healthcare

57:35 – How to Measure Healing with AI

59:44 – The Big Question: Can AI Teach Compassion?