Digital phenotyping and passive smartphone sensing

Domain IX · Biomedical, neuro & digital

What it is

Digital phenotyping is not a psychotherapy. It is a measurement approach. The Onnela Lab defines it as the moment-by-moment quantification of the individual-level human phenotype in situ, using data from personal digital devices, especially smartphones. Data are of two kinds. Passive data are…

Format

• Because digital phenotyping is a measurement layer, not a treatment, it has no developer-defined phases or session count. The stages below are a practical sequence for a therapist who uses (or is asked to use) passive sensing within ongoing therapy. They draw on the mindLAMP clinical workflow and…
• Collaborative review in sessions. Goal: look at summaries together, let the client add context, and link patterns to therapy goals. mindLAMP shows charts to patient and clinician; in one example, DBT diary cards were reviewed at every session. Navigators can prepare weekly summaries. Typical…

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• As of October 2026, none of the sources cited here describes any smartphone passive-sensing tool for diagnosing mental disorders or predicting relapse as FDA-cleared, NICE-recommended or DiGA-listed. Treat any product's regulatory claim as something to check at the regulator's own database on the date you use it.

Evidence status, as the guide reports it

• Evaluate the tool and agree consent. Goal: know what the platform collects, where data go, who sees them and how to stop. Use a structured app evaluation (privacy and security, evidence, ease of use) and a staged, plain-language consent. Move on when the client can explain back what is collected…

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Does it involve intense or unusual breathing? Have you been told about the medical conditions for which that is not advised?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• How do you and the practitioner understand what is happening, in spiritual or cultural terms? Is that a source of comfort, worry, or both?
• Does it use a device, heat, cold, water or a physical procedure? Has a medical professional checked that it is safe for you?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• collecting "just in case". Working if: every stream switched on has a named use.
• clients using data to self-adjust medication. Working if: medical questions reach the prescriber.
• anxiety about losing a "safety net"; data retained longer than needed. Working if: the client keeps the insight and the collection has fully stopped.
• notes that quote data as fact without the client's context. Working if: anyone reading the record can see how data and clinical judgement were combined.
• pressure from referrers, clients agreeing out of fear, guarded or performative sessions. Working if: the client trusts that sessions are not a monitoring channel.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.