A clinician's lens on a technical problem.
Metonym originated in clinical practice. The questions it asks — what should an evaluator notice, how should it be measured, when does an AI system fail in a way that matters — are clinical questions first, technical questions second.
Dr. Laura L. Walsh is a licensed clinical psychologist practicing in the mountains of Trinidad, Colorado. Over more than two decades, she has cultivated a practice that bridges the consulting room, the courtroom, and the frontier of AI safety — applying the same rigor across all three.
Metonym is the productized form of her clinical evaluation work: a patent-pending framework combining the Salient Distress Model (SDM) — a clinical model of what an evaluator should be looking for — and the Mechanical Severity Score (MSS) — a structured scoring approach that turns clinical judgment into reproducible measurement. To date, the methodology has been applied to more than 1,700 AI model evaluations across multiple scenarios. A US Provisional Patent Application covering the methodology was filed in May 2026.
Background
Dr. Walsh holds a BA in Psychology with a minor in Philosophy from Texas State University and a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the Illinois School of Professional Psychology. She is licensed to practice psychology in Colorado (#PSY.0006327) and Illinois (#071009203).
She is a published author, sought-after speaker, and former adjunct faculty member at multiple clinical psychology training programs. A native southerner who called Chicago home for years before settling in the mountains of Colorado, her clinical approach is informed by Self Psychology, Internal Family Systems, Narrative Therapy, the Gottman Method, and the Specialty Guidelines for Forensic Psychology.
Why this work
"My father was an engineer. From him I learned to approach complexity with patience and precision — slow down, look carefully at each layer, until something new emerges. That instinct runs through everything I do, whether I'm in session with a client, reviewing records for a deposition, or evaluating how an AI system misreads risk."
That orientation is what Metonym translates into a system. AI systems that interact with people in crisis are not a content-moderation problem. They are a clinical problem that happens to have been built by engineers. Metonym is the bridge.
Practice areas beyond Metonym
In addition to AI risk consulting, Dr. Walsh maintains an active clinical practice and forensic consulting practice through Walsh Psychology. Her clinical work focuses on suicide loss bereavement, adult ADHD, LGBTQ+ and alternative-family populations, trauma and attachment, and substance and behavioral addictions. Her forensic work focuses on civil and employment matters — psychological injury, ADHD accommodations, wrongful death, and suicide-related questions — in Colorado and Illinois.
For non-Metonym inquiries — clinical, forensic, psychedelic medicine consultation, or speaking engagements — see walshpsychology.com.
Speaking & Media
Dr. Walsh accepts a limited number of speaking engagements and media appearances on AI safety in mental health applications, clinical evaluation of AI systems, and the regulatory landscape for digital health AI. For inquiries, see contact.