Getting Started with Teletherapy
Did you know that a large factor affecting clinical outcomes for telemental health work is the therapist’s comfort and familiarity with both the technology and the procedures/protocols being used? In other words, training and deliberate practice have a very big impact on client outcomes.
These articles are meant to help kickstart your understanding; we also offer a full Telemental Health Certificate Program for a deeper dive into the topic.
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Considering the Legal/Ethical Side of Online Therapy
How to Get Started With a Telemental Health Practice
This first article covers the basics of starting online therapy. It includes lots of links to help you navigate the process. Open article→
To Practice Telemental Health, Am I Required to Receive Training?
Mental health professionals learn new therapy modalities and mediums in a variety of ways, and telemental health is simply yet another medium. But do ethical standards or laws require training before we can engage in the practice? This topic is a big source of angst in the telemental health world right now as licensing boards are researching the question all over the United States. Open article→
Can I Practice “Skype Therapy” Across State Lines?
While most mental health professionals know about the problem of cross-state practice, understanding of the details is often still hazy. This article gives you a deeper look at the legal-ethical issues and guides you in the logistical work necessary to potentially set yourself up to work across state lines. Open article→
International Online Therapy: What to Know Before You Go (and Start Doing It)
It may seem like this article is not applicable to you in your practice, but anyone working with a domestic client who is traveling abroad should think about the legal-ethical issues in international practice. International online therapy means a lot of jurisdictions and complexity, but it’s definitely achievable! Open article→
Considering the Tech/Clinical Side of Online Therapy
How Skype Became Software Non-Grata, and Other Tech Will, Too
This article isn’t just about Skype, which most people know is no longer seen as suitable for online therapy. Many mental health professionals don’t know why though, so this article helps you understand what makes a piece of tech acceptable or not acceptable. Standards can change as the environment around us changes, which means this will happen to other software, too! Open article→
When Online Therapy Video Sessions Go Glitchy: Some Tips
We’ve heard many complaints about video software from mental health professionals who’ve had their delicate interventions blocked by chopping or freezing, or who’ve had such a bad connection that they’ve been unable to do online therapy at all. This article helps you troubleshoot these issues, which are most likely caused by problems in the tech setup on the therapist’s end, the client’s end, or both. Open article→
Making Eye Contact Over Video in Telemental Health Services
The issue of eye contact over video has long been a hobgoblin for therapists considering the idea of integrating online therapy into their practice. Making eye contact over video is less difficult than it may seem, even though the method may not be obvious at first. This article shows you how! Open article→
Additional Articles of Interest:
Person Centered Tech has produced a ton of articles on practice technology just for mental health professionals. Here are several that we think are worth reading your way through over time:
What's next?
This is a component of Step 2: Training
Relevant, Engaging, and Practical Training that Meets Your Needs as a Mental Health Professional
For mental health, by mental health
