Telemental Health Practice: Clinical, Legal, and Ethical Best Practices E241B

Course Summary

Practice Level: Intermediate

The proliferation of digital technologies in healthcare has ushered in a transformative era for mental health service delivery. Providing mental health care through telecommunication platforms has evolved rapidly from a supplementary modality to a central component of clinical practice. This learning material provides social workers, counselors, psychologists, and marriage and family therapists with a comprehensive overview of telemental health practice, focusing on clinical, ethical, and technological aspects. Clinicians will learn best practices for conducting therapy sessions remotely, ensuring confidentiality, and building therapeutic alliances online. The purpose of this learning material is to prepare providers to use telemental health technology for effective, legal, and ethical clinical practice.

As mental health clinicians address critical needs in mental health care, examining clinical, legal, and ethical frameworks can be helpful. Clinicians can apply the knowledge and tools found in this learning material as they work with clients through telemental health technologies.

Course Format

This course contains downloadable online lessons (PDF) and a practice test. When you’re ready, purchase the course by clicking the “Add To Cart” or “Enroll” button. This will let you take the test, complete the course evaluation and receive your certificate for CE credits.

Learning Objectives

1. Describe telemental health (TMH), its historical development, and common service modalities.
2. Explain how to determine client suitability for telemental health services.
3. Describe intake processes and client preparation for virtual sessions.
4. Identify key elements for consent and practice policies including crisis protocols.
5. Apply clinical techniques in the provision of virtual mental health care, including establishing a therapeutic presence and alliance.
6. Recognize indicators of psychosis or disassociation and the need for trauma-informed remote assessment practices.
7. Identify TMH considerations with certain populations.
8. Apply appropriate technology and telehealth competencies to clinical practice.
9. Explain cultural, linguistic, and equity considerations in the delivery of telemental health services.
10. Recognize federal and state regulations governing telehealth.
11. Identify ethical standards and professional guidelines relevant to telemental health delivery.
12. Explain the ethical imperative of professional self-care and its benefits, challenges, and role in providing effective TMH.
13. Describe artificial intelligence trends in clinical practice.

Course Syllabus

• Introduction
• Overview of Telemental Health
  • Definitions and Terminology
  • Historical Context
  • Post-COVID Expansion and Contemporary Research Findings
• Telemental Health Modalities
  • Synchronous Videoconferencing
  • Synchronous Telephone
  • Asynchronous Messaging
• Client Suitability and Intake Process
  • Telehealth Appropriateness Screening
  • Behavioral Health Emergencies
  • Medical Emergencies
  • Risks Associated With Firearms
  • Risks Associated With Technical Difficulties
  • Client Preparation      
  • Strengthening Therapeutic Alliance
  • Session Help: Handling Technology Glitches
  • Session Help: Medical and Behavioral Emergencies
• Consent And Practice Policies
  • Informed Consent
  • Practice Policies
  • Documentation and Legal Considerations
  • Crisis Protocol and Emergency Contacts
• Therapeutic Presence and Alliance Online
• Remote Assessments
  • Indications of Psychosis or Dissociation
  • Trauma-Informed Virtual Practices
• Telemental Health for Couples, Families, and Groups
• Telemental Health With Children
• Telemental Health With Older Adults
• Technology and Telehealth Competencies
  • Secure Platform Selection
  • Technology Issues During Sessions
  • Digital Literacy
  • Access and Connectivity Barriers
  • Skills and Usability Gaps
  • Information Evaluation and Safety
  • Sociodemographic and Cultural Factors
• Cultural, Linguistic, and Equity Issues
  • Accessibility Accommodations
  • Language Interpretation
  • Rural and Underserved Populations
• Legal and Regulatory Frameworks
  • HIPAA Compliance
  • Business Associate Agreements
  • Jurisdictional Requirements and Interstate Compacts
  • Ongoing Training and Best Practices
  • Informed Consent
• Ethical and Professional Standards
  • American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy
  • American Counseling Association
  • American Psychological Association
  • National Association of Social Workers
  • National Board for Certified Counselors
  • Core Ethical Principals
  • Professional Boundaries Online and Dual Relationships
  • Documentation and Record-Keeping
• Clinician Self-Care
  • Emotional and Professional Challenges
  • Boundaries and Work-Life Balance
  • Technological and Cultural Competence
  • Support Systems and Best Practices
• Artificial Intelligence Trends in Clinical Practice
• Summary

Author

Teresa Crowe, PhD, LCSWC

Teresa Crowe, PhD, LCSWC has been a licensed clinical social worker in Maryland for the past 38 years. She is a professor of social work in the Master of Social Work program at Gallaudet University. She teaches clinical practice, theory, and research. She publishes widely, and her recent research focuses on Deaf and hard-of-hearing populations, especially in the areas of behavioral health, intimate partner violence, and the influence of adverse life experiences on adulthood.

Accreditation Approval Statements

CE4Less.com is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. CE4Less.com maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

CE4Less.com, provider #1115, is approved as an ACE provider to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. ACE provider approval period: 08/08/2024–08/08/2027. Social workers completing this course receive 6 clinical continuing education credits.

This course has been approved by CE4Less.com, as a NAADAC Approved Education Provider, for educational credits. NAADAC Provider #91345, CE4Less.com is responsible for all aspects of the programing.

Level Education Group, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed mental health counselors #MHC-0355.

Level Education Group, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers #SW-0835.

We are committed to providing our learners with unbiased information. CE4Less never accepts commercial support and our authors have no significant financial or other conflicts of interest pertaining to the material.