Contemporary Telemental Healthcare Delivery: The Therapeutic Relationship and Applied Considerations

Course overview

This course is based upon material published in WUPJ and is available as an open access article. Telemental health, the provision of mental health services remotely using telecommunications, is increasing rapidly in uptake and usage in Canada and around the world. Due to its effective reduction of geographical barriers between clients and clinicians and its demonstrated cost-effectiveness to healthcare systems, telemental healthcare delivery is expected to expand and continue to be implemented in novel contexts. However, clinicians have commented on the ramifications that the loss of in-person contact has on treatment, including difficulties in ensuring client safety during crises and in accessing all client information. This article evaluates the impact of telemental healthcare provision and its implications on the client-clinician therapeutic relationship from ethical, practical, and legal perspectives. Since the American Psychological Associations Guidelines for the Practice of Telepsychology were published in 2013, new online services for telemental healthcare delivery have launched. The use of these services and how they may be used to enhance patient experience and patient outcomes as well as facilitate technology adoption by clinicians will be reviewed. In this context, the online therapy service Talkspace is considered, and critical perspectives on its congruence with ethical standards for psychologists are presented. This course on telemental healthcare is designed for social workers, professional counselors, psychologists, nurses, and substance abuse counselors, who do clinical work. This course is appropriate for beginning, intermediate and advanced level practitioners who wish to develop or increase their knowledge of telemental healthcare. It may also be useful for licensed clinicians who require clinical continuing education courses for license renewal. Authors: Whaley Learning Objectives: This course will provide the practitioner with detailed information regarding contemporary telemental healthcare delivery. Specifically, a professional will: Identify ethical considerations related to delivering mental healthcare remotely using telecommunications Summarize practical considerations regarding telemental healthcare delivery Explain legal considerations of telemental healthcare delivery Citation: Whaley, Colin R. Contemporary Telemental Healthcare Delivery: The Therapeutic Relationship and Applied Considerations. WUPJ Volume 6. April, 2018.