Clinical Issues in Psychotherapy via Telehealth

• Many providers new to telehealth are unprepared for the range and intensity of client behaviors and unique situations they encounter
• With preparation and practice many of the difficulties inherent to video-based care can be minimized or turned into strengths
• Telehealth is here to stay…now is the time to increase your competence and confidence to provide the highest quality telehealth psychotherapy services possible

This course offers clinician-centered guidance on providing psychotherapy by telehealth. This program addresses both beginning and advanced aspects of telehealth service delivery, across two modules. The first module focuses on four core domains of competence for managing a variety of treatment boundaries, client presentations, technology issues, and other situations unique to, or significantly impacted by, a video-based approach to therapy services. In the second module, six advanced aspects of telehealth are explained, including ways to increase therapeutic presence, anticipating and managing issues that arise when working across multiple jurisdictions, and the heightened importance of self-care in a virtual role.

While numerous educational programs on telehealth focus on abstract or preparatory aspects, or do not include experiences from actual providers, this educational content is delivered by a clinician who has been providing video-based psychotherapy since 2013 and who works full-time providing specialized telehealth across multiple jurisdictions. Clinical Issues In Psychotherapy via Telehealth was created during, and with sensitivity to, the Coronavirus Pandemic. With a focus on practicality, it has been designed to help you increase your competence and confidence in providing therapy through telehealth, and explore thoughtful responses to a number of the clinical, ethical, and risk-related challenges involved in providing psychotherapy through a video modality.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

By the end of this course you will be able to:

1. Identify four domains of competence for psychotherapy telehealth service delivery.
   1. Explain how telehealth poses unique challenges to the usual provision of psychotherapy.
   2. Provide examples of behavioral responses to reduce or overcome barriers to successful telehealth.

2. Identify six areas of focus for advanced telehealth service delivery
   1. Identify how might you utilize telehealth to home to enhance your assessment and intervention processes.
   2. Learn concrete ways you could alter your in-person therapeutic presence to improve client experiences in telehealth.

3. Anticipate, identify, and skillfully respond to at least five possible problem areas for providers of psychotherapy via telehealth.
   1. Identify at least one mechanism for preventing cross-jurisdictional issues based on client location.
   2. Learn three components to consider when assessing behavioral risk in telehealth.

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