Telehealth Certification Institute

The National Conference of State Legislators report estimated that telehealth users would increase from 250,000 in 2013 to 3.2 million in 2018—but no one could have expected the surge that erupted out of the COVID-19 pandemic, a public health fiasco that rapidly shut the door on in-school learning for K-12 students.

Teachers and students aren’t the only ones adopting new classroom procedures. Telehealth platforms have also enabled nursing departments to reach students who are isolated, undergoing COVID-19 quarantine, or who cannot physically meet in person for an appointment with the school nurse. As CNBC’s Bertha Coombs emphasized, telehealth interactions—including those with children, families, and adults—neared 1 billion visits toward the end of 2020. Both the National Association of Student Nurses (NASN) and the Center for Disease Control (CDC) have endorsed a holistic, whole-student model that could include a telehealth option.

Four mental health experts recommend ways to manage compassion fatigue and burnout for behavioral health professionals.

Watch the recording today!

For our December installment of the Behavioral Health Toolbox Series, we covered a topic that is near-and-dear to many of us as we transition into 2021: compassion fatigue and burnout among healthcare professionals. The Telehealth Certification Institute Toolbox Series delivers live virtual webinars on telehealth topics facilitated by experts in the behavioral health field. Our webinars are practical, immersible, and driven by your interests.

Four panelists contributed to the December discussion. Sarah Dooling, a registered play therapist and instructor in San Diego State University’s MSW program, took an inventive approach to coping with pre-COVID triggers and current stressors. Sara advised practitioners to create a Resilience Kit with tools that will keep you well. Sara’s suggestion highlighted one of the webinar’s primary goals—optimizing creativity while creating new self-care routines. As Sara described for viewers, using transitional objects, such as a piece of paper with the names of your personal support squad, can act as a visual indicator.

Couples counseling is stressful during normal times – two people struggling to keep their relationship alive, and pinning a lot of hope on their therapist. Even “good sessions” – with both partners working hard on the relationship – are often filled with a double dose of painful emotions. 

When COVID-19 hit, couples therapy became even more complicated. Many therapists switched to telehealth to reduce the risk of spreading the disease. Now, partners are in their own homes (together), and the therapist is miles away peering at them through a tiny camera.

Sue Johnson, the developer of Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy (EFT), wrote that her first response to the idea of online couples therapy was “total disbelief.” In an article published in the November/December 2020 issue of Psychotherapy Networker Magazine, Johnson said that until about 18 months ago, she “simply refused to consider it.”

Michael Cappiello, LCSW, is the President of New York State’s NASW Chapter (NASW-NYS) and introduces students to the best online educational platforms for their learning experience. Michael puts his MSW training to use every day across the social work spectrum as NASW-NYS president, a school social worker for the NYC Department of Education, and through his own counseling practice. 

Schools have hit their newest paradigm shift with the unexpected appearance of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many students who relied on structured in-person classes are struggling to adapt those skills to the online learning space. Michael’s social work background explains this predicament through the gold-standard biopsychosocial model. As a frequent user of mental health assessments, Michael places equal emphasis on each part of a student’s life. His student-centered approach moves the conversation away from the child’s psychological symptoms and towards broader explanations for their educational challenges.

COVID-19 has necessitated that schools nationwide protect the safety of staff and students by offering crucial academic and behavioral health services through telehealth. In October 2020, the Telehealth Certification Institute hosted a webinar titled, “Telehealth in School Environment- Meeting Student Needs Amid Covid-19” which featured experts on telehealth and behavioral health in the school environment. This webinar sought to equip educational professionals to meet the needs of students in a constantly-evolving virtual environment. This webinar also included CE hours for mental health professionals and covered information such as issues of justice within virtual learning environments, how to relate with stakeholders virtually, and best practices for implementing virtual assessments. Participants had the opportunity to submit questions throughout the session and panelists answered questions live during the webinar. 

Do no harm. Your ethical code as a clinician requires that above all, you promote the welfare of your client and avoid harm. 

Now that COVID-19 is raging across America, this mandate takes on a new question: how do clinicians avoid physically harming clients amid a global pandemic?

According to the CDC, in-person talk therapy in an office seems an ideal way to spread the coronavirus if either the clinician or client is infected:

Finding training for telephone counseling can be an exhausting, time-intensive process for clinicians. Knowing what to look for and why training is essential are key pieces of information for over-the-phone counseling. First, let’s start with what topics are essential for phone counseling—

• Legal considerations for telephonic counseling 
• Ethical implications when using a verbal-only clinical modality 
• How to keep your phone safe and HIPAA compliant? 
• What to know about crisis planning for phone counseling

The use of telehealth services rapidly expanded in the U.S. after the COVID-19 pandemic hit in early 2020. The changes in the way that health care was delivered were needed to help stop the spread of the disease.

But will the momentum continue after the pandemic subsides? There are signs that it might.