In a time when digital screens have replaced therapy rooms, one challenge remains universal: how do clinicians preserve the depth, connection, and effectiveness of in-person work in a virtual space? This course offers the practical strategies and clinical insight needed to bridge that gap—without compromising the heart of therapy.
In this dynamic training designed specifically for behavioral health professionals, you’ll explore how to bring your full clinical presence and therapeutic skill into video-based sessions—ensuring that client care remains personal, grounded, and transformative, even online.
Vicki Loyer, Ph.D., LMFT, is an accomplished clinician, educator, and author with decades of experience in family therapy, mental health, and clinical supervision. As CEO of Blue Door Psychotherapy and a professor of psychiatry and behavioral health, Dr. Loyer offers deep clinical wisdom and clear, structured approaches to telemental health. Her work during the COVID-19 pandemic—including organizing national webinars on telemental health ethics—positions her as a trusted voice in virtual care.
Dr. Loyer delivers this training with a down-to-earth, competency-focused family therapy lens. Through clear examples, interactive case material, and expert commentary, she teaches clinicians how to confidently navigate video teleconferencing (VTC) while preserving the therapeutic alliance, clinical intuition, and ethical boundaries that define effective care.
Topics include the four essential elements of effective therapy in a virtual context: the therapist, the rationale, the correction, and the alliance. Participants will learn how to set up both therapist and client environments for maximum therapeutic benefit, how to observe process shifts and emotion online, how to engage families in high-conflict cases, and how to handle cultural and ethical considerations with nuance and integrity.
Key Takeaways:
Strengthen therapeutic presence online: Learn how to build trust, alliance, and clarity in virtual sessions, even when clients are distracted or disengaged.
Utilize clinical observation and process: Discover how to assess emotional data and enact process-based interventions using what you can see and hear over video.
Ensure ethical and contextual safety: Understand how to ethically manage confidentiality, safety risks, and clinical boundaries in a telehealth setting.
Why this course?
Real-world guidance from a seasoned therapist: Dr. Loyer brings decades of frontline family therapy and supervision experience, blending academic rigor with clinical compassion.
Clinically grounded and immediately applicable: This course goes beyond regulations to give you strategies you can use with clients right away.
Trusted training from Telehealth Certification Institute: With a mission to equip behavioral health professionals for excellence in care, TCI delivers education that’s ethical, effective, and empowering.
Learning Objectives:
Identify therapeutic alliances in VTC and identify technical issues in creating an appropriate treatment environment in VTC.
Discuss the use of the client environment to integrate effective interventions and illustrate techniques for observing process shifts and emotional data in clients.
Discuss issues of ethics and client safety.
Whether you’re new to telehealth or looking to deepen your skills, this course offers a practical and empowering path forward. Join us to strengthen your clinical presence online—and ensure your clients feel seen, supported, and safe, no matter where they are.
Add this course to your cart to begin learning instantly.
This is a non-interactive, self-study course. Instruction consists of 1 hour of video instruction and a post-test.
Availability: From the time of registration, you have six months to access the coursework.
Who Should Attend: This course is intended for clinicians who provide behavioral health services.
Teaching Methods: This is a non-interactive, self-study course. Teaching methods for this course include recorded lectures, videos, a post-test, and a course evaluation.
How to Attend: Instructions for attending and completing a course can be found here.
Vicki Loyer, Ph.D., LMFT
Vicki Loyer (Carlson) Ph.D., LMFT, is the CEO/President of Blue Door Psychotherapy, a center for individual and family therapy services and a center for family therapy training. She is a clinical assistant professor at the University of Arizona Department of Psychiatry, and a Subject Matter Expert, Site Supervisor, and Instructor for Graduate Studies at Grand Canyon University. Using a competency focused family therapy approach to working with individuals and families, she provides equine assisted psychotherapy as an experiential therapy for greater depth. Most recently, as a result of Covid-19 restrictions, Dr. Loyer has expanded her practice and teaching in the area of delivering quality Telemental Health and has been a co-organizer of Webinars on Telemental health Ethics and Effective Therapy. Dr. Loyer is a regular contributing author to the House Calls section of the Tucson magazine Desert Leaf, has co-author of books on premarital relationships and youth-at-risk, and has been publishing and speaking in the areas of self-injury, mental illness, addiction, and family therapy for many years. Dr Loyer is an AAMFT Clinical Member, Approved Supervisor and a past president of the Arizona Association for Marriage & Family Therapy (AzAMFT).
Disclosure Statement: The instructor for this course receive compensation for their services. There are no reported conflicts of interest to disclose.
Credit Hours: This course consists of 1 continuing education hour of credit.
Counselors:
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Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No, 6693. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.
Telehealth Certification Institute, 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-0048.
Marriage and Family Therapists: Many MFT licensing boards accept our courses or one of the approvals which we have from professional associations. You can check with your board to determine if your licensing board would accept this course.
Telehealth Certification Institute, 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 marriage and family therapists #MFT-0135, effective May 8, 2025.
Social Workers:
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Telehealth Certification Institute LLC, #1609, 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: 05/02/2024 – 05/02/2027. Social workers completing this course receive 1 clinical continuing education credit.
Telehealth Certification Institute, 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-0435.
Addiction Professionals:
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This course has been approved by Telehealth Certification Institute LLC, as a NAADAC Approved Education Provider, for educational credits. NAADAC Provider #193104, Telehealth Certification Institute LLC is responsible for all aspects of the programming.
Psychologists:
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Telehealth Certification Institute LLC is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Telehealth Certification Institute LLC maintains responsibility for this program and its content.
Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Psychology as an approved provider of continuing education for Licensed Psychologists #PSY-0128.
Art Therapists: Telehealth Certification Institute, 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 Creative Arts Therapists #CAT-0093.
Other Professionals: This course qualifies for 60 minutes of instructional content as required by many national, state and local licensing boards and professional organizations. Retain your certificate of completion and contact your board or organization for specific filing requirements.
