Bringing Yourself as a Well-Trained Therapist Into Online Sessions

Description

This course does not offer CE Credits. The same course is available for purchase and offers 1 CE hour for behavioral health clinicians.  See "related products" below.

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.

Format and Access

This is a non-interactive, self-study course. Instruction consists of 1 hour of video instruction and a course evaluation.

Course Details

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. This continuing education course is designed for licensed behavioral health professionals and provides training in suicide prevention using expressive arts as an integrative approach. However, this is not a creative arts therapy course and does not provide training in creative arts therapy.

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: 

Course access and completion instructions.

Instructor and Disclosures

Instructor

About Vicki Loyer, Ph.D., LMFT

Vicki Loyer (Carlson) 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(s) for this course receive compensation for their services. There are no reported conflicts of interest to disclose.

CE Hours

This course does not offer CE credits, just great content.

The same course is available for purchase and offers 1 CE hour for behavioral health clinicians.  See "related products" below.

Participants may request a printed version of their certificate of completion to be delivered by mail. A shipping/handling fee of $6.95 will be charged per request. Shipping internationally may require an additional charge.

Accommodations and Policies

Close Captioning is available for live webinars and recorded video presentations.

You can click on the following links to view our policies:

• Accommodations for Individuals with Disabilities.
• Cancellation Policy
• Grievance Policy
• Support Options
• Disclosure Statement