Ethical, Legal, and Security Considerations for Technology and Mental Health Care

Description

Technology is now woven into nearly every aspect of mental health practice. Even clinicians who provide services entirely in person may rely on email, electronic health records, telehealth platforms, websites, digital forms, online scheduling, texting, billing systems, cloud storage, or other tools that affect client privacy and clinical risk. As technology continues to evolve, behavioral health professionals need more than a general reminder to “follow HIPAA” or “protect confidentiality.” They need a practical way to think through what secure, ethical, and legally informed technology use actually requires in daily practice.

Many clinicians were trained to uphold confidentiality, informed consent, documentation standards, and professional boundaries, but received little formal preparation in technology security, platform selection, vendor agreements, cyber risk, or emerging tools such as Artificial Intelligence. This gap can leave professionals vulnerable to avoidable mistakes, unclear policies, poor platform choices, inappropriate use of client data, or uncertainty about how to respond when systems fail, breaches occur, or new tools outpace existing laws and ethics codes.

Dr. Amy Marschall, Psy.D., brings a practical, clinically grounded perspective to the ethical and security challenges that arise when technology becomes part of mental health care. As a certified Telemental Health provider and author of Telemental Health with Kids Toolbox and Telemental Health with Kids Toolbox Volume Two, Dr. Marschall is especially well suited to help clinicians move beyond abstract compliance language and think through how technology decisions affect confidentiality, consent, documentation, access, boundaries, and client safety in real-world practice.

Rather than framing technology as either inherently helpful or inherently risky, Dr. Marschall emphasizes careful clinical discernment. The training explores how professional ethics codes and HIPAA-related responsibilities apply to everyday practice realities, including electronic records, email, telehealth platforms, texting, social media, recording, home offices, staff access, business associate agreements, breach response, record disposal, and jurisdictional considerations. Throughout, clinicians are encouraged to think beyond whether a tool is convenient and consider whether it fits their ethical obligations, legal responsibilities, work setting, client needs, and scope of competence.

The program also addresses emerging concerns related to Artificial Intelligence, cybersecurity, and human error. Dr. Marschall examines AI use in documentation, transcription, client communication, chatbots, and administrative tasks while highlighting unresolved questions about consent, data retention, clinical judgment, subpoenas, and the limits of “HIPAA compliant” as a complete ethical standard. The discussion also brings attention to practical vulnerabilities such as phishing emails, rushed responses, weak access practices, unclear policies, and therapist-targeted scams, helping clinicians slow down, verify information, vet vendors, update safeguards, and reduce preventable risks to both clients and their practice.

Key Takeaways

• Protect client information in everyday technology use: Strengthen your understanding of how ethical, legal, and security responsibilities apply to the digital tools commonly used in mental health practice.
• Make more informed technology decisions: Learn how to evaluate platforms, vendor claims, business associate agreements, AI features, and practice policies with greater clinical and ethical discernment.
• Reduce preventable risk: Recognize how human error, unclear boundaries, poor access practices, and scams can undermine security—and identify practical steps to support safer practice.

Why This Course?

• It is designed for modern clinical practice: Technology is no longer limited to telehealth. This course addresses the tools, platforms, and communication methods that now shape routine behavioral health care.
• It turns compliance into practical decision-making: The training helps clinicians connect ethics codes, HIPAA-related responsibilities, and security expectations to real situations they may encounter in practice.
• It supports client trust and professional protection: By strengthening technology-related judgment, clinicians can better safeguard confidential information, respond thoughtfully to emerging tools, and reduce avoidable exposure to ethical, legal, and security concerns.

Learning Objectives

• Apply ethical and legal standards to secure use of technology in mental health practice, including compliance with relevant professional ethics codes and HIPAA.
• Evaluate risks and benefits of emerging technologies, including Artificial Intelligence, in clinical settings and with administrative tasks.
• Analyze security vulnerabilities, including human error risks, and implement strategies to select platforms and products that protect client confidentiality.

Technology will continue to shape mental health care, but clinicians do not have to respond to each new tool with either fear or blind adoption. This course offers practical guidance for using digital resources more thoughtfully, protecting client information more effectively, and making informed decisions that support ethical, legally sound, and clinically responsible practice.

Enroll today to empower you to meet the demands of modern mental health care with greater clarity, competence, and care—inviting you to lead in your field by staying both current and compliant.

Format and Access

This is a non-interactive, self-studycourse and consists of 3 Ethics CE hours of video instruction and a post-test.

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.

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 Amy Marschall, Psy.D.

Dr. Marschall earned her doctoral degree in clinical psychology from the University of Hartford in West Hartford, Connecticut. She completed her pre-doctoral internship through the National Psychology Training Consortium and her post-doctoral residency at Family Psychological Center, PA.

Dr. Marschall has been in practice since 2016 and currently owns a private practice, RMH-Therapy, where she provides therapy primarily to children and adolescents and psychological evaluations. Her clinical specializations include trauma-informed and neurodiversity-affirming care, trauma therapy, autism, and ADHD. She also provides ADHD assessments through ADHD Online and therapy services through Spring Health. She teaches continuing education through PESI, Spring Health, and the Telehealth Certification Institute. Dr. Marschall is certified in telemental health and is the author of Telemental Health with Kids Toolbox and Telemental Health with Kids Toolbox: Volume 2.

She is also the author of the following:

• I Don’t Want To Be Bad: A CBT Workbook for Kids, Parents, and the Professionals who Help Them
• Clinical Documentation with Children and Adolescents
• A Year of Resiliency: 465 Journal Prompts to Become Your Strongest Self
• Armani Doesn’t Feel Well: A Book to Help Sick Kids.

She created a website, Resiliency Mental Health, to provide resources for therapists and anyone who wants to learn more about mental health.

Disclosure Statement: 

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

CE Hours

Credit Hours:

This course consists of 3 ethics continuing education hours of credit.

Counselors:

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.

Social Workers:

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 3 ethics continuing education credits.

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:

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:

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 180 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.

This course is a non-interactive, online self-study.

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

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

• Accommodations for Individuals with Disabilities.
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