TeleMental Health Clinical Skills

Description

Navigating the digital landscape requires more than just a stable internet connection; it demands a sophisticated clinical skill set to ensure that remote sessions remain as safe, ethical, and impactful as those conducted in person. Mastering these virtual competencies is an essential step for any modern practitioner looking to expand access to care while rigorously upholding professional standards and protecting their clinical reputation.

Equipping yourself with structured protocols for screening and crisis response allows you to approach every digital encounter with unwavering confidence, and exploring these advanced strategies is a valuable investment in both your professional growth and your clients' well-being. Enrolling in this comprehensive program invites you to build the professional confidence and technical mastery necessary to deliver high-quality care wherever your clients are located.

Instructors Raymond Barrett, LMHC, and Kelly Lannon, LPC, LCMHC, bring decades of leadership in crisis intervention, national telehealth standard-setting, and curriculum development for telemental health credentials. Ray, a pioneer in the field who helped shape American Telemedicine Association guidelines, and Kelly, an expert in suicide prevention and crisis monitoring, provide the deep clinical authority needed to master remote screening, emergency management, and virtual session execution.

Ray and Kelly’s teaching approach blends research-based insights with hands-on clinical application and practical demonstrations of real-world scenarios. They walk you step-by-step through effective client preparation, technological setup, and advanced communication skills to ensure you can act decisively and ethically in any virtual clinical situation.

Telemental Health Clinical Skills covers evaluating client appropriateness for remote services, developing comprehensive emergency management plans for supervised and unsupervised settings, and optimizing physical and digital environments for privacy. It also addresses specific communication techniques for video and phone therapy, session workflows, phone etiquette and paralanguage, and structured protocols for resolving technological disruptions.

Key Takeaways:

• Master Remote Care Delivery: Gain the specialized skills to structure sessions, adapt vocal tracking for phone therapy, and maintain clinical flow without visual cues.
• Establish Robust Safety Protocols: Learn to create customized emergency management plans and identify local resources to protect high-risk clients in remote environments.
• Optimize Virtual Environments: Learn to manage technology and physical spaces to eliminate distractions, troubleshoot disruptions, and uphold the highest standards of privacy and professionalism.

Why this course?

• Expert-Led Training: Learn from nationally recognized pioneers who have trained over 40,000 professionals and helped establish the very standards that govern telemental health today.
• Practical and Actionable Skills: This course moves beyond theory to provide concrete tools, checklists, and demonstrations that you can implement in your clinical practice immediately.
• Comprehensive Professional Credibility: Completing this module as part of the Telehealth Certification Institute program demonstrates a commitment to ethical, client-centered care and safeguards your clinical reputation.

Learning Objectives:

• Evaluate client appropriateness for telemental health using specific clinical and environmental criteria to determine if remote services are indicated.
• Develop comprehensive emergency management plans that outline procedural crisis responses and identify local resources for the client’s environment.
• Prepare and orient clients for remote sessions by establishing clear expectations for technology, etiquette, and professional boundaries.
• Execute effective video therapy sessions from initiation to termination using virtual techniques to maintain clinical flow and rapport.
• Execute effective phone therapy sessions from initiation to termination by adapting vocal tracking and interventions for audio-only delivery.
• Resolve technological disruptions during sessions using structured troubleshooting protocols to preserve the therapeutic frame.
• Optimize physical and digital environments to ensure privacy, professionalism, and the elimination of distractions for both parties.

By integrating these specialized skills, you ensure your telehealth sessions provide a reliable lifeline for your clients while maintaining the highest professional standards.

We invite you to join a global network of professionals who are redefining quality care by mastering the essential clinical skills required for telemental health.

Format and Access

This non-interactive, self-study program provides over seven hours of intensive video instruction and post-tests to solidify your expertise.

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.

Instructors and Disclosures

Instructors

About Raymond Barrett, LMHC, CEO

Raymond Barrett is the founder and CEO of the Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC (TCI). A licensed mental health counselor (LMHC), Ray is an innovator and leader in the field of telemental health. He’s an expert telehealth trainer, a respected speaker, and a trusted consultant.

Ray’s inspiration for TCI came from his clients that started asking him to conduct their therapy sessions over the phone. Ray had discovered a knowledge gap in mental health training. He wanted to fill that void with comprehensive and practical training in telemental health - so Ray created that training for himself and fellow clinicians. 

Since 2014, TCI has delivered comprehensive telehealth training and consultation to a global network of more than 40,000 healthcare organizations and professionals. TCI now offers over 180 specialized courses, a vast array of telehealth resources, and ongoing free continuing education opportunities for telehealth providers. Among the most sought-after courses offered by TCI is the Telemental Health Training Certificate (THTC Certificate) program. 

Ray played a significant role in developing the initial curriculum for the Board Certified Telemental Health credential (BC-TMH) for the Center for Credentialing and Education (CCE). He reviewed every training module. He helped draft content, including questions for exams. He even wrote and developed the initial draft of one of the training modules: Telemental Health Settings and Coordination of Care.

The American Telemedicine Association (ATA) - the most respected organization for telehealth - recently overhauled its guidelines. Ray was on the writing committee that developed Best Practices in Synchronous Videoconferencing-Based Telemental Health in March 2022.

In 2019, Ray participated in a task force for developing a clinical rating process for mobile apps designed to help treat depression.  The recommendations were presented to ATA.

The Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) is an independent, nonprofit organization that provides accreditation services worldwide at the request of health and human service providers. As part of the International Standards Advisory Committee (ISAC), Ray helped establish CARF’s standards for virtual services.

Ray also is a frequent speaker and consultant for professional organizations. He has presented for over 20 organizations since 2015.

About Kelly Lannon, LPC, LCMHC, BC-TMH, CMCC, CGP

Kelly Lannon is a Licensed Professional Counselor in GA and a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor in NC. They obtained their MA in Community Mental Health Counseling from the University of Rochester. Kelly has spent more than 10 years working in crisis intervention and suicide prevention with the veteran and military populations. Over the past four years, they have been conducting silent monitoring of these services to ensure proper protocols and standards are being adhered to relating to mental and medical health, substance use, suicidal ideation, and risk of violence to others; ultimately ensuring risk mitigation and safety planning efforts are completed appropriately.

Additionally, Kelly’s work in private practice focuses on trauma and grief within the veteran and 2SLGBTQQIPAA communities. Their therapeutic approach stems from Existential and Humanistic therapies, while integrating approaches from Decolonization, Multicultural, and Interpersonal Counseling.

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 7 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, effective May 8, 2025.

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 7 clinical 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 420 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 is a non-interactive, self-study course.

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