Telepsychology training in a public health crisis: a case example

Abstract

In early 2020, the world was thrust into a crisis with the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic. This resulted in the sudden expansion of telepractice in the mental health field for licensed mental health providers and trainees. Prior to the pandemic, few mental health training programs provided training opportunities in telehealth service delivery. The Texas A&M Telebehaviroal Care Program (TBC) is one of a few telemental health training programs in the world. The TBC has provided telehealth services to rural and underserved populations since 2009 with a hub and spoke model of care, but due to constraints related to the pandemic has recently transitioned to an all in-home model of telehealth service delivery. The present paper highlights recent policy changes to in-home telepractice and the TBC methodology for transitioning to in-home service delivery. Results include solutions to common pitfalls in areas such as communication and logistics, clinical supervision and consultation, and boundary setting. Recommendations are also provided for the development of training programs throughout the world to equip mental health trainees in telehealth service delivery. Mental health practitioners are poised to thrive in the face of adversity during the COVID-19 pandemic and trainees should not be left behind.