mHealth

I entered the world of Digital Equity advocacy as an AmeriCorps member, serving at the United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona starting in October, 2020.  I am embarrassed to say that I came to this work completely unaware that, according to a recent Brookings Institution report, 15–24% of Americans lack any sort of broadband connection to the Internet.  Thankfully, I soon discovered a large and super-engaged group of organizations, government agencies, individuals and policy aficionados were hard at work addressing the myriad issues that contribute to the Digital Exclusion of too many members of our society.

Competencies that should be covered in a teletherapy training for behavioral health professionals

Teletherapy practice requires a consistent application of evidence-based competencies for the best patient outcomes, but many clinicians practice teletherapy without even realizing that they are missing key competencies. As the CEO of the Telehealth Certification Institute, a teletherapy training provider of over 22,000 clinicians, I’ve noticed that students are often surprised with how much their practice competencies develop after they attend a rigorous teletherapy training.

Unfortunately, graduate-level counseling programs rarely feature teletherapy coursework in their curriculums. Clinical instruction for on-site therapy is still the main focus for most educational institutions, despite the rise in evidence that supports telemental health.