The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a literal revolution in mental health care delivery, shifting the vast majority of psychological services to telepsychology. This study conducted a national survey of licensed psychologists and documented this seismic shift, finding that although 7.07% of psychologists' clinical work was performed via telepsychology before the COVID-19 pandemic, this increased 12-fold to 85.53% during the pandemic. Psychologists were optimistic that over one-third of their clinical work would still occur via telepsychology after the pandemic, suggesting the high likelihood of lasting changes in U.S. mental health care delivery.

Although many people use videoconferencing technology to eliminate distance concerns as they conduct personal and professional activities, a large majority of psychologists have never used telepsychology. This is a barrier to mental health services for millions of people needing help but are limited by time or distance from traditional in-person therapy. The purpose of this study was to identify demographic, organizational, and clinical statistical predictors of psychologists' use of telepsychology in their clinical practice. The sample consisted of 1,791 psychologists currently practicing psychotherapy, representing all 50 U.S. states, and averaging more than 26 years in practice. Results suggested that psychologists were much more likely to use telepsychology if they practiced in organizations where policies supporting telepsychology exist, more likely if they had received telepsychology training, and less likely if they were practicing in rural areas. Psychologists were more likely to use telepsychology if they practiced in Veterans Affairs Medical Centers or within an individual or group practice. Use of telepsychology was higher for psychologists focusing on sports performance and life coaching, as well as lower for psychologists providing testing and evaluation and when treating grief. The implications for psychologists and the settings they practice within are considered. Organizations interested in encouraging telepsychology use should adopt policies supporting the use of telepsychology and provide adequate training to do so. Public Significance StatementTelepsychology can help psychologists reach underserved communities, but only 21% of psychologists in the current study reported using telepsychology within their practice. Results of the study suggest that organizations promoting telepsychology use should craft specific policies supporting its use and provide psychologists adequate training.

Objective: This article positions the special issue on telepsychology amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, which has dramatically accelerated the adoption and dissemination of telepsychology.Method: The article makes general observations about the themes emerging in the special issue with considerations for application, training, theory-driven research, and policy. It then presents as a case example the rapid deployment during the pandemic of telepsychology doctoral training and services at the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Primary Care Psychology Collaborative.Results: Facilitators to VCU telepsychology deployment included trainee and supervisor resources, strong telepsychology training, and prior experience. Barriers to overcome included limited clinic capacity, scheduling, technology, and accessibility and diversity issues. Lessons learned involved presenting clinical issues, supervision, and working with children and adolescents.Conclusions: Telepsychology is crucial for psychological service provision, during the COVID-19 pandemic more than ever, and that is unlikely to change as psychologists and patients increasingly continue to appreciate its value. K E Y W O R D S COVID-19, integrated care, primary care psychology, telehealth, telemedicine, telepsychology, training 1 | INTRODUCTION Our commentary to this Journal of Clinical Psychology special issue on "Telepsychology: Research, Training, Practice,and Policy" has several purposes. We begin by making general observations about some of the themes emerging in the special issue with considerations for application, training, theory-driven research, and policy. We then position telepsychology amidst the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, which arguably is a historical event that has had the largest impact on the provision of telepsychology services since the invention of the webcam. The article will present as a case example the rapid deployment during the pandemic of telepsychology doctoral training and services at the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Primary Care Psychology Collaborative, which is funded by two grants from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) and at any given time trains over 30 psychology doctoral students across a dozen or so primary care psychology training sites. The article will focus on the changes being made at VCU to adapt from in-person services and training to telepsychology, successes, and supports in that adaptation, barriers encountered, and lessons learned for telepsychology training and service provision. | TELEPSYCHOLOGY SPECIAL ISSUEMore than any other theme, the articles in this special issue underscore the critical nature of strong telepsychology training as a growth opportunity for the field. Pierce, Perrin, and McDonald (2020) found in their path model that the strongest predictors of psychologists' use of telepsychology were subjective norms, perceived ease of use, and perceived usefulness of telepsychology. Put simply, psychologists who do not use telepsychology do not feel that others are usi...

As the COVID-19 pandemic grows internationally, healthcare systems are dramatically altering healthcare delivery, shifting as many services as quickly as possible to telemedicine. Telemedicine has been

Objective: To examine whether the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) and Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) apply to psychologists' openness to using telepsychology. Method: Participants were 1,791 psychologists currently practicing psychotherapy. Participants represented all 50 US states and averaged 26.33 (SD = 11.18) years in clinical practice. The study used a cross-sectional, national online design. Results: Path analyses derived from the TRA and TAM evidenced poor fit. A newly-developed, third model achieved adequate to fit in which perceived attitudes of others concerning telepsychology were associated with perceived ease of use (β = 0.25, p < .001) and usefulness (β = 0.30, p < .001) of telepsychology. Perceived ease of use (β = 0.30, p < .001) and usefulness (β = 0.32, p < .001) of telepsychology both uniquely predicted current use of telepsychology. Conclusions: Organizations should adopt methods for delivering telepsychology that are easy to use and possess demonstrable utility. K E Y W O R D S technology acceptance model, telehealth, telepsychology, theory of reasoned action