Psychological practice has changed dramatically over the past 125 years. The two world wars both served to stimulate and change the scope of practice for psychologists. We surveyed over 3,000 doctoral psychologists about the impact of the COVID-19 health crisis on their clinical practices. Practice changed from primarily in-office to mostly telepsychology practice over the course of 2 weeks in March of 2020. The long-term effect on professional practice in psychology is not known.
Telepsychology is being increasingly assimilated into professional practice. The knowledge and skills necessary for competent practice are being introduced into training programs; however, psychologists who are practicing independently have no formal means to prepare for this expansion in their scope of practice. This primer for practice leads readers through the clinical, technical, and logistical steps necessary for preparation, initiation, and participation in telepsychology. Topics discussed include overcoming barriers and increasing one's opportunities (e.g., geographical, financial, transportation); competencies, standards of care, and ethical considerations (e.g., adaptation of informed consent and confidentiality agreements, electronic recordkeeping and storage); what one needs to know for implementation (e.g.
A third survey of the practice of licensed psychologists during the pandemic conducted in June 2021 revealed that the rapid adoption of telepsychological service provision has continued approximately 15 months after a national public health emergency was declared. Most respondents intend to make telepsychology a permanent component of their practice going forward. Other notable findings from our survey revealed that after an initial decline in caseload reported in the early days of the pandemic, the majority of psychologists surveyed now report an increase in caseload, often necessitating the establishment of a waitlist. Respondents reported that their patients/clients are more accepting of telepsychology than in our previous survey. That said, a significant minority of psychologists expressed concerns that this technology will negatively affect their future practice. Results also indicated that psychologists are encountering greater symptom acuity among their patients associated with the pandemic, including an increase in reports of suicidal thinking or behavior.
Supplementary Information
The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s42843-021-00044-3.
We conducted a survey of licensed psychologists at two weeks and again at six months after the declaration of a national emergency related to the COVID-19 pandemic. This article describes the results of the second survey conducted approximately six months after the crisis began. The rapid shift to telepsychological services seen in the first survey in the pandemic has solidified in the second survey. More providers reported delivering a larger percentage of services via telepsychology than early in the pandemic. The majority of respondents do not anticipate resuming in-person services until after a vaccine is made available, although a consistent minority reports ongoing in-person service provision. A majority reported their patients had appropriate access to internet and telepsychological service platforms, although one-fifth of respondents reported their patients had difficulty accessing such services. Early concerns about technological or regulatory problems involved in telepsychology are no longer evident. Most respondents indicated they will continue to use telepsychological services for the delivery of some of their psychological services after the pandemic ends. Forty-five percent knew of individuals who contracted the disease, 13% knew someone who died of the disease, and 2% reported contracted the disease themselves.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.