Rapid transition to telepsychology: Health service psychology trainee responses amidst a global Covid-19 crisis from an ecological perspective.

Abstract

COVID-19 has come with widespread changes, adjustments, challenges and fears among healthcare providers of all kinds. Health Service Psychology (HSP) training sites across the nation have had to adjust to telepsychology services, some with prior experiences, and others for the first time. This article examines the perspectives of HSP doctoral trainees from one university across counseling, clinical, and school psychology trainees in terms of the adjustment to telepsychology services. Using an ecological approach, trainees were probed for personal and interpersonal components, attitudes toward telepsychology as well as reflections on clinic preparedness, supervision, and professional competency. The included responses may inform future direction of training sites, training rotations at healthcare settings, and implementation of telepsychology services. Public Significance StatementThis study focuses on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the counseling services provided by health service psychology (HSP) doctoral students. Using an ecological framework, this study suggests that factors at the individual, interpersonal, community, organizational, and policy levels affected the rapid transition to telepsychology, and trainee readiness. Accordingly, there are several recommendations for improving preparedness of future trainees.

The impact of COVID‐19 on the mental health workforce: A rapid review

“…2021 ) and increased relatability to patients through shared experience of the COVID‐19 pandemic (Garcia et al . 2022 ).…”

Commentary: The psychological and social impact of COVID-19: New perspectives of well-being

“…However, it is known that a large extent of this derived from the need for the service, without knowing or being clear about the procedures or advantages. Governmental strategies are required to allow the regulation of telepsychology as part of daily consultation activities, with supervised spaces designed by experts, under scientifically validated schemes (Pierce et al, 2020;Garcia et al, 2022). In regions such as Latin America, the incorporation of telepsychology will favor mental and physical wellbeing with access to mental health that will allow greater coverage and scope, especially if the design and development of interventions is based on the specific needs and characteristics of the patients (Domíngez-Rodríguez and De la Rosa-Gómez, 2022).…”

“…Since the 1990s, the advantages and possibilities of online services have been recognized, as well as their possible limitations, ethical issues or even less positive effects, which can lead to direct effects on the patient and even on the therapist, for example when the psychotherapist in charge is not properly trained (Dworschak et al, 2022;Garcia et al, 2022) who must have a protocol of care in case of emergency, which consists of having a trusted contact or channeling institution, since the patient, in a moment of crisis where their life is in danger, could just disconnect (American Psychological Association, 2013).…”

“…Therapists who used this tool during the pandemic identified the need to be trained in all that telepsychology implies, to avoid falling into ethical-legal problems or to attend emergencies (e.g., in situations of suicide attempts; Perry et al, 2020;Sampaio et al, 2021), since it is generally known that there is a close relationship between the skills of the therapist, the methodology used and the remote work strategies, to predict the success of online therapy (Yuchang et al, 2022). Telepsychology training should also include stress regulation and empathy skills, as well as supervision as a measure to prevent burnout (Prime et al, 2020;Garcia et al, 2022).…”

Assessing depression outcomes in teletherapy for underserved residents in Central Texas: Telehealth’s move to treatment-as-usual.

“…They are trained in the scientist-practitioner model to be generalists; they utilize a variety of treatment approaches, including but not limited to humanistic, cognitive behavioral, interpersonal, and trauma-focused therapy. More detailed information on the training model can be found in previous publications (Garcia et al, 2022;McCord et al, 2011McCord et al, , 2015.…”