Webinar — Text Messaging Therapy? 12 Risk Management Considerations to Keep You Out Of Hot Water

14 March 2019, Cheyenne, WY — Those of us who send and receive text messages know how convenient they are. Many people sleep with their mobile phones and check them before making any human contact in the morning. In fact, research shows that 95% of adults in the U.S. have a cell phone, 77% have a smartphone,1 and at least 97% of smartphone owners use text messaging.2
Why offer a webinar about text-messaging therapy?
Despite the popularity of any new technology, its adequacy for psychotherapy raises serious concerns, particularly when mandated legal and ethical functions are limited by the technology itself. A careful review of those mandates and possible solutions need to be explored with each client/patient involved.
Therefore, text messaging therapy legal and/or ethical principles may need clarification, documentation, and explanation to the client/patient. These risk management approaches will be reviewed and discussed in this webinar (https://telehealth.org/webinar/text-messaging-therapy/) to keep you out of hot water with text messaging. Explore how you can respond both legally and ethically to text messages, what to put into your consent form, and how to choose a professionally appropriate online text messaging therapy employer.
This webinar will cover:
How to think about text messaging from a clinical point of view
How to deal with informed consent for text messaging therapy as defined by your state law.
How to deal with mandated reporting (duty-to-warn & duty-to-report)
How to deal with relevant interjurisdictional laws when your client/patient travels outside of your licensed jurisdiction and continues to text you
How to ethically approach an online employer who “poo-poos” your concerns as a licensed professional
How to deal with marketing campaigns offered by online employers who promise consumers that you will deliver your professional services despite the limitations of the technology they make available to you
How to pick responsible online employers (no matter how much funding they get from investors who do not understand/concern themselves with your legal and ethical mandates)

1Pew Research Center, 2017. Mobile Fact Sheet. Web site. http://www.pewinternet.org/fact-sheet/mobile/. Accessed December 30, 2018.
2Smith, A., & Page, D. (2015). US smartphone use in 2015. Pew Research Center

Along with this professional training, 1 hour of CME or CE is available for most professionals. Interested parties may include physicians, osteopaths, nurses, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, psychologists, counselors, therapists, speech therapists, occupational therapists, analysts, and other therapists.

Marlene M. Maheu, Ph.D. is the founder of the Telebehavioral Health Institute. She has written four textbooks in telebehavioral health and is recognized as one of the leading authors and trainers in the U.S. and Canada for telepractice. She is the originator of the Online Clinical Practice Model (OCPM) for ethical telebehavioral health, telemental health, telepsychiatry, telepsychology, distance counseling, and online therapy. As a world-class leader in the field, she offers practical strategies, straightforward solutions and the hands-on wisdom that only develops through time and focus. When you attend this webinar, you’ll sense her passion, wisdom, and good humor about how you can responsibly leverage the power of technology to access new clients/patients, focus on your specialty niche(s), reduce your overhead and increase your profits.

The Telebehavioral Health Institute, Inc. (TBHI) specializes in telemental and telebehavioral health, competency-based, professional training. All professional training is available 100% online, allowing professionals to learn 24/7 while remaining in the comfort of their home or office. With trainees in more than 73 countries focused on legal, ethical, clinical, and technical issues, TBHI offers consultation for planning, launching, and thriving with telepsychiatry, telepsychology, distance counseling, online therapy, telespeech therapy, tele-occupational therapy, and behavioral telehealth and mHealth. TBHI offers webinars, individual courses, and full Certificate Programs for professionals who want to reach clients/patients who otherwise cannot or will not travel. Training is available with CME/CE Hours approved by several national associations for counselors, social workers, psychologists, addiction specialists, and others. Staffing services and job opportunities are also available. TBHI consults with start-up technology companies seeking to develop new verticals in behavioral health.

Telebehavioral Health Institute
Press Contact: Dr. Marlene Maheu
1876 Horse Creek Road, Cheyenne Wyoming 82009
+1 619-255-2788
contact@telehealth.org