Provision of behavioral health services has moved from therapy to teletherapy. The use of telehealth, which is a form of online psychotherapy, has increased widely especially during the pandemic. Essentially, physical distancing measures that were imposed during COVID-19 necessitated the inclusion of telehealth services such as teletherapy for behavioral health problems. Despite its continued use, Sauter (2022) points out that policymakers and providers continue weigh its advantages and disadvantages in treatment of conditions such as substance use and mental illness. This is more so the case given that use of technology in psychotherapy happens to have some inherent benefits and risks. Dr. Joe Markowits, a research psychiatrist and a professor of clinical psychiatry, states that despite the fact that many patients feel that teletherapy is good, therapists tend to feel otherwise - indicating that the said therapy cannot be compared to personal therapy (Sauter, 2022). In addition, Markowits also indicates that despite the fact that teletherapy increases accessibility of behavioral health services, the said accessibility is economically unfair to individuals who lack good insurance. Indeed, Markowits referred to the said unfairness as a disgrace especially to a country that is advanced on the insurance services front. Failing to provide telehealth services to patients who lack insurance is unethical. Essentially, the said doctor argues that a country that is rich in insurance companies ought to help all its citizens. With regard to what Markowits states, there exists various ethical considerations against or for the use of teletherapy in behavioral health.
There are a number ethical considerations that are in favor of the use of teletherapy. The first ethical consideration is the fact that teletherapy increases accessibility to psychotherapy as well as flexibility and availability of service (Stoll et al, 2020). According to the authors, online psychotherapy enhances and improves access to evidence-based care and healthcare services especially to underserved populations and those living in remote or rural areas. In addition, services provided through teletherapy have greater flexibility in that they can be accesses at any time and place. This happens to align with the rights of patients, i.e. in relation to the receipt of compassionate and respectful treatment without being discriminated against in terms of disability, national origin, identity, gender, age, religion, and race (Lemberg, 2019). The author further suggests that failing to provide care to mental health and physical needs is a form of neglect. Apart from flexibility and easy access to care, online psychotherapy facilitates more frequent engagements between therapists and patients (Stoll et al, 2020). This ensures that patients with behavioral health...
…suggests that before an informed consent is signed by the patient, the said patient should have the capacity to make sound judgments and reason rationally. In most cases, it may not be possible for the said therapists to collect a consent that meets the relevant standards or conditions. This is more so the case given that it may be difficult for therapists to determine whether patients has the capacity and is legally able to provide informed consent (Stoll et al, 2020).Moreover, there may be other concerns revolving around owing to issues related to emergency. For instance, an emergency issue such as perceived threat to others and to oneself may not be detectable in teletherapy. For this reason, it may not be possible to address such issues given that both the therapist and the patient are not in a face-to face engagement. Insurance and payment issues may also be a major stumbling block in teletherapy. As Markowits states, patients who do not have good insurance may not be able to access treatment (Sauter, 2022). According to Stoll et al (2020), online psychotherapy involves issues which are inclusive of, but they are not limited to; billing, fee structure, reimbursement, and payment. In addition, some insurance covers may not accept to cover teletherapy services as a consequence of issues…
References
Lemberg, D. (2019). Ethical and Legal Issues in Healthcare. Cognella, Inc.
Liem, A., Sit, H. F., Arjadi, R., Patel, A. R., Elhai, J. D., & Hall, B. J. (2020). Ethical standards for telemental health must be maintained during the COVID-19 pandemic. Asian journal of psychiatry, 53, 102218. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajp.2020.102218
Sauter, J. (2022). Teletherapy Expanded during the Pandemic, but is it Effective for Behavioral Health? https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/2022/03/03/telemedicine-therapy-expanded-covid-pandemic-mental-health/
Stoll, J., Müller, J. A., & Trachsel, M. (2020). Ethical Issues in Online Psychotherapy: A Narrative Review. Frontiers in psychiatry, 10, 993. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00993
Psychotherapy Skills in Existential Counselling and Psychotherapy by Martin Adams and Emmy Van Deurzen is the first book that can be considered as the first convenient and matter-of-fact introduction to an Existential approach that is skills-based. Those who are not acquainted with philosophy can easily access this boos as it provides several genuine and substantial skills, tasks and connections required in Existential practice. The book is an actual guide for enabling
Psychotherapy Psychology is a science that engages the mind of a person in understanding the behavior of the individual. The human behavior, particularly, is peculiar at times when confronted with certain situations or events. Consequently, like any other body system, the mind is subject to reactions to external influence that impair its normal functioning. This constitutes the basis for a need to develop a technique of treatment; that curbs these health
Psychotherapies If Rape were legal This is a story about a cancer patient who objectifies women and his life changes drastically for the better after his therapist takes an aggressive stance in one of the personal therapy sessions after a disturbing incident in his group therapy session. This paper reviews the relationship between the patient and the therapist by analyzing their dynamic through the following psychotherapies: Dynamic, Person-Centered, REBT and Alderian. Dynamic Psychodynamic psychologists
Psychotherapy Theories and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy The cognitive behavioral and person-centered approaches regarding counseling and psychotherapy come from a much different developmental history and theoretical underpinnings. Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) is a psychological approach that addresses problematic behaviors that occur from the recurrence of bad thoughts and has shown useful to treat anxiety, depression, and substance abuse disorders among others. However, there are also many psychotherapy practices that can integrated
The instillation and the maintaining of hope is one of the most important factors in any type of psychotherapy (Yalom 2005). Yalom (2005) notes that hope is needed to keep the patient going to therapy in order for the other factors to take place, and "faith in treatment mode can in itself be therapeutically effective" (2005). Yalom (2005) compares the importance of the instillation of hope to the efficacy of
3). Many Jungians believe that in order to facilitate a patient with access to their unconscious and thus advance the individuation process, they themselves must access their own depths when treating a patient. This entails being aware of emotions, memories, symbols, and dreams that come out when treating a patient. This will often shed light on something of the patient's experience and the exclusive relationship created between therapist and patient.
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now