California Telehealth Law

About the Course

Many therapists are eager to engage in telehealth, while others are more reluctant. Those therapists who are reluctant to get into telehealth may not know that even a single phone session makes them telehealth providers under California law. In this course, we review California's definition of telehealth, its regulations for telehealth providers, and how providers can best inform clients about appropriate uses of telehealth and technology in the therapy process. Topics include interstate practice and crisis intervention.

This course is intended for California BBS licensees and registrants. Rules for other states and license types may differ.

1 hour CE. Recorded video format (recorded from a live webinar, November 2019)

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Course Overview

ESTIMATED COURSE LENGTH: 1 hours (use duration added above)

CE CREDITS: 1.00 continuing education/contact hours for social workers, psychologists, counselors, and marriage and family therapists

TARGET AUDIENCE: Mental Health Practitioners

LEVEL OF INSTRUCTION: Intermediate

PREREQUISITE(S): None

INSTRUCTIONAL METHOD: Recorded video format (non-interactive)

ACCESSIBILITY ACCOMMODATIONS: Closed captioning of audio components. In order to request further accessibility accommodations, please email support@psychhub.com.

COMPLETION REQUIREMENTS: To obtain your CE certificate, learners must complete a pre-test (not scored), progress through all course segments, complete a participant evaluation, and obtain a score of 80% or higher on a post-test. Learners are expected to complete the quiz within 3 attempts. If unable to do so, the learner will need to re-review the course segments.

FINANCIAL/COMMERCIAL SUPPORT STATEMENT: This course has no commercial support.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST:  This course has no potential conflict of interest or outside commercial support. Psych Hub's conflict of interest statement is found in the footer of the training center.

GRIEVANCE AND REFUND POLICIES: Grievance and refund policies are found in the footer of the training center.

PARTICIPATION COSTS:  The cost to participate in this CE activity is included in the subscription registration fee.

COURSE CREATION DATE:  12/11/2019

 

Learning Objectives

By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

  • Summarize the three key elements of California's legal definition of telehealth
  • List at least three tasks required of master's-level therapists in California at the initiation of telehealth
  • List at least three tasks required of master's-level therapists in California at every telehealth session

Course Outline

  1. Defining Telehealth
    1. California Telemedicine Act
  2. Interstate practice
    1. Where does therapy happen?
    2. Rules for practice outside of CA
  3. California BBS regulations
    1. At the beginning of telehealth services
    2. At every telehealth session
  4. Best practices
    1. Available best practices documents
    2. Common guidance

Included resources

  • Best Practices for Telehealth and Additional Resources

CE Information


American Psychological Association (APA)
Psych Hub is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Psych Hub maintains responsibility for this program and its content. Psychologists completing this course receive 1.00 continuing education credits.

Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB)
Psych Hub, #1750, is approved as an ACE provider to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. ACE provider approval period: 08/20/2024 – 08/20/2027. Social workers completing this course receive 1.00 clinical continuing education credits.

California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (CAMFT)
Psych Hub is approved by the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists to sponsor continuing education for LMFTs, LCSWs, LPCCs, and LEPs. Psych Hub maintains responsibility for this program/course and its content. CAMFT Approval #1000074. Course meets the qualifications for 1.00 hours of continuing education credit for LMFTs, LCSWs, LPCCs, and/or LEPs as required by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences.

National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC)
Psych Hub has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 7051. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Psych Hub is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs. Counselors completing this course receive 1.00 continuing education hours.

New York State Education Department - Licensed Mental Health Counselors (NYSED-LMHC)
Psych Hub, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed mental health counselors. #MHC-0257. New York State licensed mental health counselors completing this course receive 1.00 contact hours.

New York State Education Department - Marriage & Family Therapists (NYSED-MFT)
Psych Hub, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed marriage and family therapists #MFT-0109. New York State marriage and family therapists completing this course receive 1.00 contact hours.

New York State Education Department - Psychology (NYSED-PSY)
Psych Hub, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Psychology as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed psychologists #PSY-0208. New York State licensed psychologists completing this course receive 1.00 contact hours.

New York State Education Department's State Board for Social Work (NYSED-SW)
Psych Hub, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers #SW-0699. New York State social workers completing this course receive 1.00 contact hours.

Florida Board of Clinical Social Work, Marriage and Family Therapy and Mental Health Counseling
Florida Board of Clinical Social Work, Marriage and Family Therapy and Mental Health Counseling Provider Number 50-45376. Participants completing this course earn 1.00 continuing education credits.

Experts


Benjamin Caldwell, PsyD, LMFT
Benjamin Caldwell, PsyD is a California Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (#42723). He currently serves as adjunct faculty for California State University Northridge in Los Angeles. He has taught at the graduate level for more than 15 years, primarily in Law and Ethics, and has written and trained extensively on ethical applications in mental health care. In addition to serving a three-year term on the AAMFT Ethics Committee, Dr. Caldwell served as the Chair of the Legislative and Advocacy Committee for AAMFT-California for 10 years. He served as Editor for the Users Guide to the 2015 AAMFT Code of Ethics, Chair of the workgroup that developed Best Practices in the Online Practice of Couple and Family Therapy, and author of several books, including Saving Psychotherapy and Basics of California Law for LMFTs, LPCCs, and LCSWs. Dr. Caldwell has been supervising master’s-level therapists since 2008, working in both clinic and private-practice settings. He contributed chapters to Couple, Marriage, and Family Therapy Supervision and Culturally Sensitive Supervision and Training.