TELETHERAPY FOR BEHAVIORAL HEALTH

Teletherapy for Behavioral Health

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...

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…