TPC Journal-V6, Issue 4- FULL ISSUE

The Professional Counselor /Volume 6, Issue 4 394 Professional counselors, counselor educators and counseling leaders are challenged to forge ahead, advocating for clear guidelines from their state licensure boards, debating what is sufficient for training guidelines and advocating to use technology to reach underserved clients with professional counseling services. Without exposure to research and best practices, licensure boards may be led to create overly restrictive regulations that prevent the benefits of telemental health from being possible and unintentionally limit access to mental health care for people who cannot seek face-to-face counseling. There is a need for specific communications about telemental health practices between different functional components of the counseling profession (i.e., practitioners, educators, leaders, state board personnel). For example, state licensure boards and counselors who are grounded in telemental health research and best practices can work together to form clear, all-encompassing information for licensees. As mental health professions forge ahead with telemental health practice, counselors should continue to develop this important treatment medium to capture the clientele and referrals from the participating medical community. Failure to do so may leave counselors at a disadvantage in the marketplace. As the U.S. government moves forward to meet the mental health treatment needs of millions of Americans, counselors are encouraged to take a leadership role in this movement to reach the underserved with professional counseling services. Conflict of Interest and Funding Disclosure The authors reported no conflict of interest or funding contributions for the development of this manuscript. References Alleman, J. R. (2002). Online counseling: The Internet and mental health treatment. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, Practice, Training, 39, 199–209. doi:10.1037 /0033-3204.39.2.199 American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy. (2015). Board approved revised code of ethics. Retrieved from http://aamftca.org/code-of-ethics/ American Counseling Association. (1999). Ethical standards for Internet online counseling. Alexandria, VA: Author. American Counseling Association. (2014). 2014 ACA code of ethics . Retrieved from http://www.counseling.org/ Resources/aca-code-of-ethics.pdf American Mental Health Counselors Association. (2015). AMHCA code of ethics . Retrieved from http://www. amhca.org/?page=codeofethics American Psychological Association. (2013). Guidelines for the practice of telepsychology. Retrieved from http:// www.apa.org/practice/guidelines/telepsychology.aspx American Telemedicine Association. (2015). What is telemedicine? Retrieved from http://armtelemed.org/ resources/27-ATA_What_Is_Telemedicine.pdf Backhaus, A., Agha, Z., Maglione, M. L., Repp, A., Ross, B., Zuest, D. . . . Thorp, S. R. (2012). Videoconferencing psychotherapy: A systematic review. Psychological Services, 9, 111–131. doi:10.1037/a0027924 Baker, D. C., & Bufka, L. F. (2011). Preparing for the telehealth world: Navigating legal, regulatory, reimburse- ment, and ethical issues in an electronic age. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 42, 405–411. doi:10.1037/a0025037 Barak, A., Klein, B., & Proudfoot, J. G. (2009). Defining internet-supported therapeutic interventions. Annals of Behavioral Medicine , 38 , 4–17. doi:10.1007/s12160-009-9118-3 Barnett, J. E., & Kolmes, K. (2016a). Avoiding a disconnect with telemental health. Monitor on Psychology , 47 (5), 48–55.