TPC Journal-V6, Issue 4- FULL ISSUE

387 Jay Ostrowski, NCC, is Director of Product and Business Development at the National Board for Certified Counselors, Inc. and Affiliates, and the CEO of Behavioral Health Innovation. Traci P. Collins, NCC, is a professional counselor at Triad Counseling & Clinical Services, LLC in Greensboro, NC, and a doctoral candidate at North Carolina State University. Jay Ostrowski, Traci P. Collins A Comparison of Telemental Health Terminology Used Across Mental Health State Licensure Boards Telemental health—also known as online counseling or online therapy—has become a solution for increasing the public’s access to mental health care. Mental health state licensure boards have lacked consistency in the adaptation of laws and the use of language within these laws. Policies are examined from the mental health state licensure boards in all 50 U.S. states for counselors, psychologists, marriage and family therapists and social workers. The determination of whether a policy existed was made. If so, the terminology was compared across professions. Results indicated that fewer than half of mental health licensure boards included telemental health-related terminology in their policies, indicating the absence of telemental health policies. Future research, implications for counselors and limitations are discussed. Keywords : state licensure boards, policies, telemental health, online counseling, health terminology Mental health care professional shortage areas fall across the United States (Rural Assistance Center, 2015). According to the Health Resources and Services Administration, there is an immediate need for approximately 4,000 mental health providers nationwide (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2014). According to the Bureau for Labor Statistics (2014), the mental health counselor workforce is not distributed in proportion to the need. The National Institute of Mental Health (2014) estimated 43.6 million adults aged 18 or older in the United States suffered from some form of mental illness in the past year. Many individuals’ mental health needs go untreated due to gaps in resources or delivery of services (Brown, 1998; Gibson, Morley, & Romeo-Wolff, 2002; Modai et al., 2006). The U.S. government has demonstrated a strong commitment to the development, promotion and integration of technology-assisted care into the U.S. health care system through ongoing work in telemental health (Godleski, Nieves, Darkins, & Lehmann, 2008; National Center for Telehealth & Technology, 2011, 2015; Pruitt & Woodside, 2015). In addition, the government has issued numerous grants for telemental health and other health services for license reciprocity (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, 2015), established the Office for the Advancement of Telehealth, and published the 2015 Treatment Improvement Protocol (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2015). Pruitt, Luxton, and Shore (2014) stated that “home-based telemental health has several important benefits for both patients and clinical practitioners including improved access to services, convenience, flexibility, and potential cost savings” (p. 340). Policymakers and advocates view telehealth technology as particularly promising given the continuing shortage of mental health clinicians and long travel distances to obtain care (Lambert, Gale, Hansen, Croll, & Hartley, 2013). With advancements in technology and the availability of the Internet, mental health care providers have sought new ways to integrate technology into practice (Maheu, Pulier, Wilhelm, McMenamin, & Brown-Connolly, 2005), including implementing technology in scheduling appointments, distributing assessments and providing treatment services. Using Internet-based videoconferencing, The Professional Counselor Volume 6, Issue 4, Pages 387–396 http://tpcjournal.nbcc.org © 2016 NBCC, Inc. and Affiliates doi:10.15241/jo.6.4.387