Ethics for Telehealth: Affirmative Therapy from a Distance
Co-Presented by Cadyn Cathers, PsyD, MBA & Melissa Dellens, MA, LMFT, TRM-1
August 1, 2025
10am-2:15pm PST
1 – 15 minute break
4 CEs
Price:
$39 for licensed
$35 for licensed in non-profit organization (Use coupon code at checkout: telehealthNP)
$29 for pre-licensed (Use Coupon Code at checkout: telehealthPL)
This course is included in the annual and lifetime memberships.
Course Description
Telehealth is the use of videoconferencing or telephonic technology to provide mental health services. Telehealth therapy creates ways to reach LGBTQIA+ people who may not have access to affirming care, especially those in rural or unsupportive regions. This course offers an overview of the legal and ethical considerations clinicians should attend to in the delivery of telehealth services. With a specific focus on improving access for LGBTQIA+ clients, clinicians will learn how to combine affirming care with legal and ethical guidelines and best practices in telemedicine models to provide safe and effective psychotherapy services for LGBTQIA+ clients.
While telehealth increases access, it also brings unique challenges that are different from in-person therapy. This course covers ethical issues like assessing if telehealth is appropriate for a client or explaining the limits of remote therapy and getting informed consent. Further considerations include building strong therapeutic relationships online and making plans for handling crises when therapists and clients are in different locations. Legal considerations of confidentiality, access to records, and HIPAA regulations will be reviewed. In a virtual format, clinicians will consider best practices in providing therapy remotely, and discuss vignettes that highlight these concepts. While topics and themes in this course can be useful for all affirmative clinicians, it is specifically designed to meet the legal requirements for clinicians in the state of California.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this course, participants will be able to:
- Describe telehealth-specific legal requirements in California.
- Describe telehealth-specific ethical standards set by the California Board of Psychology.
- Apply best practices for managing the therapeutic relationship in telehealth format.
- Assess when the telehealth format may not be appropriate therapy for a client’s care.
- Create plans for handling crises and emergencies when working in telehealth settings.
References:
American Psychological Association (2017). Ethical Principles and Code of Conduct for Psychologists (amended effective June 2010, January 2017, June 2003). https://www.apa.org/ethics/code.
California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists. (2019). CAMFT Code of Ethics (amended effective December 2019, June 2011, January 2011, September 2009, July 2008, May 2002, April 1997, April 1992, October 1987, September 1978, March 1966). https://www.camft.org/Membership/About-Us/Association-Documents/Code-of-Ethics
Nwokedi, C. N., Olowe, K. J., Alli, O. I., & Iguma, D. R. (2025). The role of telehealth in psychological counseling: A comprehensive review. World Journal of Advanced Research and Reviews, 25(1), 1639–1649.
Smith, J. A., & Johnson, M. B. (2025). The healing through ongoing psychological empowerment telehealth intervention with Two-Spirit, transgender, and nonbinary clients of color in the United States: Open clinical trial feasibility and implementation analysis. JMIR Formative Research, 9, e64477. https://doi.org/10.2196/64477
Price:
$39 for licensed
$35 for licensed in non-profit organization (Use coupon code at checkout: telehealthNP)
$29 for pre-licensed (Use Coupon Code at checkout: telehealthPL)
This course is included in the annual and lifetime memberships.
About the Presenter (Brief Bio)
Cadyn Cathers, PsyD, MBA (he/him/his) is a licensed clinical psychologist in California. He is a genderful, bisexual transgender man. He has a specialty in working with LGBTQIA+ communities, focused on psychoanalytic psychotherapy transgender and nonbinary adults, identity development, preparing for gender affirming surgery, and pre-verbal trauma. He is the founder and CEO of The Affirmative Couch, which offers online continuing education to mental health professionals on working with sexuality and gender. Additionally, he has been teaching other mental health professionals for over a decade as faculty at Antioch University Los Angeles, Reiss-Davis Graduate School, Cal State Los Angeles, and others.
Melissa Dellens, MA, LMFT (she/they) works with teens and young adults with intersectional identities with Out Couch Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy, and is the Chief Operations Officer with the Affirmative Couch. They offer their understanding of collective trauma, community stressors, and political advocacy through publications and education. Melissa earned their Master of Arts in Psychology from Antioch University Los Angeles with an emphasis in Applied Community Psychology. They have completed the one year Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy Certificate at the Los Angeles Institute and Society for Psychoanalytic Studies (LAISPS) and Level 1 of the Trauma Resiliency Model. Melissa is an affiliate member ofLAISPS, and is active in the institute’s Diversity Affairs Committee.
Additional Information
Instruction Level
This course is meant for an advanced audience, and assumes fundamentals of affirmative therapy.
Who should Attend
Psychologists, counselors, and marriage and family therapists and social workers.
Format
Live, virtual presentation with the opportunity for interaction with the presenter. This course will be available as a recorded homestudy approximately two weeks after the event.
Zoom Link
You will receive a reminder email to register for your Zoom link after signing up for the course.
If you do not receive this email within 24 hours, please contact us.
Completion Requirements
Live Event
- To get CE credit for the live event, you need to be present for the entire course.
- You will be asked to sign in and out in the chat box in order to track attendance during breaks.
- We will email you your certificate of attendance within 48 hours of the course.
- This presentation will be recorded and available as a homestudy approximately two weeks after the live event.
- Your active participation will contribute and enhance the learning of participants that complete the recorded homestudy version.
Home Study
- You will need to take the post-test with at least a 80% score in order to receive your certificate for a home study course.
Financial Support
The Affirmative Couch pays course presenters for their teaching. There is no other financial support for this course.
Conflict of Interest
There is no reported conflict of interest or outside commercial support for this course.
Contact Information
For any inquiries related to subject matter, problem resolution, corrections, grievances, or anything else, please contact us.
Accommodations
The Affirmative Couch will work to accommodate reasonable accommodations requests. Requests can be emailed with “accommodation request” in the subject line. Requests will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.
Continuing Education Approvals
The Affirmative Couch, LLC is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. The Affirmative Couch, LLC maintains responsibility for this program and its content.
$39.00
