Teletherapy in Training: A Trying and Transformative Experience

Abstract

Recent changes in federal and state laws, largely brought on because of the novel coronavirus, have underscored the need for revolutionizing the clinical training experience for Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT) programs and their implementation of telehealth services. This article addresses the current telehealth training in MFT programs, featuring the process of teletherapy training at Nova Southeastern University's (NSU) Department of Family, including adaptation to current policies and procedures. This study utilized semistructured interviews with eight graduate- and post-graduate–level MFT students at NSU who received telehealth training prior to participating in a teletherapy-based clinical practicum at NSU's Brief Therapy Institute. The emergent themes from the analysis included crisis management, flexibility, and self-care. Lastly, we discuss the implications and limitations of our study and suggest areas of future research. The information provides knowledge on necessary training topics and expands the literature on teletherapy.