Telehealth for California LMFTs, LPCCs, and LCSWs
Current research, clinical considerations, and legal and ethical rules for California LMFTs, LPCCs, and LCSWs engaging with clients via telehealth. Updated September 2026.
3 hours CE - Meets BBS Telehealth training requirements
All applicants for LMFT, LPCC, and LCSW licensure in California must complete 3 hours of telehealth training, including specific content. This course is designed to meet this requirement.
On-demand video format. Scroll down for complete course information.
Course Information
Technology has radically changed the delivery of mental health services. These changes have inarguably improved access to care, while raising new questions about how to best attract, engage, and work effectively with clients seen via technology. In this course, we review the practical, clinical, legal, and ethical issues involved in providing telehealth, with specific focus on California state law. Specific topics include legal and ethical requirements, research on telehealth, security and confidentiality, clinical considerations, contingency planning, emerging technologies including artificial intelligence, and more.
This course is designed to meet the California BBS requirement (AB1759, 2022) that all applicants for licensure must have completed 3 hours of telehealth training, including specified content.
- Introduction and Brief History of Psychotherapy via Technology (14:19)
a. Introduction
b. Early efforts
c. Impacts of Covid-19 - Current Context (24:41)
a. Utilization
b. Technologies - Research (30:51)
a. Therapeutic relationship
b. Satisfaction
c. Effectiveness
d. Telehealth for couple therapy
e. Telehealth for family therapy - Legal and ethical requirements (1:14:55)
a. Sources of requirements
b. Before offering telehealth
c. At first session of telehealth
d. At each session of telehealth
e. Regularly
f. Privacy policy
g. Clients traveling outside of state
h. Clients traveling outside of country
i. Considerations for out of state clients
j. Video supervision
k. Ethical requirements for telehealth
l. Best practices - Clinical considerations (23:31)
a. Appropriateness
b. Anticipated benefit
c. Client preference
d. As therapy progresses - Contingency planning (4:37)
a. Common ways telehealth can go wrong - Future technologies (10:43)
a. Monitoring apps
b. Artificial intelligence
c. Virtual reality
By the end of this course, participants will be able to:
- List at least three legal obligations for California BBS licensees and registrants at the outset of psychotherapy provided via telehealth
- List at least two legal obligations for California BBS licensees and registrants at each instance of psychotherapy provided via telehealth
- Summarize at least two key rules that HIPAA-covered entities must abide by
- Describe at least three current research findings regarding psychotherapy delivered via telehealth
- Develop a contingency plan for technology failure during session
Published December 24, 2022.
Significantly revised September 14, 2026.
about the presenter
Ben Caldwell, PsyD
Benjamin E. Caldwell, PsyD is a California Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Adjunct Faculty for California State University Northridge. He is the author of Basics of California Law for LMFTs, LPCCs, and LCSWs, and lead author of AAMFT’s Best Practices in the Online Practice of Couple and Family Therapy. He has served on the AAMFT Ethics Committee, and has published and presented around the country on issues related to law, ethics, technology, supervision, and professional development.
Administrative Information
To complete the course, watch all required video components, complete a quiz on course content with a score of at least 80%, and complete a satisfaction survey. When all course components have been successfully completed, your certificate will issue automatically and can be downloaded from your dashboard.
Our policies on Accommodations can be found on our Accessibility page. All course videos are captioned. Our other CE policies can be found here.
On-demand video format. All video segments include captioning.
Total running time 3 hours, 4 minutes.
Continuing Education Provider Approval
High Pass Education is approved by the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists to sponsor continuing education for California LMFTs, LPCCs, and LCSWs. High Pass Education maintains responsibility for this program/course and its content. CAMFT CEPA provider #137848. This course meets the qualifications for 3 hours of continuing education credit for LMFTs, LCSWs, and/or LPCCs as required by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences.
