Since the onset of the pandemic, telemental health has become a rapidly growing method for providing mental health services. Not only are virtual visits more convenient, providers can now reach individuals who otherwise may not have had access to their services, removing barriers to care.
Many providers have sought additional education and professional development to ensure they are prepared to provide services in competent and appropriate ways to clients in the telehealth space. CCE has a credential that recognizes this specialized area of professional development and honors the work that providers have done to develop specialty expertise to best serve their clients. The Board Certified TeleMental Health Provider (BC-TMH) credential was created to establish best practices for providers and serves to protect those receiving care. This month, we talked with Dominique S. Hammonds, PhD, NCC, BC-TMH, LCMHC, about her work, obtaining the BC-TMH, and how other mental health care providers may benefit from it.
Dr. Hammonds is an associate professor and director of the Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program in the Department of Human Development and Psychological Counseling at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina. She received her master’s in clinical mental health counseling from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and her PhD in counselor education and supervision from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Dr. Hammonds is also a National Certified Counselor, Qualified Supervisor, Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor, and president of the North Carolina Counseling Association.
As a counselor with an interest in technology, she was excited to earn the BC-TMH.
“I also saw it as an opportunity to develop skills that might help remove barriers to receiving services for those who might have difficulty accessing counseling for several reasons—time, travel, childcare, limited practitioners with specific areas of expertise/identities, and other concerns. I have had a steady stream of virtual clients from across the state for years. As a Black female counselor, my clients often say that it was difficult for them to find a counselor with the combination of identities and expertise that they were seeking.”
Just as the pandemic has increased the need for mental health care, Dr. Hammonds believes that the demand for telemental health services will continue to flourish.
“Online counseling existed prior to the pandemic; however, it became a literal lifeline for clients who needed consistent and safe mental health care. I also believe that more people began to accept online counseling as a legitimate practice and became more comfortable with therapy offered by licensed professionals using videoconference, chat, or telephone modalities. I believe the demand for virtual mental health care services will continue to grow and receiving this training credential will help you feel more confident in your ability to meet this need.”
Obtaining the BC-TMH has afforded her a degree of personal and professional freedom.
“No week looks the same, and I love it that way,” she says. “I am a partner, mother, friend, professor, counselor, supervisor, and volunteer in the counseling community, and I feel confident in saying that I could not juggle all of these roles without the skills, access, and flexibility that my training as a BC-TMH has afforded me.”
Learn more about the BC-TMH here.
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