Emily Becker-Haimes Recorded Webinar: Practice-Based Guidance: Should I Recommend Telehealth, Hybrid, or In-Person Sessions for Youth with Anxiety or OCD? (June 9, 2023)

Friday, June 9, 2023

1:30 pm- 3:00 pm Eastern/ 12:30 pm – 2:00 pm Central/ 11:30 am – 1:00 pm Mountain/ 10:30 am – 12:00 pm Pacific

$15 Student ABCT Members / $25 ABCT Members / $35 Non-Members

Abstract:

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated expansion of tele-mental health services. Despite a rapidly burgeoning literature around telehealth’s effectiveness and potential to increase engagement in care for youth with anxiety and related disorders, there is virtually no data on the effectiveness of hybrid approaches to care (i.e., treatment courses that include a mix of both telehealth and in-person services for a single client) nor guidance about what youth characteristics should suggest use of one modality over another. Thus, with increasing resumption of in-person therapy services alongside the continuation of telehealth, clinicians are left with little guidance about how to make recommendations for whether a given client would most benefit from therapy services delivered via telehealth versus in-person versus hybrid. This webinar will offer practice-based recommendations guided by the three-legged stool for evidence-based practice in psychology to aid clinicians in making decisions how and when to proceed via telehealth or not for anxious youth. Webinar content first will review the research evidence for the efficacy of psychotherapy via telehealth services, as compared to in-person services (“leg” 1). Then, content will cover how clinicians’ experiences and expertise can guide decision-making about service modality (“leg” 2) and discuss factors that may shape client treatment preferences for families of youth with OCD and anxiety (“leg” 3). Following this, content will cover how clinicians can integrate these components alongside principles of shared decision-making for youth mental health care to inform clinical recommendations about whether to provide mental health care services to youth with anxiety and OCD via telehealth or in-person. Case examples from community mental health practice will illustrate principles presented. 

Presenter Biography:

Emily Becker-Haimes, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Mental Health. She is also the clinical director of the Pediatric Anxiety Treatment Center at Hall Mercer (PATCH), which is the only specialty anxiety clinic in Philadelphia dedicated to serving youth in the public mental health system. She is an implementation scientist and clinical psychologist whose research and clinical work is dedicated to improving mental health service quality in specialty mental health settings for youth.  She has particular expertise in the implementation of exposure therapy for pediatric anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorders across settings and the application of exposure therapy for youth with complex comorbidities. Her research is supported by the National Institute of Mental Health and the International OCD Foundation. Dr. Becker-Haimes received her doctoral degree in child clinical psychology from the University of Miami. She completed her predoctoral internship at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and her postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania.

Learning Objectives:

At the end of this webinar, participants will:

1. Be able to describe the current evidence for the effectiveness of telehealth services for pediatric anxiety and related disorders as well as limitations of current evidence base.

2. Be able to explain the importance of integrating research evidence, clinical expertise, and patient preferences and values when making determinations of modality of care (i.e., telehealth, hybrid, or in-person).

3. Be able to apply principles of shared-decision making to make recommendations to youth and families about treatment modalities. 

Recommended Readings:

1. Langer, D. A., & Jensen-Doss, A. (2018). Shared decision-making in youth mental health care: using the evidence to plan treatments collaboratively. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 47(5), 821-831.

2. Islam, S., Sanchez, A. L., McDermott, C. L., Clapp, D., Worley, J., & Becker-Haimes, E. M. (2023). To Proceed Via Telehealth or Not? Considerations for Pediatric Anxiety and Related Disorders Beyond COVID-19. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice.

3. Khan, A. N., Bilek, E., Tomlinson, R. C., & Becker-Haimes, E. M. (2021). Treating social anxiety in an era of social distancing: adapting exposure therapy for youth during COVID-19. Cognitive and behavioral practice, 28(4), 669-678.

4. Comer, J. S. (2021). Rebooting mental health care delivery for the COVID-19 pandemic (and beyond): Guiding cautions as telehealth enters the clinical mainstream. Cognitive and behavioral practice, 28(4), 743-748.

5. Wiese, A. D., Drummond, K. N., Fuselier, M. N., Sheu, J. C., Liu, G., Guzick, A. G., ... & Storch, E. A. (2022). Provider perceptions of telehealth and in-person exposure and response prevention for obsessive–compulsive disorder. Psychiatry Research, 313, 114610.

About the Moderator: 

Lily Brown, PhD, is Director of the Center for the Treatment and Study of Anxiety and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania. Her research and clinical work focuses on the intersection of anxiety and suicide risk.

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