Virtual Care and Digital Mental Health

Attention, all of you phenomenal CAP Members! Please come join us for a highly a-propos professional development day and topic: Virtual Care. I can absolutely attest that I experienced at least equal (if not greater) trepidation when I realized what the technological implications stemming from the brewing (and then-exploding) pandemic could entail. Petrified, indeed. However, since that initial gulp, I have donned my adult pants and taken some healthy risks (apparently those are good in fighting back against anxiety – who knew). I have learned, tolerated, inquired, (sometimes) raged, and ultimately adjusted, accordingly. At this juncture, several years post-initial-dismay, our world and our field are much better-equipped to infuse the virtual into our clinical realities. Thus, please join us for a day of learning, equipping, and growing – let’s see what the landscape of virtual care currently offers and involves, and move toward maximizing its potential as we continue to provide ethical, timely, and effective care to our clients.

The College of Alberta Psychologists (CAP) invites all psychology students, registered provisional psychologists and registered psychologists to the 2023 Annual Meeting and Professional Development Event. As CAP Registrar and CEO, I am proud to offer this free virtual event which I am sure you will find thought provoking, and highly relevant to today’s practice environment. The presentations may also contribute to partial fulfillment of your annual continuing competence requirements. Registrants can collect up to five hours of continuing competence activities and a certificate of attendance will also be issued.  

As many of you know our Fall 2022 issue of The CAP Monitor was dedicated to virtual care. As technology transforms how psychological services are delivered, psychologists must possess adequate digital competencies and consider the implications of virtual care on interjurisdictional practice as well as supervision and licensure. 

We are happy to present this event and participate in what we know will be a valuable, informative, and successful day!  Please join us Friday September 22, 2023, as we listen, engage and learn together.  

Jonathan Perle, PhD ABPP, is a board-certified clinical child and adolescent psychologist, Associate Professor, and Director of Telepsychology at the West Virginia University School of Medicine. In addition to his current responsibilities that include trainee education, specialty clinic management, and conducting research, Dr. Perle provides both face-to-face and virtual psychological care. Beginning in his graduate education and spanning his ongoing career, Dr. Perle has studied, written about, and taught about telehealth. Combined works have resulted in peer-reviewed publications, a videoconferencing-focused book, articles in national periodicals, professional presentations, expert interviews for media, consultative services, and his design and implementation of one of the first recognized telehealth-specific doctoral-level courses for clinical psychology students. Dr. Perle has also been recognized as a psychological innovator by the American Psychological Association’s Monitor for his work designing an evidence-based and HIPAA-compliant smartphone application related to parent management training. In addition to serving as a reviewer for multiple journals, he serves as an editorial board member for the Journal of Technology in Behavioral Sciences.

Dr. Stephen Schueller is an Associate Professor of Psychological Science and Informatics at the University of California, Irvine. He received his bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of California, Riverside, his PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Pennsylvania, and completed his clinical internship and postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California, San Francisco as part of the Public Health and Minority Cluster at San Francisco General Hospital. As a clinical psychologist and mental health services researcher, Dr. Schueller’s work focuses on how technology can improve mental health services by expanding access and improving accessibility. This includes the development, evaluation, and implementation of digital mental health products in diverse settings and populations. He is also the Executive Director of One Mind PsyberGuide, a non-profit project that evaluates digital mental health products to help consumers make informed decisions. At UCI, he directs the Technology and Mental Health (TEAM) Lab, co-directs the Dissemination and Implementation Unit for the Institute of Clinical and Translation Science, and is a member of UCI’s Connected Learning Lab and the Jacobs CERES Center.