Technology, Ethics, & Telemental Health: Clinical Decision-Making in the Digital Era - 3 hours
To access the discount form for registering for multiple workshops or participants, please click here.
- CE Hours Included: 3 (please see below for details)
- Format: On-Demand Webinar (“Asynchronous”) ~ At your leisure to be viewed at your own pace. You may pause, rewind, and fast forward at any point during the videos. You are in complete control of how you view this workshop. It also comes with a PowerPoint and references. There is a quiz at the end to ensure viewing and required by all CE approval organizations.
- NOTE: Your certificate will be dated when you complete the course - Click here for more detailed information on the best way to do this: https://www.theknowledgetree.org/p/help
- Investment: $87 (provides lifetime access!)
- Presented by: Ashley Smith, Ph.D. (see bio below)
- Date of Recording: June 9, 2026
- Instruction Level: Intermediate
- Target Audience: Psychologists, Counselors, Social Workers, and Marriage & Family Therapists
- This workshop is not yet available; by pre-registering, you will receive immediate access when it becomes available in June.
Educational Objectives:
After completing this workshop in its entirety, you will be able to:
- Apply an ethical decision-making framework to evaluate the use of emerging technologies in mental health practice, including considerations related to competence, confidentiality, transparency, and professional accountability.
- Develop ethically defensible strategies for integrating technology into clinical practice while maintaining appropriate boundaries, protecting client welfare, and supporting clinician sustainability.
- Assess potential ethical, clinical, and professional risks associated with telemental health, and the use of various technologies in contemporary mental health practice.
Workshop Description:
Technology has fundamentally changed the landscape of mental health care, from how clinicians deliver services to the concerns clients bring into the therapy room. Telemental health, artificial intelligence, social media, digital tools, and constant connectivity are now woven into everyday clinical practice, often in ways that raise complex ethical and professional questions. As technology evolves faster than research, regulations, and ethical guidelines can keep pace, clinicians are increasingly required to navigate gray areas using sound judgment rather than clear rules.
This training provides mental health professionals with a practical, ethics-centered framework for making thoughtful, defensible decisions about technology use in clinical practice. Participants will explore the benefits and risks of common technologies while examining their impact on clients, the therapeutic process, and themselves. Emphasis is placed on professional competence, confidentiality, boundaries, and clinician sustainability, with concrete strategies to support ethical practice and healthier relationships with technology for both providers and the clients they serve.
Course Outline:
- Technology and Mental Health (30 minutes)
- Technology is embedded in modern life and mental health practice and cannot be avoided
- Telemental health has become a standard modality rather than an emergency exception
- Technology shows up in clinical work in multiple ways
- Technology impacts
- Potential benefits of technology
- Potential risks of technology use for clients
- Impact of technology on clinicians
- Ethics in the Digital Age: Building an Ethical Decision-Making Framework (30 minutes)
- Technology is evolving faster than:
- Research
- Ethical guidelines
- Laws and regulations
- As a result, clinicians are increasingly practicing in ethical gray areas
- Absence of explicit rules does not eliminate professional accountability
- Brief overview of convergence and divergence across all major ethical codes
- Introduction of overarching ethical principles
- An ethical decision-making framework (these questions can help guide decisions related to new and emerging technology use):
- Who could be helped or harmed by this decision?
- Am I practicing within both clinical and technological competence?
- Am I adequately protecting confidentiality and privacy?
- Am I being transparent with clients about risks, limits, and alternatives?
- Could I justify this decision if questioned by my licensing board?
- Technology is evolving faster than:
- Essential Information and Common Ethical Dilemmas in Practice (90 minutes)
- Telepsychology
- Modalities of telepsychology
- Ethical considerations
- Licensure and jurisdiction issues
- Technology competence
- Setting clinicians and clients up for success
- Artificial Intelligence
- Common clinician uses of AI
- Common client uses of AI
- Potential benefits
- Ethical and clinical risks
- Social Media, Education, and Advocacy
- Common clinician uses
- Common client uses
- Potential benefits
- Ethical and clinical risks
- Mental Health Apps and Wearables
- Common client use of mental health apps and tracking tools
- Potential benefits
- Ethical and clinical risks
- Evaluating digital tools for clinical use
- Ethical responsibility when recommending apps or incorporating wearable data
- Telepsychology
- Beyond Ethics: Developing a Healthy Relationship with Technology (20 minutes)
- Technology use as a modifiable behavior rather than a fixed reality
- Technology behaviors may function as:
- Avoidance
- Reassurance-seeking
- Emotional regulation attempts
- Habitual coping strategies
- Technology use as a potential maintaining factor for anxiety, depression, and sleep disturbance
- Ethical rationale for addressing technology use
- Strategies for clinicians and clients alike
- Integration and Closing (10 minutes)
- Technology will continue to evolve rapidly
- Research, ethics codes, and regulations will continue to lag
- Ethical practice in the digital age requires:
- Ongoing reflection
- Intentional decision-making
- Consultation when uncertainty arises
- Thoughtful documentation
- Competence is ongoing and dynamic
- Developing healthier relationships with technology — for both clinicians and clients — is central to effective, ethical mental health care
- Closing reflection
Presented by: Ashley Smith, Ph.D.
Dr. Ashley Smith is a licensed clinical psychologist and recognized expert in anxiety and related disorders. She earned her PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2007 and completed her predoctoral internship at Children’s Mercy Hospital. She then joined Omaha Children’s Hospital, where she helped develop their dedicated anxiety services, before transitioning to a senior staff psychologist role at a nationally recognized anxiety specialty center in Kansas City.
In 2017, Dr. Ashley established a successful private practice, where she provided evidence-based telemental health treatment for anxiety and OCD until 2025, when she shifted her focus to speaking, teaching, and writing. She is an adjunct faculty member at Kansas City University, where she teaches the graduate-level course Technology and Psychology, which is dedicated to the ethical and effective integration of technology and mental health. She has extensive experience providing education, supervision, and consultation to mental health professionals at various levels of training.
Dr. Ashley has authored numerous publications, including peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, and online educational content, as well as two books: Childhood Anxiety Disorders and The Way I See It: A Psychologist's Guide to a Happier Life. A long-time member of the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, she was honored with their Special Recognition Award for public outreach.
She regularly presents workshops and trainings at both local and national levels. Her work focuses on the practical application of cognitive behavioral therapy, positive psychology, and applied neuroscience to improve clinical outcomes for individuals struggling with anxiety. This commitment to expanding access to evidence-based psychological tools led to the creation of Peak Mind: The Center for Psychological Strength, which she co-founded in 2019.
3 "Asynchronous" CE Hours Included - Details by License Type Below:
- PSYCHOLOGISTS: The Knowledge Tree, A Summit Professional Education Company is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. The Knowledge Tree, A Summit Professional Education Company maintains responsibility for this program and its content. For more detailed information on the current CE ruling in Georgia, or if you are licensed in another state or country, please click here.
- COUNSELORS: The Knowledge Tree, A Summit Professional Education Company has been approved by the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC) as an Approved Continuing Education Provider (ACEP), ACEP No. 7153. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. The Knowledge Tree, A Summit Professional Education Company is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs. Please click here for more detailed information.
- SOCIAL WORKERS: TKT has applied for approval for this workshop through the Georgia Society for Clinical Social Work (GSCSW). If you are licensed in another state or country, please click here for more detailed information.
- MARRIAGE & FAMILY THERAPISTS: Many states will accept APA and/or NBCC-approved continuing education hours for Marriage & Family Therapists, but please check your specific state’s rules & regulations. For Georgia-specific information regarding MFT approval, please go to our CE Information page by clicking here and scrolling down to the map of Georgia.
Registration: To register for individual workshops, you may use our online payment option, or to pay by check you may print and complete the Registration Form and mail or fax it to our office. The registration form is available on our website: www.theknowledgetree.org. Registration is permitted until the time the workshop begins, unless otherwise specified.
Multiple Workshop Special: There is a 10% Discount with registration for two workshops. There is a 15% Discount with registrations for three or four workshops. There is a 20% Discount with registration for five or more workshops.
Refund/Cancellation Policy: If you can no longer attend a workshop you have registered for, you can either receive a credit for another workshop or receive a refund if you are within the refund policy period. Refunds will be given for cancellations received at least five days prior to the workshop. More information about refund/cancellation can be found here.
Attendance Policy: 100% attendance and completion of a course evaluation is required at any CE program in order to receive credit for that CE program. No partial credit is given. Certificates of completion will be available in each attendee’s account once the broadcast has ended and the course evaluation completed.
ADA Requests: We will make every effort to accommodate any reasonable ADA request. Please call or email us at least two weeks prior to the event. Payment and registration are required to fulfill an ADA request.
No Conflict Policy: Neither The Knowledge Tree nor its speakers have received any commercial support for this program or its contents and will not receive any commercial support prior to or during this program.
System Requirements: Live Interactive Webinars are facilitated via Zoom. System requirements for the Zoom platform are linked at our FAQ page.
We are an approved vendor for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs for easy reimbursement of educational expenses for VA employees.
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