Telehealth for Anxiety and Suicide Risk: Ethical Considerations and Practical Strategies to Optimize Treatment Outcomes and Safety

Who may attend:  Licensed mental health professionals or those working under a licensed mental health professional who have interest in and familiarity with anxiety disorders and exposure therapy.

Date: Monday, June 16, 2025

Time: 10:00am — 1:00pm EST

Cost: $200.00 per person

Location:  Zoom webinar

Workshop Description: 

Telehealth is an integral part of mental health care, and clinicians must be prepared to navigate its unique ethical and logistical challenges. Ethical and logistical challenges of telehealth are amplified when providing clinical care for two sensitive topic areas: 1) exposure therapy for anxiety-related disorders, and 2) suicide risk assessment and management. This course is designed for mental health professionals seeking to enhance their delivery of effective, ethical, and safe telehealth services when implementing exposure therapy, working with patients reporting suicidal ideation, or both.

Learners will explore the latest evidence-based practices in assessing and treating anxiety and suicide risk through telehealth. We emphasize the importance of ethical decision-making, informed consent, cultural humility, and managing boundaries in remote care. Special attention will be given to understanding the nuances of risk assessment and intervention in telehealth, including crisis planning, coordination with local emergency services, and leveraging digital tools to support safety.

Through didactics, interactive case studies, and clinical decision-making exercises, attendees will gain skills to improve telehealth assessment and interventions for patients with anxiety-related disorders and suicide risk. We also address relevant professional standards, including HIPAA-compliant communication, licensing issues, and documentation best practices.

By the end of the course, participants will be equipped with actionable strategies to increase client engagement, improve outcomes for individuals with anxiety and/or suicidal ideation via telehealth. This training is suitable for licensed clinicians, supervisors, and those transitioning to virtual practice in outpatient or crisis settings.

CE Learning Objectives

Following this presentation, participants will be able to:

1. Implement evidence-based assessing and interventions for anxiety and suicide risk via telehealth.

2. Navigate ethical considerations, including informed consent, boundaries, cultural humility, and privacy laws (e.g., HIPAA).

3. Conduct remote risk assessments and suicide prevention interventions in virtual settings.

4. Understand legal and professional standards related to licensure and documentation.

5. Enhance client engagement in a virtual environment.

6. Enhance homework adherence using telehealth.

About the Presenter: Lily Brown, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Psychology in Psychiatry and Director at the Center for the Treatment and Study of Anxiety.  Dr. Brown received her Bachelors of Science Degree in Psychology at Drexel University and her Doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology and Learning and Behavior Psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).  In graduate school, Dr. Brown researched mechanisms of change in fear conditioning and extinction, with a particular focus on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), in the Anxiety and Depression Research Center.  She completed her predoctoral internship at Brown University in the Psychosocial Research Department where she completed research on the rate of suicidal behaviors in patients with PTSD.   Dr. Brown’s current research focuses on treatment development and implementation to mitigate suicide risk in patients with anxiety disorders and PTSD.  She specializes in cognitive-behavior therapy for anxiety disorders, including Exposure and Response prevention (EX/RP) for obsessive compulsive disorder, and has been trained in the treatment of borderline personality disorder. 

Webinar workshop requirements:

• You must have utilities, internet service, phone service, and an appropriately private location at your home or office in order to ensure HIPAA compliance.
  • The private location should be free of noise and distractions. (If you are the parent of young children, appropriate child care arrangements must be in place.)
• You must agree to attend each hour of the video conference and agree to use video of yourself during the video conference in order to track attendance.
• You must agree not to copy or distribute workshop materials provided to you in the course of the workshop and not to audio or video-record the workshop in any form.

You will be asked to affirm the previous conditions and your agreement to them prior to the commencement of the workshop.

Continuing Education

Philadelphia Behavior Therapy Association is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Philadelphia Behavior Therapy Association maintains responsibility for this program and its content. Each program provides three (3) hours of CE credits for psychologists. 

PBTA is also an authorized provider for CE credits for Professional Counselors, Marriage and Family Therapists, and Clinical Social Workers licensed in the state of Pennsylvania. Each program provides three (3) hours of CE credits.

In order to receive continuing education credits, participants must:

• attend each hour of the workshop (no late arrivals or early departures)
• complete a course evaluation

If both of these requirements are met, you will receive a continuing education certificate after the conclusion of the workshop.

Full attendance is required to obtain CE credits for this program. APA guidelines do not permit PBTA to issue partial CE credits. No refunds are provided for CE programs. No exceptions allowed.

Instructions for Registration

Registrations are due one week in advance and must be completed in full. 

To register, complete the online registration.

If you need to withdraw your application for any reason, please email Dr. Sandy Capaldi. Note that workshop fees are non-refundable after the application due date (one week before the start of the workshop).