Palo Alto University Sets Standards for Delivery of Online Mental Health Services

Palo Alto University Sets Standard with Certificate in Digital Mental Health

50-hour Training Offers Critical Skills for Online Delivery of Mental Health Services

Palo Alto, CA – Palo Alto University (PAU)  announces a new certificate in the Foundations of Digital Mental Health that offers the foundational knowledge, training and best practices necessary to incorporate digital therapy tools into mental health practice.

“The broad delivery of high-quality mental health care has never been more critical,” said PAU President Maureen O’Connor. “The pandemic required a shift to online delivery of care, which is here to stay. This important certificate is ensures that mental health providers understand and apply important best practices in delivering care in an online environment.”  

Offered by PAU’s Division of Continuing and Professional Studies, CONCEPT, the program consists of 50-hours of specialized training conducted by some of the nation’s leading experts in digital therapy who guide participants through an in-depth sequence of self-paced online videos, readings, and exercises. The course is appropriate for psychologists and counselors and anyone in private practice.

Participants will be able to:

• Effectively vet and use digital tools and technology in therapy
• Evaluate the evidence for integrated (“blended”) face-to-face and technology-facilitated therapy, creating a hybrid model if needed
• Discuss and consider the ethical concerns about providing and using digital therapies, particularly around privacy and user data collection
• Earn a badge that can be displayed on your LinkedIn, letting your potential clients and employers know about your new, competitive skill set and competency with digital mental health
• Earn additional income by offering digital therapy

The course provides essential skills for psychologists, counselors, marriage and family therapists, social workers and other professionals. 

Certificate coursework includes:

1. Foundations in Digital Therapy
2. Technology and Mental Health for Children and Adolescents
3. Suicide, Risk Assessment, & Treatment Planning via Tele-Mental Health
4. Evidence-Based Internet Interventions to Reduce Health Disparities

For more information about the course go to: Foundations of Digital Mental Health.

CONCEPT is Palo Alto University’s Division of Continuing & Professional Studies, a not-for-profit offering world-class education for mental health professionals. For more than a decade, the division has been equipping learners around the world with the fundamentals needed to jumpstart a new career in specialty areas of psychology.

Palo Alto University (PAU), a private, non-profit university located in the heart of Northern California’s Silicon Valley, is dedicated to addressing pressing and emerging issues in the fields of psychology and counseling that meet the needs of today’s diverse communities. PAU offers undergraduate and graduate programs that are led by faculty who make significant contributions to in their fields. Online, hybrid and residential program options are offered. PAU was founded in 1975 as the Pacific Graduate School of Psychology and re-incorporated as Palo Alto University in August 2009. PAU is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC).  PAU’s doctoral programs are accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA) and its master’s in counseling programs by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling & Related Educational Programs (CACREP).