Moving Beyond the Clinic

Telehealth treatment formats for youth mental health problems use synchronous interactive communication technologies (eg, videoconferencing) to facilitate real-time interactions between patients/families and providers. Recent years have witnessed a sharp uptick in the evaluation, acceptance, and use of telehealth approaches, and the COVID-19 pandemic pushed telehealth into the clinical mainstream. Against this backdrop, we provide an overview of telehealth practice in youth mental health care, focusing on the rationale, history, practice trends, and supporting evidence. We discuss key administrative, ethical, and policy-related considerations and controversies for telehealth providers working with children and families.