Providing Clinical Psychology Training and Trauma-Focused Treatment via Telehealth During COVID-19

To slow the spread of COVID-19 many mental health providers transitioned to telehealth delivery of trauma-focused treatment for maltreated children. However, these providers faced myriad challenges, including equitable access to equipment and technical demands of telehealth software. Training clinics overseeing pre-doctoral clinical psychology interns experienced the added challenge of providing quality supervision and training via telehealth. This study involves a retrospective application of the Exploration, Preparation, Implementation, and Sustainment framework to describe the innovative adaptation to a telehealth service delivery model in a training clinic providing evidence-based trauma-focused treatment to children and their families. Mixed methods data indicate that compared to pre-COVID, during early COVID more patients accessed clinic services and interns reported greater satisfaction with their training experiences.