Mental Health Tools Research Articles

Digital Mental Health and Its Discontents: Assumptions About Technology That Create Barriers to Equitable Access.

Despite the potential of digital mental health interventions to aid recovery for people with serious mental illness, access to these digital tools remains a key barrier. In this column, the authors discuss three key assumptions that shape the integration of digital mental health tools into community health settings: clinical context, digital literacy, and financial burden. Clinical contexts have shifted with the increased use of telehealth, altering intervention environments; access to a mobile device is not the same as digital literacy; and digital mental health care is not necessarily affordable. Context-centered study design through ethnography will facilitate transfer of digital resources to real-world settings.

Family-focused intervention to promote adolescent mental health and well-being in Moldova and North Macedonia (FLOURISH): feasibility study protocol

IntroductionFamily-Focused Adolescent & Lifelong Health Promotion (FLOURISH) project will adapt, implement and evaluate a programme to support adolescent mental health and well-being through strategies, such as strengthening parenting practices, adolescent-caregiver...

Patient and Clinician Experiences with Sharing Data Visualizations Integrated into Mental Health Treatment

Digital mental health tools can collect vast amounts of data, but little research has been conducted on the impact of visualizing and sharing these data with patients in a clinical setting. In this study, semi-structured interviews were conducted via a HIPAA compliant platform with 10 patients and 5 clinicians in a digital mental health clinic about their experience with the integration of personal data visualizations into care. These interviews, spanning from April 2023 to July 2023, centered around the utility, meaningfulness, and clarity of the visualizations. The qualitative data were subsequently analyzed through an inductive approach for thematic analysis. Themes identified from patient interviews included the ability of visualizations to encourage reflection and action while also providing validation and motivation. Both clinicians and patients noted the importance of having an intermediary (digital navigator) to assist in interpreting the visualizations. The type of visualization preferred by patients varied from patient to patient. Overall, our findings highlight the value of utilizing visualizations in clinical care as a clear and effective way to communicate personal health data to patients and clinicians, suggesting the benefit of continued co-design with all parties.

Digital Tools For Youth Mental Health

Do you ever feel sad, lonely, anxious, or stressed? Everyone experiences these feelings sometimes, but there are resources that can help. Some people think that technologies like social media and video games are leading to stress and anxiety, but technology can actually support people’s mental health. In fact, some technologies are made to help people feel happier and less stressed or anxious. Lots of these technologies exist, maybe too many, which makes finding helpful ones hard. Young people are tech-savvy, which might make these tools especially useful for them. To make sure these technologies are helpful for youth, it is important to involve young people in their development. In this article, we will talk about types of digital mental health tools and how they can help. We will also talk about ways to involve young people in the development and testing of these tools.

Incorporating routine mental health assessment into survivorship.

350 Background: Cancer survivors experience higher rates of mental health (MH) symptoms including anxiety and depression compared to the general population. To address this in our longitudinal survivorship clinic, the Patient-Reported Outcome Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Global health measure is routinely administered and reviewed at point-of-care with psychosocial status incorporated in survivorship care (SC) plans. The uncertainly and social isolation that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic increased the risk of adverse MH outcomes. This study examines PROMIS Global MH subscale scores and discussions of MH prior to, during and following the pandemic. Methods: Patients who had at least one SC visit and a completed PROMIS-Global measure within 22 months prior to and after the Massachusetts COVID-19 state of emergency (SoE) (March 20, 2020-June 15, 2021) were evaluated. MH subscale scores were calculated using scoring algorithms. A paired t-test was used to compare scores from each time period. Patient characteristics were summarized from the clinic’s database. Clinician notes were analyzed to determine if MH discussions occurred. Results: All 41 patients had been diagnosed during childhood, adolescence, or young adulthood (median age of 12 years, range 0-36), with a median current age of 31 years (range 19-54). 61% were diagnosed with leukemia or lymphoma, 66% were female, 80% were White. Patients had been in the clinic from 0-7 years, with 15% of the initial visits occurring within the pre-SOE period. At time of entry into clinic 73% had a known late effect, 32% had a comorbidity and 29% had a known MH disorder. At some point in their SC, 41% of patients had been encouraged to pursue MH care. During the SoE, those with MH concerns were triaged for outreach; 78% of patients received virtual and/or in-person visits; PROMIS was not collected during virtual visits. Mean PROMIS-Global MH subscale scores were not statistically different by time period: 49.9 mean (9.3SD) pre vs 48.3 mean (10.1SD) post SoE (p=0.10) and did not differ from population norms. MH discussions occurred prior to (54%), during (53%) and following (49%) the SoE. Conclusions: Despite the additional barriers to providing care brought on by the pandemic, the MH tools in place supported quick identification of patients at risk and ongoing MH discussions. Consistent inclusion of MH assessment into SC should be encouraged as part of ongoing quality care, not only in response to the pandemic.

Peer-supported mobile mental health for veterans in primary care: A pilot study.

One in four veteran primary care patients suffers from a mental health condition; however, most do not receive any treatment for these problems. Mobile health (mHealth) can overcome barriers to care access, but poor patient engagement limits the effectiveness and implementation of these tools. Peers may facilitate patient engagement with mHealth. We designed a protocol for peers to support implementation of mobile mental health tools in primary care and tested the feasibility, acceptability, and clinical utility of this approach. Thirty-nine patients across two Veterans Affairs sites who screened positive for depression during a primary care visit and were not currently in mental health treatment were enrolled. Participants were scheduled for four phone sessions with a peer over 8 weeks and introduced to five mobile apps for a range of transdiagnostic mental health issues (stress, low mood, sleep problems, anger, and trauma). Pre/post phone interviews using quantitative and qualitative approaches assessed participants' self-reported app use, satisfaction with the intervention, symptom change (stress, anxiety, depression, insomnia), and progress with personal health goals. On average, patients reported using 3.04 apps (SD = 1.46). Per the Client Satisfaction Questionnaire, global satisfaction with the intervention was high (M = 25.71 out of 32, SD = 3.95). Pre to post participants reported significant improvements in their level of stress, based on a quantitative measure (p = .008), and 87% reported progress on at least one personal health goal. Findings support the feasibility, acceptability, and clinical utility of peer-supported mobile mental health for veterans in primary care. A randomized controlled trial of an adaptive version of this intervention is recommended. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Which needs assessment tool to use? Review of the needs assessment tools for service evaluation

Abstract Background Needs assessment enhance patient-centered care quality and is important within evaluation process, as well as for implementation of new services. Needs assessment tools can help clinicians to plan treatment and also to assess subsequent service impacts. Aim of the present research was to review quantitative tools for mental health needs assessment, that are either self-reported or can be used by professionals or researchers. Methods A comprehensive literature search in two bibliographic databases was carried out following the PRISMA protocol. Additional search was performed in specific review papers. Included papers are quantitatively assessing the needs of people with mental health problems and exclude people with dementia or disabilities. Also other inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied. Results The majority of all studies were published in English (n = 234). The majority of research papers (n = 163) were conducted in Europe between 2000-2010, while in other countries the trend followed the year 2011. Preliminary results are showing that there are 29 different tools for needs assessment and 17 of them can be used at the system level also as an outcome measure. The most frequently used tool for assessing the needs that can be also used as an outcome measure was Camberwell Assessment of Needs (CAN) also in combination with Health of the Nation Outcome Scales (HoNOS). As well Cardinal needs schedule (CNS) and Resident Assessment Instrument Mental Health (RAI-MH) were used more than once. Conclusions When choosing an appropriate assessment tool, it is vital to use the most widely used ones, focusing on validated tools (culturally adapted), tools modified for specific populations (elderly, children, etc.) and also to bear in mind the ultimate goal that the service is aiming. CAN, HoNOS and CNS are assessing psychiatric and social care needs comprehensively. While RAI-MH is also a tool that is supporting seamless approach to person-centered care. Key messages • When choosing an appropriate assessment tool, it is vital to use the most widely used ones, focusing on validated tools and tools modified for specific populations. • When choosing an appropriate assessment tool, it is important to focus on the ultimate goal the service is aiming.

Assessing mental health from registry data: what is the best proxy?

Abstract Background Medical registries frequently underestimate the prevalence of health problems compared with surveys. This study aimed to determine the registry variables that can serve as a proxy for variables studied in a mental health survey. Methods Prevalences of depressive symptoms and antidepressant use from the 2018 Belgian Health Interview Survey (HIS), stratified by sex and age, were compared with same-year prevalences from INTEGO, a Belgian primary care registry. Participants aged 15 and above were included. We assessed correlation and agreement using Spearman's rho (SR), the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and the limits of agreement (LOAs). Results HIS questions about depressive symptoms were compared with the following variables from INTEGO: symptom codes (SR 0.763, ICC 0.026), diagnosis codes (SR 0.653, ICC 0.195), free text (SR 0.653, ICC 0.322), antidepressant prescriptions (SR 0.793, ICC 0.391) and the combinations symptom + diagnosis codes (SR 0.640, ICC 0.270) and symptom + diagnosis codes + free text (SR 0.653, ICC 0.386). LOAs varied from [-0.120, 0.021] for antidepressants to [-0.015, 0.061] for the full combination. HIS questions about antidepressant use were compared with prescription frequencies in INTEGO of at least once (SR 0.899, ICC 0.586) and at least three times yearly (SR 0.895, ICC 0.835). Corresponding LOAs were [-0.093, -0.008] and [-0.053, 0.007]. Conclusions Correlation between the HIS and INTEGO was high, agreement fair to poor. Agreement increased by combining certain variables, by including free text, or by increasing the prescription frequency to resemble chronic use. Prevalences from INTEGO were mostly underestimates. A considerate choice of variables and prescription chronicity is needed to accurately use a registry as a surveillance tool for mental health. Key messages • The external validity of medical registries can be poor, especially compared with survey data. • Researchers should be aware of the choice of variables when using registry data as a proxy for population measures.

Enhancing help-seeking efficacy in a sustainable and adaptive digital environment

Abstract Background Help-seeking efficacy is directly related to Mental Health Literacy (MHL) as one of its four important components and has been successfully addressed in digital mental health interventions for youth. However, these interventions are often not sustainable and not sufficiently diversity-sensitive. The 3-year Erasmus+ project me_HeLi-D (mental health literacy and diversity) aims to develop a digital, adaptable, diversity-sensitive tool to promote mental health and MHL among youth (12-15 years). Methods The tool-development is based on two pillars: thorough literature reviews and the voices of young people. Through a participatory research process, the design and content of the modules are co-created with the target group. The tool is implemented in Moodle to ensure high accessibility and flexibility and to allow updates and monitoring by the IT-department, which guarantees sustainability beyond the project duration. A total of 27 mental health interventions were systematically reviewed for the module addressing help-seeking efficacy, and three of them reported effective improvement in help-seeking behavior. Among these, an app using character vignettes resulted in greater increases in well-being and help-seeking intentions in the intervention group. Results Based on these findings and feedback from the participatory activities, an activity promoting help-seeking behavior was developed for the tool using a narrative format. The help-seeking activity, its content, and its goals are presented. In addition, the digital implementation is discussed, addressing issues of adaptability and sustainability in relation to the deployment plan in Moodle. Conclusions The importance of a participatory, evidence-based approach and consideration of diversity-sensitivity and digital sustainability in the development of a digital mental health tool was emphasized.

Exploring the role of nutrition in mental health: A narrative review

Global burden of disease 2020 indicates that unipolar depression contributes the second most to increased DALY (disability-adjusted life years) worldwide, but it wasn't even on the top fifteen list in the 1990s. While some mental health problems may warrant pharmacological intervention, non-drug lifestyle behaviors also popularly known as lifestyle medicine and mental health tools present a promising avenue for mitigating depressive symptoms. Lifestyle psychiatry, a growing field pertains to lifestyle pillars such as diet, physical activity, stress, and sleep and their role in psychiatric disorders. Nutrition, a fundamental core in lifestyle medicine, presides over virtually all chronic diseases. Describing nutrition and mental health is challenging, and studies of their interactions are even more complex. Nevertheless, gut microdata are critical to understanding this relationship. Thus, this narrative review aims to unravel the role of nutrition in the context of selected mental disorders. Simultaneously, it aims to empower practitioners and readers of Nepal to make informed lifestyle decisions regarding their nutritional choices. Additionally, it seeks to play as well as play a contributory role in the advancement of nutritional psychiatry as a discipline.

Students’ Perception of Using ChatGPT in Counseling and Mental Health Education: The Benefits and Challenges

ChatGPT is an artificial intelligence (AI)-based chatbot that has expanded in popularity among users in several fields. It could transform education and support achieving sustainable development goals. Providing counseling and mental health services is a vital national goal for maintaining sustainable goals. As evidence of innovative technology’s ability to support sustainability in the digital era, no study has been found to investigate ChatGPT in counseling and mental health education based on students’ perceptions and experiences. Consequently, this study aimed to explore undergraduates’ perceptions in terms of the benefits and challenges of using ChatGPT in counseling and mental health education. The study adopted a descriptive quantitative approach using a purposive sample comprising 210 respondents who enrolled in the counseling and mental health program at the University of Jordan and experienced ChatGPT in their learning. The results reported that 81.9 percent of respondents perceived ChatGPT as a beneficial learning tool for counseling and mental health (M = 4.10); they perceived their ability to support most of the primary counseling skills and therapeutic conditions as the counseling dispositions and behaviors expected for reflection on meaning skills, empathic care, setting boundaries with colleagues, openness to feedback, congruence and genuineness, ability to record-keeping and task completion, and non-verbal skills. Furthermore, the findings reported that students experienced moderate challenges and concerns while utilizing ChatGPT (M = 3.21). The study’s findings suggest educators in counseling and mental health employ ChatGPT in the teaching and learning process. In addition, it proposes that decision-makers at the University of Jordan consider student concerns about ChatGPT.

Mental Health Self-Tracking Preferences of Young Adults With Depression and Anxiety Not Engaged in Treatment: Qualitative Analysis.

Despite the high prevalence of anxiety and depression among young adults, many do not seek formal treatment. Some may turn to digital mental health tools for support instead, including to self-track moods, behaviors, and other variables related to mental health. Researchers have sought to understand processes and motivations involved in self-tracking, but few have considered the specific needs and preferences of young adults who are not engaged in treatment and who seek to use self-tracking to support mental health. This study seeks to assess the types of experiences young adults not engaged in treatment have had with digital self-tracking for mood and other mental health data and to assess how young adults not seeking treatment want to engage in self-tracking to support their mental health. We conducted 2 online asynchronous discussion groups with 50 young adults aged 18 years to 25 years who were not engaged in treatment. Participants were recruited after indicating moderate to severe symptoms of depression or anxiety on screening surveys hosted on the website of Mental Health America. Participants who enrolled in the study responded anonymously to discussion prompts on a message board, as well as to each other's responses, and 3 coders performed a thematic analysis of their responses. Participants had mixed experiences with self-tracking in the past, including disliking when tracking highlighted unwanted behaviors and discontinuing tracking for a variety of reasons. They had more positive past experiences tracking behaviors and tasks they wanted to increase, using open-ended journaling, and with gamified elements to increase motivation. Participants highlighted several design considerations they wanted self-tracking tools to address, including building self-understanding; organization, reminders, and structure; and simplifying the self-tracking experience. Participants wanted self-tracking to help them identify their feelings and how their feelings related to other variables like sleep, exercise, and events in their lives. Participants also highlighted self-tracking as useful for motivating and supporting basic activities and tasks of daily living during periods of feeling overwhelmed or low mood and providing a sense of accomplishment and stability. Although self-tracking can be burdensome, participants were interested and provided suggestions for simplifying the process. These young adults not engaged in treatment reported interest in using self-tracking to build self-understanding as a goal in and of itself or as a first step in contemplating and preparing for behavior change or treatment-seeking. Alexithymia, amotivation, and feeling overwhelmed may serve both as barriers to self-tracking and opportunities for self-tracking to help.

Digital Tools in the Service of Peer and Social Support for Perinatal Mental Health.

This study is critically evaluating the current status of digital tools for perinatal mental health, specifically focusing on how these tools can enhance peer and social support. Digital tools could be used to: (1) identify individuals in need and guide them towards appropriate human-supportive care; (2) autonomously train and allocate peers to aid women experiencing perinatal mental health challenges; and (3) amplify support from their natural social network. Despite clear evidence supporting the significance of social support for perinatal mental health, there is a dearth of studies on digital tools aimed at boosting such support, leaving a gap in the evidence. Findings underscore the necessity of developing digital initiatives that explicitly aim to augment social support as an active ingredient of therapeutic change for women's perinatal mental health. To establish clear evidence of digital tools' value in providing digital peer-support, further development and research are indispensable.

PRimary carE digital Support ToOl in mental health (PRESTO): Design, development and study protocols

BackgroundAbout 30–50% of Primary Care (PC) users in Spain suffer mental health problems, mostly mild to moderate anxious and depressive symptoms, which account for 2% of Spain's total Gross domestic product and 50% of the costs associated to all mental disorders. Mobile health tools have demonstrated to cost-effectively reduce anxious and depressive symptoms while machine learning (ML) techniques have shown to accurately detect severe cases. The main aim of this project is to develop a comprehensive ML digital support platform (PRESTO) to cost-effectively screen, assess, triage, and provide personalized treatments for anxious and depressive symptoms in PC. MethodsThe project will be carried out in 3 complementary phases: First, a ML predictive severity model will be built based on all the cases referred to the PC mental health support programme during the last 5 years in Catalonia. Simultaneously, a smartphone app to monitor and deliver psychological interventions for anxiety and depressive symptoms will be developed and tested in a clinical trial. Finally, the ML models and the app will be integrated in a comprehensive decision-support platform (PRESTO) which will triage and assign to each patient a specific intervention based on individual personal and clinical characteristics. The effectiveness of PRESTO to reduce waiting times in receiving mental healthcare will be tested in a stepped-wedge cluster randomized controlled trial in 5 PC centres. DiscussionPRESTO will offer timely and personalized cost-effective mental health treatment to people with mild to moderate anxious and depressive symptoms. This will result in a reduction of the burden of mental health problems in PC and on society as a whole. Trial registrationThe project and their clinical trials were registered in Clinical Trials.gov: NCT04559360 (September 2020).

Film as a pedagogical tool for climate change and mental health nursing education.

The relationship between climate change and worsening mental health is of increasing concern globally. Climate change is ubiquitous, yet marginalized populations bear a disproportionate burden of the physical and mental health impacts, while youth are more likely to report mental health concerns related to climate change than older generations. Mental health nurses will inevitably see these impacts play out in their practice, thus it is important to explore innovative tools for teaching about and responding to the emotional and psychological impacts of climate change. This perspective paper presents an educational project that utilized film and structured reflection to engage with the intersecting topics of planetary and mental health. The authors created a documentary film that presents the relationship between mental health and climate change as well as an accompanying reflective toolkit. Both the film and toolkit were integrated into an undergraduate course about the health impacts of climate change. This paper explores the relevance of climate change to mental health nursing education and practice, describes the process of creating and integrating the film and toolkit into a course and advances the position that film is an innovative way to engage individuals and communities (such as student or community groups) with the emotional and psychological concerns that arise in response to complex challenges of climate change. More research is needed to better understand the mental health impacts of climate change and to explore novel approaches to education and advocacy about this topic. We hope that sharing our project and experiences will inspire additional discussion and research related to these emerging issues that are of great relevance to mental health nursing.

Technology-Based Gratitude Interventions for Enhancing Mental Health and Well-Being in The Community

In the contemporary society, technology has emerged as a significant tool for fostering emotional expression, particularly in conveying feelings of gratitude, love, and affection towards others and oneself. This review investigated the efficacy of technology-based gratitude interventions in promoting gratitude, enhancing mental health, and improving overall well-being among individuals within the community. Comprehensive search was conducted across various electronic databases, including PubMed, PsycINFO, Scopus, Google Scholar, Ingenta and other sources. Through a rigorous procedure eleven relevant studies were identified, each shedding light on the impact of technology-based gratitude interventions on psychological outcomes. The studies listed different technology-based gratitude interventions such as telehealth services, counseling and psychotherapy platforms, and web-based interventions like daily gratitude writeups on social media, blogging, and gratitude journaling apps. These interventions have proven to be effective in fostering positive psychological changes among individuals from different backgrounds and age groups, making them accessible and scalable mental health tools. Mental health professionals can integrate technology-based gratitude interventions into their practice, providing individuals with practical and engaging strategies. Moreover, the interventions exhibit promise in mitigating psychopathological behaviors, offering promising implications for addressing mental health challenges in the community.

Methods used to evaluate teacher well‐being: A systematic review

AbstractTeacher stress, burnout, and attrition are well‐documented problems that have been amplified as a result of the COVID‐19 pandemic. Recent efforts to study and improve teacher well‐being in response to such high levels of burnout are promising. However, the field continues to lack a unified definition of teacher well‐being and consistent use of tools with which to measure teacher well‐being. These inconsistencies may limit the ability to compare interventions and improve teacher well‐being over time. Clarifying how teacher well‐being is defined and operationalized can enable others to understand what a particular intervention or study does or does not improve. This systematic review explored 97 studies of teacher well‐being and documented tools used to measure the construct. The studies reviewed relied on a wide variety of instruments, ranging from mental health tools to subjective well‐being and teacher efficacy measures, with few using specific Teacher Well‐Being Scales. Findings suggest the need for more uniform approaches to measurement and the need for a clearly articulated definition of teacher well‐being that is distinct from stress or burnout. Researchers recommend the use of a multifactor scale that includes elements of teacher efficacy, school support, workload and time pressure, and job satisfaction.

Attitudes Toward the Adoption of 2 Artificial Intelligence-Enabled Mental Health Tools Among Prospective Psychotherapists: Cross-sectional Study.

Despite growing efforts to develop user-friendly artificial intelligence (AI) applications for clinical care, their adoption remains limited because of the barriers at individual, organizational, and system levels. There is limited research on the intention to use AI systems in mental health care. This study aimed to address this gap by examining the predictors of psychology students' and early practitioners' intention to use 2 specific AI-enabled mental health tools based on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology. This cross-sectional study included 206 psychology students and psychotherapists in training to examine the predictors of their intention to use 2 AI-enabled mental health care tools. The first tool provides feedback to the psychotherapist on their adherence to motivational interviewing techniques. The second tool uses patient voice samples to derive mood scores that the therapists may use for treatment decisions. Participants were presented with graphic depictions of the tools' functioning mechanisms before measuring the variables of the extended Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology. In total, 2 structural equation models (1 for each tool) were specified, which included direct and mediated paths for predicting tool use intentions. Perceived usefulness and social influence had a positive effect on the intention to use the feedback tool (P<.001) and the treatment recommendation tool (perceived usefulness, P=.01 and social influence, P<.001). However, trust was unrelated to use intentions for both the tools. Moreover, perceived ease of use was unrelated (feedback tool) and even negatively related (treatment recommendation tool) to use intentions when considering all predictors (P=.004). In addition, a positive relationship between cognitive technology readiness (P=.02) and the intention to use the feedback tool and a negative relationship between AI anxiety and the intention to use the feedback tool (P=.001) and the treatment recommendation tool (P<.001) were observed. The results shed light on the general and tool-dependent drivers of AI technology adoption in mental health care. Future research may explore the technological and user group characteristics that influence the adoption of AI-enabled tools in mental health care.

Developing digital mental health tools for youth with diabetes: an agenda for future research.

Youth living with diabetes face a concurrent challenge: managing a chronic health condition and managing the psychosocial and developmental changes that are characteristic of adolescence and young adulthood. Despite these unique challenges, psychological support is often difficult for youth with diabetes to access due to a lack of trained mental health professionals and other resource constraints. Digital wellbeing tools offer the potential to improve access to psychological support for this population. However, very few digital wellbeing tools exist for youth with diabetes. Of those that do exist, very few are evidence-based therapies, undermining their contribution to the field. Given the increasing global prevalence of diabetes in young people, the support necessitated by the challenges experienced by this population is not always accessible in a face-to-face setting and cannot be effectively scaled to meet demand. To support the health and wellbeing of youth with diabetes, there is a clear need to develop digital interventions that are widely accessible to users, but, more saliently, grounded in empirical evidence that supports their efficacy. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to offer an agenda for future research, including insights into which psychological techniques and behavioral change theories may be a good conceptual fit for digital mental health interventions, and how these tools may be best developed and utilized by the individuals that need them. Scalable, evidence-based wellbeing tools for this population are urgently required to improve psychological outcomes, and potentially, improve the equity of service access.

Tele-psychotherapy during the COVID-19 pandemic: a mini-review.

The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically changed psychotherapy practices. Psychotherapy around the world has shifted from predominantly face-to-face settings to overwhelmingly online settings since the beginning of the pandemic. Many studies have been published on this topic, but there has been no review of the literature focused on the experience of psychotherapists. Our goal was to identify the challenging issues of teletherapy, including the efficiency of online consultations and the extent to which they are accepted by therapists and patients. A PubMed literature search using the [("Teletherapy" OR "Telebehavioral health" OR "telepsychotherapy") AND ("COVID-19")] search string retrieved 46 studies focused on mental health professionals, as detailed in a PRISMA flow diagram. Two reviewers independently screened the abstracts and excluded those that were outside the scope of the review. The selection of articles kept for review was discussed by all three authors. Overall, the review contributes to the description and evaluation of tele mental health services, including teletherapy, online counseling, digital mental health tools, and remote monitoring.