Dr. Marlene Maheu started delivering her first telehealth service in 1994. Donned the “telepsychology visionary” by former APA President Pat DeLeon, PhD, JD, MPH, she is a consultant, researcher, author, and trainer. Dr. Maheu trains professionals interested in legal and ethical best practices related to telehealth and various technologies. She serves as the Executive Director of the Telebehavioral Health Institute, Inc., where she oversees professional training in telebehavioral health via an eLearning platform that has served behavioral clinicians from 73 countries.
For more than twenty years then, Dr. Maheu’s focus has been on legal and ethical risk management related to the use of technologies to better serve behavioral health clients and patients. She has served on a dozen professional association committees, task forces and work groups related to advancing telebehavioral health as well as establishing standards and guidelines for telebehavioral health. She has written dozens of peer-reviewed articles and is the lead author of multiple telehealth textbooks.
As Faculty Associate of the Nicholas A. Cummings Doctor of Behavioral Health Program, School of Health Solutions, she teaches doctoral students how to work with technology as behavioral health professionals. As Editor-in-Chief of the Telebehavioral Health News, she oversees the publication of a weekly newsletter and providing a community blog as free educational services to help TBHI’s community of more than 14,000 licensed professionals. From 1994-2016, she was the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of SelfhelpMagazine, an online portal that supported millions of consumers worldwide.
As the Co-Founder and President of the Coalition for Technology in Behavioral Science (CTiBS) from 2011 to the present, she has led the nonprofit organization through several initiatives to responsibly advance the use of technology in the behavioral sciences. The initiatives include the development of interdisciplinary Telebehavioral Health Competencies and the launch of the Journal for Technology in Behavioral Science (JTiBS), which is funded and published by Springer Publishing. CTiBS is also focused on developing credentialing for telebehavioral health practitioners.
Dr. Maheu is a Licensed Psychologist in San Diego, California and works as a telepsychologist (PSY#11921). She has served these leading professional mental health associations in various telehealth-related positions since 1995:
As telecommunication technologies and health apps become more ubiquitous and affordable, they expand opportunities for mental health professionals to provide quality care. However, physical distance, as well as technology itself, can create challenges to safe and ethical practice. Such challenges are manageable when following the best practices outlined in this book.
This visionary volume spotlights innovative mental health careers in today’s technology-driven climate while inspiring readers to create their own opportunities. Unique and engaging perspectives from professionals across disciplines and job titles describe the thought processes, ingenuity, and discipline behind matching technologies to the needs of specific populations and settings. These non-traditional paths show digital advances as used in frontline, complementary, supplemental, and alternative interventions, in academic and training settings, in private practice, and in systems facing transition. The diversity of these contributions illustrates the myriad openings technology presents for both professional fulfillment and clients’ improved well-being.
Dr. Maheu’s third book, The Mental Health Professional and the New Technologies: A Handbook for Practice Today was co-authored with Myron Pulier, M.D., Joseph McMenamin, M.D., Esq., Frank Wilhelm, Ph.D., and Nancy Brown-Connolly, RN, MSN. Written by this highly specialized multidisciplinary team, this text serves as a how-to manual for both the beginner as well as seasoned telehealth professional. It gives a wide range of examples for how to use (and not use) email, chat rooms, telephones and video conferencing systems with patients to deliver remote service. It details how to build a professional presence through websites and communities. It guides the reader through an easy-to-understand outline of risk management from the perspective of legal/ethical solutions. To the delight of many, it also provides a sample of the type of informed consent document to be considered for use with patients when using technology as a mental health professional or coach.
Dr. Maheu is the lead author of E-Health, Telehealth & Telemedicine A Guide to Startup and Success. This academic/professional book was co-authored by Pamela Whitten, Ph.D. and Ace Allen, M.D. This text is a hands-on resource that shows how communication technologies can be designed, implemented, and managed to help professionals expand and transform their professional roles. Step by step, the authors reveal how to introduce innovative communication tools to a wide range of settings. This indispensable book contains suggestions for program development, ethical, legal and regulatory solutions, and technical options. For more information, see this description and comments from leaders in healthcare, business and administration.
Interprofessional telebehavioral health (TBH) competencies have been developed to standardize training and improve the quality of TBH care. The CTiBS TBH framework organizes seven topic domains and five subdomains according to competency level, i.e., Novice, Proficient, or Authority. In turn, each competency level is categorized into 51 discrete telebehavioral objectives, which are then distinguished by 149 cumulative and measurable telebehavioral practices.
The seven identified interprofessional TBH competency domains and three levels of expertise (novice, proficient, and authority) are briefly described. More in-depth descriptions and examples of several of the competency domains are presented to illustrate the competencies in practice. Some of the challenges faced in using such a competency framework are discussed.
As telecommunication technologies have become more widely available and affordable, opportunities for psychologists to engage in telebehavioral health (TBH) have expanded greatly. A national sample of 164 professional psychologists completed a 28-item survey. Overall, a substantial discrepancy was noted between psychologists’ positive appraisals of TBH and actual implementation, underscoring the ongoing barriers in the adoption of telehealth technologies in practice. Future directions addressed the need for training and education in TBH best practices.
Review this page for a listing of Dr. Maheu’s other telebehavioral health-related publications.
Dr. Maheu offers consultation in these areas:
Since 1994, Dr. Maheu has personally delivered or helped organize nearly 200 telehealth-related professional papers and training sessions at the American Psychological Association, American Telemedicine Association, the American Counseling Association, and numerous state professional associations and private meetings. She has trained more than 25,000 professionals internationally.
As an ethicist, her areas of expertise include risk management: legal/ethical, standard of care, clinical protocols, authentication, informed consent, community-building and the nuances of malpractice insurance for remote practitioners. Her consumer-oriented speaking topics include wearable and sensor-based technologies for behavioral care; how the Internet of Things is already changing healthcare; artificial intelligence, machine learning and affective computing; behavioral “apps” and how to evaluate for validity, reliability, user experience and other essential factors; hardware and software product development and marketing.
She has trained students and faculty at leading universities such as Albert Einstein School of Medicine, Alliant University, Arizona State University, and Johns Hopkins. She is the former Director of Telehealth and eHealth for Alliant University and on the faculty at the Arizona State University, Nicholas A. Cummings Doctor of Behavioral Health Program, School of Health Solutions. She is the Founding and Current President of the Coalition for Technology and Behavioral Science (CTiBS), where she led the team that developed a peer-reviewed, scientific journal, known as the Journal for Technology in Behavioral Science (JTiBS) and another team that developed the Interprofessional Framework for Telebehavioral Health Competencies.
Her training is offered both 100% online and in-person. TBHI’s online coursework gives you access 24/7. You will receive a rich, multimedia platform to enhance your enjoyment and learning retention. If you’d prefer to hire a TBHI faculty person trained in TBHI workshop delivery in-person, please submit a speaking request here (please let us know if you need CE credit so that we may determine if it can be made available for you or your group).
Tracey Harris, ACI
“Legal and Ethical Strategies for Successful Distance Counseling”
“Create Passive Income with Online Self-help Products”
“We were honored to have Dr. Maheu as our keynote for our annual conference. Her delivery is precise and engaging. Her knowledge is immense and helpful. Her passion is genuine and contagious!”
Kendal M. Tucker, Past-President of the Idaho Counseling Association
“On behalf of the Behavioral Health Information Technologies & Standards (BHITS) team, please accept our profound thanks for your thought-provoking and very comprehensive presentation! I/we are extremely pleased with the outcome. Thank you so much for being such an enthusiastic and knowledgeable expert. We have thoroughly enjoyed working with you on this endeavor!”
Alan Moghul, Ph.D, Associate, Division of Health & Environment | ABT Associates
“Dr. Maheu is a true expert and joy to work with. Her presentation was informative and valuable to our audience”
Jackie Passamani, Healthcare Training Leader
Dr. Marlene Maheu has given live presentations to these groups:
Click here to visit Dr. Maheu’s speaking schedule for 2019.