The Telepsychology Training Clinic (TPTC) at the University of Iowa College of Education was created to serve these communities and their unique needs, bringing comprehensive mental health care to these rural Iowa towns.
Staffed by Counseling Psychology doctoral trainees, postdoctoral scholars, and faculty, the clinic offers free, short-term (5-10 sessions) counseling to Iowans who may have limited access to mental health care. Referrals to community resources can be provided if long-term care is indicated.
TPTC’s impact on Iowans was recently highlighted by The Gazette. The following excerpt is from the article:
“Before COVID-19 upended everything — forcing innovation and ingenuity in maintaining some semblance of services, resources, and everyday life — one department in the University of Iowa College of Education already was there, wading into mostly-untested telepsychology training territory for both its students and state.
‘We submitted the grant before COVID, were awarded the grant before COVID,’ UI professor Martin Kivlighan told The Gazette about being at the forefront of telepsychology as both an outreach and training ground for counselors in the making.
‘And then COVID happened, and everyone did therapy over telehealth.’
But the foresight of the UI Telepsychology Training Center — conceived and supported in 2018 with a three-year $1.3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services — positioned it perfectly to respond to statewide needs during the pandemic, especially in rural communities, and the mental health demands that ensued.
‘We already were facing a mental health crisis, and then COVID came along,’ said Kivlighan, who codirects the five-year-old training center—which officially launched in 2019. The center received a second three-year grant for $1.3 million, and is preparing to apply for a third round of federal funding and possible expansion within the College of Education.”
