Fall 2017: Transforming Lives

IMPROVING QUALITY OF LIFE | for communities
The clinic is the first of its kind in the nation – bridging
the gaps in mental health treatment for patients in rural
areas. Patients get help in two ways - through video
conference technology in the comfort of their own home
and sessions at five remote clinics. Services are provided
by a team of counseling psychology doctoral students
and doctoral-level supervising faculty.
“Before we were in the area, many people with mental
health concerns and environmental stressors did not
have access to counseling,” said Dr. Carly McCord,
clinical director of the Telehealth Counseling Clinic.
“Rural communities are often underserved and
underfunded.”
The clinic is expanding its services by adding and
extending group therapy options to their remote
sites including Centerville, Navasota, Brenham and
Madisonville. With its new expanded reach, the clinic has
been able to assist more clients with targeted care.
“We’ve had people who were in such distress that
they were suicidal,” Dr. Elliot said. “Through our
videoconferences, we are able to physically see patients
and pay attention to their appearance and well-being.
This is beneficial because we can notify authorities
that an incident may occur. Addressing these crises in
this manner also prevents additional costs accrued by
services provided by police departments, state MHMR
personnel, local emergency rooms and psychiatric
hospitalizations.”
“While it can be challenging to get counseling support
groups started in rural areas, once the word spreads,
we have been able to get more people signed up. Once
clients have enrolled in one type of service, they are
more likely to engage in other treatment options,” Dr.
McCord said.
Outside of providing mental health services to the
community, the clinic trains doctoral students from the
Counseling Psychology program in the Department of
Educational Psychology and the School of Public Health
from the Texas A&M Health Science Center.
To date, over 45 doctoral students have trained through
the program – many of which have gone on to careers
in telepsychology. New doctoral students often transfer
from other programs because of the cutting-edge
training at the clinic.
“I’ve worked as a counselor at a lot of different agencies.
I don’t think any of them have been as engaged and
invested in the well-being of the communities that
they’ve served,” said Kevin Farlow, former counselor at
the clinic. “[The Telehealth Counseling Clinic] is on the
ground in rural communities that have never really had
access to mental health care services, and they’ve been
there for years. Not only did I get a chance to participate
in that really cutting edge work, I got to be a part of the
emerging research program at the clinic.”
Learn more about the clinic at: tx.ag/telehealthclinic
The clinic’s focus on building positive experiences is
helping to break down the stigma of mental health care
in these rural communities.
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