Considerations for Assessment Training Competencies in Health Service Psychology Programs in the Age of COVID-19

Health service psychologists have made a rapid transition to delivering telepsychology services during the COVID-19 pandemic. The provision of remote assessment services, or teleassessment, however, has lagged behind given the limited evidence base. This delay has been uniquely challenging for university training clinics, which are equally responsible for developing trainee assessment competencies and providing highquality assessments to clients. Training clinics have been tasked with implementing programmatic adaptation to meet this need with limited guidance. We address this gap by describing the considerations university training clinics must make under physical distancing policies, including protections for the health of trainees and clients, ensuring standardized administration of assessments, providing developmentally appropriate training opportunities, and guaranteeing transparency in the consent and feedback processes. We recommend solutions to reconcile these inherent challenges and highlight training opportunities as they relate to the development of profession-wide competencies and ethical principles.