Telehealth Certification Institute

First responders are trained, prepared, and ready to respond immediately and assess critical requirements in emergent situations such as outbreaks, domestic events, or natural disasters. Over the past few years, thousands of first responders have had to face disasters throughout the world (i.e., COVID-19, Ebola, Monkey Pox, Hurricanes Maria, Sandy, Irma and Ian). The trauma that they experience can have a significant impact on several aspects of their lives, to include physical and psychological. Those who care for the caregivers require a specific set of skills of compassion, patience, empathy and problem-solving skills which can often lead to burnout or lack of self-care as service is the driving force behind their actions.

This course will give you an overview of the skills needed for treating first responders.  It will provide an overview of how to provide behavioral health consultations, screenings and assessments, referrals, case management, discharge planning, and supportive counseling to first responders. Treating first responders includes providing psychoeducational training on topics such as posttraumatic stress disorder, loss and grief, anxiety, compassion fatigue, moral injury, and stress management.

The instructor for this course, LCDR Jamillah Bynum, will use her experience as a Lieutenant Commander (LCDR) in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps to provide concrete examples of how behavioral health professionals treat first responders of public health emergencies. LCDR Bynum serves as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker within the Office of the Secretary (OS), Office of the Assistant Secretary (OASH), Office of Surgeon General, Commissioned Corps Headquarters’ Public Health Emergency Response Strike Team (PHERST). As a PHERST clinical social worker, she responds rapidly to regional, national, and global public health emergencies. LCDR Bynum is known for her deployment leadership with USPHS. In 2022, LCDR Bynum served as the Deputy Officer-in-Charge for one of the Afghan repatriation missions. She served on the leadership team for 300 staff and 115 Afghan unaccompanied minors, resulting in the protection of mission members and the settlement of refugees.

This course was recorded March 22, 2023

Upon completion of this training professionals will be able to do the following:

• Describe the stress and trauma experienced by first responders.
• Describe the increased need for behavioral health clinicians in response to regional, national, and global public health emergencies.
• Explain how to combat stress and burnout needed for treating first responders.

LCDR Jamillah Bynum, MSW, LCSW, BCD

Lieutenant Commander Jamillah Bynum, MSW, LCSW, BCD is a United States Public Health Services (USPHS) Commissioned Corp Officer stationed at Commissioned Corps Headquarters. She serves as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker within the Office of the Secretary (OS), Office of the Assistant Secretary (OASH), Office of Surgeon General, Commissioned Corps Headquarters’ Public Health Emergency Response Strike Team (PHERST), a new multi-disciplinary team and flagship initiative. LCDR Bynum and her team use their high-level clinical skills to respond within 8 hours during national emergencies and public health crises to fulfill critical public health needs. LCDR Bynum’s leadership initiative crosses all boundaries. She served as the Behavioral Health Chief as well as the Deputy Officer in Charge for one of the Afghanistan Operation Allies Welcome (OAW) missions, where she co-managed a team of 9 officers for oversight of operations management and behavioral health triage and provided counseling to over 300 staff and 115 unaccompanied youth. LCDR Bynum is a member of the America Board of Certified Social Workers and was chosen to present at its inaugural conference. She is also the 2022 USPHS Social Work Professional Advisory Group’s Junior Social Worker of the Year.  

LCDR Bynum was previously stationed at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and served as the Office of Hospitality and Voluntary Services Chief. As Chief, she and her staff promoted the patient-care experience by anticipating, assessing, and responding effectively to the needs of hospital patients, caregivers, staff, and customers. LCDR Bynum also served as an LCSW in the NIH Social Work Department for three years providing screening, assessment, diagnostic, treatment, and consultative services to Clinical Center patients, families, and staff.  LCDR Bynum worked in this role for a year before becoming a commissioned officer.  Prior to her commission with the USPHS, she served as one of the Program Supervisors of the Housing and Urban Development Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD VASH) at the Atlanta VA Medical Center in Atlanta, Georgia. LCDR Bynum also worked within the Housing Urban Development Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing program at the Durham VA Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina as a social worker for 5 years. She obtained her bachelor’s degree in Public Health Education from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 1998 and her Master of Social Work from The Joint Master of Social Work Program (a collaboration between North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro) in 2004. Her interests include working with Veterans and active-duty service members and mentoring new PHS officers. LCDR Bynum has been an officer in the Corps for five years.

Credit Hours: This course consists of 1 credit hour.

Counselors: Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No, 6693.  Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs. 

Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed mental health counselors. #MHC-0048. Approval renewal date: 1/31/2026

Marriage and Family Therapists: Many MFT licensing boards accept our courses or one of the approvals which we have from professional associations.  You can check with your board to determine if this course would be accepted by your licensing board.

Social Workers: Telehealth Certification Institute LLC, #1609, is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved as ACE providers. State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit. Telehealth Certification Institute LLC maintains responsibility for this course. ACE provider approval period: 05/02/2021 – 05/02/2024. Social workers completing this course receive 1 clinical continuing education credit.

Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers #SW-0435. Approval renewal date: 2/28/2026

Addiction Professionals: Telehealth Certification Institute is an approved provider of continuing education by NAADAC, The Association for Addiction Professionals, provider #193104, effective 04/03/2023. Full attendance is required; no partial credit will be awarded for partial attendance.

Psychologists: Telehealth Certification Institute LLC is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Telehealth Certification Institute LLC maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Psychology as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed psychologists #PSY-0128. Effective 8/31/2021 – 8/31/2024

Art Therapists: Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed creative arts therapists #CAT-0093. 7/21/2021 – 7/31/2024

Other Professionals: This activity qualifies for 60 minutes of instructional content as required by many national, state and local licensing boards and professional organizations.  Retain your certificate of completion and contact your board or organization for specific filing requirements.

To receive your certificate of completion you must complete the course in its entirety.

 To complete an Online Self Study Course, one must register, log in, select the My Courses option from the menu items, click the Course Title, complete all of the modules, complete and pass the post-test(s), and complete the course evaluation.

Psychologists and other professionals seeking CE credit through our approval with the American Psychological Association are asked but not required to complete the course evaluation before obtaining their certificate of completion, however passing a post-test for online self-study courses, and submitting one's attendance for live on-site and live webinars is required.

You can download or print your certificate of completion by logging into your account, navigating to the course by selecting the My Courses option from the menu items, clicking the Course Title, scrolling to the Certificate of Completion section, and clicking on the Certificate of Completion link to either download it or print it.

Directions for completing a course can be found by clicking here.

Accommodations for Individuals with Disabilities

Click here to view our Accommodations for Individuals with Disabilities.

Cancellation Policy

Refunds are offered within the first 30 days for courses which have not been completed.  There is a 10% service fee for refunds.

Grievance Policy

Click here to view our Grievance Policy.

This course is intended for clinicians who provide behavioral health services.

Teaching methods for this course include recorded lectures, videos, a post-test, and a course evaluation.

This program was recorded on March 22, 2023

You have six months to access online courses from the time of purchase.