Telehealth and Psychiatry After September 2025: What You Need to Know

By Madeline Goodman, D.O., Diplomate, American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology

Over the past few years, telehealth has transformed how we deliver psychiatric care—making it more accessible, convenient, and patient-centered. Understandably, many patients have asked me: “Will telehealth still be covered after the pandemic?” Now that the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) has ended, there’s some confusion about what’s changing—and what’s here to stay.

I want to offer clarity and reassurance for my current and prospective patients throughout Maine.

✅ The Good News: Psychiatric Telehealth Is Here to Stay

Telehealth for behavioral health services, including psychiatry, is now permanently allowed under Medicare and most commercial insurance plans. This means you can continue to:

  • Have psychiatric appointments from the comfort of your home
  • Use video or audio-only (phone) for sessions if needed
  • Receive care no matter where you live—no rural or in-office requirements
  • Get help with medication management, therapy, or evaluations without needing to travel

This applies to:

  • Initial psychiatric evaluations
  • Follow-up medication management (E/M visits)
  • Psychotherapy
  • Substance use disorder treatment

⚠️ What Might Change—But Doesn’t Affect Psychiatric Care

There’s been talk about a “telehealth cliff” happening on September 30, 2025, when many of the temporary pandemic-era telehealth rules are scheduled to expire. This change could impact:

  • General medical care via telehealth (like primary care or non-psychiatric specialty visits)
  • Restrictions returning around where patients must be located (e.g., rural areas only)
  • Limitations on which providers can bill via telehealth

But none of that applies to psychiatric services. Psychiatry and behavioral health are exempt from this rollback.

🧭 What This Means for You

If you’re receiving psychiatric care through my practice—or looking for a new provider who offers telehealth—you can feel confident knowing that this mode of care is fully supported and secure moving forward. I will continue offering virtual psychiatric care across the state of Maine, and I’ll always stay current with policy updates to ensure continuity of care.

💬 Have Questions?

If you’re unsure about your insurance coverage or whether a telehealth appointment is right for you, feel free to reach out. I’m happy to answer your questions and guide you through the process.

About Dr. Goodman
Madeline Goodman, D.O., is a board-certified psychiatrist offering personalized telepsychiatry services throughout Maine. Her practice focuses on compassionate, evidence-based care with flexible virtual access.

Why Telehealth Etiquette Matters: Creating a Safe and Stable Space for Therapy

online counseling session

Telehealth is Convenient — But It Still Deserves Respect

One of the great advantages of telehealth is flexibility: you can receive care from virtually anywhere. But just because you can take a session from your car, your workplace, or the corner of a grocery store parking lot doesn’t mean that you should.

As a psychiatrist and psychotherapist, I show up at the same time every week from a private, quiet, and professional space—because that’s what good care requires. And for therapy to really work, patients need to do the same.

What Good Telehealth Etiquette Looks Like

  • Be in a stationary location. If you’re in your car, that’s fine—but please don’t be driving. Pull over and park so you can give your full attention to the session.
  • Find a private space. Therapy often involves talking about personal and emotional topics. It’s hard to feel safe and open if you’re worried about being overheard or interrupted.
  • Be on time. Just like an in-person appointment, punctuality matters. It honors the therapeutic process and allows us to use the full time we’ve set aside.
  • Try to use the same place each week. Predictability creates a sense of safety, and therapy works best when we’re grounded—not scrambling to find a quiet corner at the last minute.

Why It Matters

When patients show up in a distracted, chaotic, or rushed way, therapy simply can’t unfold the way it’s meant to. Insight, reflection, and emotional growth require presence. When sessions feel disorganized or squeezed between other obligations, the space we need to do meaningful work gets lost.

Therapy is a commitment—not just to the appointment time, but to yourself.

Setting the Frame Is Part of My Job

Part of my responsibility as a provider is to help set the frame for therapy. That includes creating consistency, offering structure, and communicating expectations clearly.

If at any point something doesn’t feel clear, or if you’re unsure why a certain aspect of etiquette matters, I want you to know that it’s okay to ask. And if I haven’t said it directly—I’ll own that. I don’t expect patients to automatically know how therapy works. That’s part of what I’m here for.

Final Thought

Telehealth has opened up access to care in wonderful ways. But it’s still real therapy. The more seriously you take the setting, the more you get out of it.

As your provider, I’m here—every week, in a consistent and grounded space. I invite you to meet me there, in every sense of the word.

 

How AI Is Changing Psychiatry – And What It Can’t Replace

By Dr. Madeline Goodman, Psychiatrist & Psychotherapist

In the past few years, artificial intelligence (AI) has moved from a buzzword to a powerful presence in healthcare—and psychiatry is no exception. From chatbots offering mental health support to algorithms screening for depression, AI tools are being hailed as the future. But as someone who practices both psychiatry and psychotherapy, I see both the potential and the limits of AI in mental health care.

What AI Can Do in Psychiatry

AI can be remarkably helpful in specific ways:

  • Screening and early detection: Algorithms can flag symptoms of anxiety, depression, or even psychosis by analyzing speech patterns, facial expressions, or written language.
  • Support tools: Chatbots and apps like Woebot offer basic cognitive behavioral techniques, which some people find helpful between therapy sessions.
  • Administrative support: AI can assist clinicians by summarizing notes, organizing data, and predicting medication responses—reducing our time spent on paperwork.
  • Access expansion: In underserved areas, AI-powered platforms can provide some mental health support where human clinicians are scarce.

These are all meaningful contributions, especially in a system where access and time are limited. But psychiatry is more than pattern recognition.

What AI Can’t Replace

While AI might be efficient, it lacks emotional depth. Psychiatry is not just about diagnosing and prescribing—it’s about understanding the human story:

  • The therapeutic relationship: Healing often happens in the relationship itself—through being seen, heard, and understood by another person. This is something no algorithm can replicate.
  • Complex emotions and nuance: Human distress is rarely neat. A person may present with anxiety that is also grief, that is also trauma, that is also existential. Understanding that layering takes attunement, not coding.
  • Unconscious processes: As someone trained in psychodynamic therapy and dream work, I believe that unconscious patterns shape behavior in ways AI can’t access. Therapy often means sitting with uncertainty and ambiguity—territory machines aren’t built for.

How I Use (and Don’t Use) Technology in My Practice

I value useful tools. I offer telehealth, I keep up with emerging technologies, and I understand the appeal of convenience. But I’ve also seen what’s lost when care becomes too transactional.

My practice offers something different: personalized, attentive, and deeply human care. Whether you’re navigating midlife transitions, relationship changes, or long-standing patterns, I create a space for exploration that goes beyond symptoms.

The Future: Human + AI, Not Human vs. AI

I’m not anti-AI—I think it has a role. But I believe the future of psychiatry is not about replacing clinicians. It’s about supporting them, so we can focus on what machines can’t do: build relationships, tolerate uncertainty, and sit with pain compassionately.

If you’re looking for mental health care that combines depth, professionalism, and a human touch, you’re in the right place.