https://www.theverge.com/2018/10/11/17959872/basis-mental-health-therapy-technology-science-startup
One section from the article worth highlighting:
That’s a far cry from the standards that professional therapists follow, says John Torous, a digital health researcher who is also a psychiatrist at a teaching hospital affiliated with Harvard Medical School. Therapists take professional licensing exams, are bound to federal laws about patient confidentiality, are required to report issues like child or elder abuse, and learn where to properly refer people for different levels of care. “Saying ‘unlicensed therapist’ is saying ‘unlicensed airplane pilot,’” says Torous. “They’re not a pilot then.”
Therapy licensing provides a promise for what a client can expect. “When you license people, what you’re really trying to do is to demonstrate that there is a level of training or quality in the services delivered and that people are going to behave in an ethical, appropriate manner,” says Peter Yellowlees, a psychiatrist at the University of California at Davis and a past president of the American Telemedicine Association. “And you have absolutely none of those guarantees if you use unlicensed people.”
