Recommendations for policy and practice of telepsychotherapy and e-mental health in Europe and beyond.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought with it a great need for the use of telepsychotherapy and other interventions using psychological theories and techniques to support both mental and physical health.E-mental health presents a wide range of opportunities in mental healthcare to overcome barriers for receiving conventional psychological care, especially when psychotherapists and clients find themselves in (self)quarantine resulting from a pandemic.For many psychotherapists and clients, the current situation provides a first experience with e-mental health and reliance on telepsychotherapy or other means of technology to provide or receive care respectively.Psychotherapeutic circumstances may often be suboptimal, with psychotherapists and clients experiencing difficulties finding a private space or sufficient time for an undisturbed consultation.This paper aims to highlight recommendations on how to create the best possible context in which e-mental health supplements and enhances current services for clients.These recommendations are grouped according to three categories of key stakeholders: psychotherapists, health services and regulatory agencies, and developers.This paper focuses on: (1) how to make optimal use of technology in psychotherapeutic practice, (2) how to integrate e-mental health into the healthcare system to allow for a safe, transparent and effective environment for (self) care, and (3) how to develop e-mental health applications.