About

Melissa J. Earle, PhD, LCSW, is a Clinical Associate Professor and the Director of Online Instruction at the Stony Brook University School of Social Welfare. She holds a PhD from the City University of New York Graduate Center, an MSW from the State University of New York, Albany, with advanced standing, and a BSW from Skidmore College. Her areas of interest include tele-mental health, technology in social work education and practice, online education, trauma, veterans, addiction, and gender-sensitive responses to co-occurring disorders. Dr. Earle has contributed to the field through her research and presentations, focusing on the integration of information and communication technologies in social work practice, and the ethical considerations of e-therapy, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Research topics

• Political Science
• Medicine
• Pedagogy
• Psychology
• Medical education
• Environmental health
• Psychotherapist

Selected publications

• Exploring Barriers Toward Telehealth in an Underserved, Uninsured Patient Population

  Telemedicine Reports · 2024 · 2 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  • Political Science
  • Medicine
  • Environmental health

  Background: Telehealth has untapped potential to improve health care for underserved communities. However, it remains underutilized, limiting opportunities to improve continuity of care and health care outcomes. This pilot study investigates attitudes and barriers to telehealth at Stony Brook HOME, Renaissance School of Medicine's student-run free-health clinic in Suffolk County, NY. Methods: = 100) were electronically administered bimonthly during clinic waiting room time from May 2022 to August 2023 in both English (40%) and Spanish (60%). Surveys collected information on patient demographics, perceived patient barriers and attitudes to telehealth, and technological comfort levels. Results: = 0.03). Finally, 100% of English speakers reported reliable internet access compared to 66.7% of Spanish speakers. Discussion: These results demonstrate that barriers to telehealth are being disproportionately felt by Spanish speakers, thus necessitating survey-directed interventions to address this disparity.

  PublisherDOI

• Lessons from the field during a pandemic: students’ views of ethics in e-therapy

  Social Work Education · 2022 · 1 citations

  • Political Science
  • Medical education
  • Psychology

  As stay-at-home orders and regional lockdowns were mandated across the globe, the COVID-19 pandemic required established practitioners, new graduates, and students in field placements to provide services using technology tools and supports, generically labeled ‘e-therapy’. While this transition was necessary, it raised important ethical concerns. Finn assessed the attitudes of students toward ethical issues in e-therapy in 2002. This article reports the results from surveys of MSW students in one Australian and two CSWE-accredited American programs in 2018 and 2020. The 2018 surveys explored changes since 2002 in student attitudes toward e-therapy, followed by the 2020 surveys to explore the further impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey instrument was based on Finn’s original questionnaire, with items added in 2020 to reflect the increased need for technology-supported services during the pandemic. The 2018 results showed comparatively more familiarity with and use of e-therapy by students, more positive attitudes toward e-therapy use, and more acceptance of the capacity for e-therapy to meet ethical practice requirements. The 2020 results revealed further increases in use and positive attitudes, together with recognition of serious ethical issues. Lessons learned from student qualitative responses are included, along with suggestions for social work curricula and field education.

  PublisherDOI

• Meeting the Practice Challenges of COVID-19: MSW Students’ Perceptions of E-Therapy and the Therapeutic Alliance

  Clinical Social Work Journal · 2021 · 24 citations

  1st authorCorresponding
  • Political Science
  • Psychology
  • Medical education
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Meenu Johnkutty

  Stony Brook University

  4 shared

• Ashna Raiker

  Stony Brook School

  4 shared

• A I Romero Ruiz

  Stony Brook School

  4 shared

• Paul P. Freddolino

  Michigan State University

  2 shared

• Jedan Phillips

  Stony Brook University Hospital

  2 shared

• Ralph Hampson

  University of Melbourne

  1 shared

Education

• Ph.D., School of Social Welfare

  The Graduate Center, CUNY

  2011

• MSW, School of Social Welfare

  State University of New York

  1988

• BSW, Social Work

  Skidmore College

  1984