AdvSem-Health Psychology

Catalog description

This course provides an overview of the burgeoning field of clinical health psychology and behavioral medicine. There will be a focus on the delivery of clinical services in an interdisciplinary healthcare setting, with an emphasis on the role of the psychologist as consultant to a variety of medical personnel. Topics to be reviewed include the psychophysiology of stress, the stress-illness connection, psychoneuroimmunology, the psychology of pain, treatment adherence, and psychosocial variables in chronic health conditions. In addition, the factors mediating the health-illness continuum will be examined, with particular emphasis on the psychology of wellness. Students are introduced to various tools of the trade, including biofeedback, relaxation training, meditation, clinical hypnosis, and psychophysiological psychotherapy. Diversity in its array of forms and manifestations within health care suffuses the course.