What is a Health Psychologist?...And do I need one?
tl;dr: A health psychologist is a person with a doctoral degree and specialized training to help people address mental barriers that get in the way of them living their best and healthiest life. If you are coping with an illness, want to make changes to improve your health, or want to prevent future health problems, then it might be a good idea to consult with a health psychologist.
What Is a Health Psychologist?
A health psychologist is a specialist trained to understand the relationships between psychological factors (e.g., thoughts, emotions, and behaviors), environment, and physical health. Health psychologists can be academic researchers, educators, and clinicians. Clinical Health Psychologists are therapists that use evidence-based treatments to promote healthy lifestyles, manage chronic diseases, prevent illness, and provide rehabilitation services. The path to becoming a clinical health psychologist is long and requires a master’s degree and doctorate in psychology. A doctorate in clinical psychology requires 5 to 7 years of coursework and externships in clinical settings and a year-long clinical internship. Clinical health psychologists tend to acquire externship and internship experiences in medical settings, where they gain experience working with patients with a variety of health challenges and goals. After graduating with a doctorate in clinical psychology (Ph.D. or Psy.D.), most pursue post-doctoral training to continue to hone their skills in health psychology. To practice, they then have to pass exams and meet criteria to be licensed in a specific state. Clinical health psychologists can be found in hospitals and medical clinics, as part of teams that assist patients managing chronic conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, cancer, chronic pain, and gastrointestinal disorders like irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Clinical health psychologists also support patients in making behavioral changes to improve sleep, manage stress, achieve weight loss goals, and quit smoking. Clinical health psychologists in private practice can fill the gaps for patients whose medical teams do not already include a psychologist or aren’t sure where to start in making changes to improve their health. While not all health psychologists are clinicians, the remainder of this post will be specific to health psychologists who are clinicians.
Health Psychologists Empower Health Behavior Change
Health Psychologists can help clients make lasting changes to health behaviors. Often people know the importance of quitting smoking, exercising more, eating healthier, sleeping better, or managing stress. However, taking the first steps toward making these changes can feel overwhelming. A health psychologist can help bridge the gap between intention and action. They work with individuals to increase motivation for making changes. They explore the thoughts and feelings that are getting in the way of reaching goals and provide tools and strategies for success. They will come alongside clients to guide them toward setting achievable goals, overcoming obstacles, and staying motivated, all while fostering a sense of empowerment and autonomy.
Health Psychologists Aid in Coping with Medical Conditions
Facing a medical diagnosis can be emotionally and mentally challenging. Often patients feel alone, misunderstood, and overwhelmed by a diagnosis. Suddenly there are new symptoms to cope with, medications to manage, and lifestyle changes that happen overnight. This all happens on top of the daily stressors that were already present in their lives. Many patients are pulled to put on a happy face and stay positive around family and friends but feel like they are crumbling on the inside. Health psychologists can help to provide emotional support, someone to talk to about what they are dealing with and someone who doesn’t expect them to be strong and have it all together. They can provide a balance between acknowledging the challenges of the situation and cultivating hope for a better future.
Health psychologists can also provide tools to cope with the physical and emotional symptoms that patients are facing. Using evidence-based psychotherapy like cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), they can guide patients toward shifting thinking patterns, perspectives, and actions to manage pain, improve sleep, increase energy, and feel less anxious and depressed. Meaning centered psychotherapy can help patients to reconnect with values that were important to before a diagnosis and ensure that they are living a meaningful and values-based life despite their medical condition and prognosis. By providing this support, health psychologists are an important part of a medical team and contribute significantly to the overall healing process.
Health Psychologists Promote Wellness and Prevent Health Challenges
Many health problems are linked to behavioral and psychological processes, such as chronic stress, poor sleep, or unhealthy coping strategies. A health psychologist can help identify and counteract these harmful patterns before they escalate into more significant issues. For instance, they may provide stress reduction techniques like mindfulness, relaxation exercises, or CBT to break cycles that may lead to conditions like heart disease or hypertension. Health psychologists have specialized training to guide individuals through behavioral changes. They can help clients to create a toolbox of skills to aid in quitting smoking, improving food choices, increasing physical activity, and taking medication. Changing unhealthy behaviors can help individuals to feel healthier and live longer so that they can focus more on what matters most to them, like spending time with family, traveling, or pursuing education or hobbies.
How Can a Health Psychologist Help Me?
Most people can benefit from therapy with a health psychologist. Whether you are trying to maintain your health, improve your health, or cope with a specific medical condition – a health psychologist can be an invaluable ally. By partnering with you to understand your life and values, they can tailor a treatment that incorporates evidence-based techniques to help you meet your goals. Therapy with a health psychologist can take many forms. Some people benefit from just one or two sessions, while others prefer to meet weekly for extended periods. Depending on the goals of treatment and the preferences of the client, the length of sessions, frequency, and duration can have a lot of variability.
Health psychologist are teachers that help you understand the underlying psychological and biological processes that are affecting you. They are mirrors that point out the patterns of thoughts and behaviors that are preventing you from reaching your goals. They are guides that help you move in the right direction, toward your goals and values. They equip you with skills and tools to help you navigate internal and external challenges to help you live your best life. They are advocates that empower you to make the changes that feel right to you. They are also a shoulder to cry on, someone that lets you be real, validates your emotions and keeps you moving forward.
If any of these things feel like they could be helpful to you, reach out to a health psychologist to talk about your own goals and challenges. Many specialty clinics have psychologists that are embedded and work closely with the medical team to support patients. If your team does not provide a psychologist, a private practice health psychologist may be a good fit. As a private practice health psychologist, I provide free telephone consultations to learn about you and formulate a plan for how I can support you to live your healthiest and best life. Visit my website to schedule a consultation and start moving toward your goals.
