What Does Health Psychology Focus On?
Health psychology is the practice of studying the many different psychological and behavioral processes in the areas of illness and healthcare. Its main focus is to understand exactly in what way behavioral, social, cultural, and psychological factors can contribute to our health and to illnesses.
Other terms that can be used interchangeably with the term health psychology include behavioral medicine and medical psychology. The role of a health psychologist is to focus on promoting good health in patients, as well as to prevent and treat illness and diseases. Health psychologists also work to understand how patients cope with and recover from their illnesses.
Some of the most topical issues that health psychologists are currently dealing with include stress reduction; counseling and advice for terminal patients and their loved ones; initiatives to reduce risky sexual behavior; daily nutrition plans; managing weight problems; and hospice care, to name but a few.
Some health psychologists may also work with the government on its health care policies, helping to improve the health care system of the country and provide better systems for working with patients.
What are the Careers in Health Psychology?
Health Psychologist
Patients in rehabilitation with the loss of limbs suffer from emotional trauma that can’t be seen as readily as their physical damage, but they need good emotional health to be able to learn to cope with their physical limitations. Health psychologists on the team can provide a good sounding board for patients having to learn new physical coping strategies while dealing with the emotional components of loss.
Health psychologists work with a multidisciplinary team to treat a person. Patients trying to normalize their weight or control diabetes can need more than doctors, dieticians, and trainers lecturing them on eating healthful foods instead of empty calories. If those empty calories are filling a psychological need, then a health psychologist is needed to discuss emotional issues keeping patients from achieving their physical health goals.
Psychology Teacher / Lecturer
Psychology lecturers instruct students in the field of psychology. They are also expected to oversee and moderate classroom discussions on topics in the area of psychology, grade exam papers, and create plans for each lesson. Psychology lecturers who are involved in teaching courses at graduate level and may supervise the dissertation work of their students. They may also carry out their own research and publish the findings in journals.
Counselor
A counselor helps their patients to explore the emotions that are affecting their behavior, and guide them with the use of talking therapies. Counseling is a confidential role and a counselor listens to what their client wants to express, showing them empathy and respect during this process. Counselors also help their client work towards agreed goals during these counseling sessions.
Counselors may specialize in a chosen field, such as sexual abuse, guidance, or addiction.
Sports Psychologist
Sports psychologists work with coaches and athletes in order to motivate and improve athletes’ performance. It evaluates the role of psychological factors in performance and how these factors are affected by exercise and sports. To become a sports psychologist could be exciting and interesting at the same time. This career is for students who always feel inclined towards physical activities and sports.
Probation Officer
Probation officers are appointed to supervise offenders during the trial process, prison term and after their release from jail. Probation officers may provide their services through the provision of supervision during the probation period, programs to curb offending behavior, and community service.
One of the main roles of a probation officer is to support offenders on their journey to once more becoming law-abiding members of their own community. Probation officers work to both ensure the safety of members of the public in their local community and to aid the smooth transition of offenders back into society.
Psychotherapist
Psychotherapist work with their patients to help bring about a change in the person’s behavior, thoughts, feelings, or actions through treatment in individual or group settings. Psychotherapists may use techniques such as cognitive behavioral therapy, meditation, self-help groups, or interactive group therapy to assist their patients when treating different psychological conditions.
Psychotherapists may also help their patients to identify patterns in their behavior that may be causing issues in their lives and give them the tools to break the cycle of poor behavior.
Rehabilitation Psychologist
Rehabilitation psychologists design various programs that have the objective of helping people with disabilities. They talk to their patients in order to uncover the issues and their psychological effects. They address the different factors that affect the participation of people with disabilities. Some of the areas that they assess include personal, physical, cognitive, psychosocial, and behavioral factors that create an impact on their patients.
Aside from communication with their patients, these psychologists also understand the mental condition of their clients and provide recommendations on what they can do in order to increase their self-confidence. They also work with a team of knowledgeable people in order to analyze the environment of the people who are suffering from cultural and social issues.
Social Worker
Social workers use their qualifications in health psychology to understand the problems faced by their patients, to help find solutions to these problems, and to aid society as a whole. Many social workers choose to specialize in a particular area such as addiction counseling, social research, child protection or advocate work. They may work in areas such as hospitals, government agencies or mental health clinics.
General Psychologist
Psychologists are trained to study the behavior and mental workings of their patients. They evaluate, diagnose, and treat the conditions of their clients present with. There are a number of different disciplines in which a psychologist can be involved, including counseling, providing mental health care, conducting research, and working on initiatives with the goal of creating social benefits. The focus of a psychologist is to provide mental well-being for children, adolescents, adults and the whole of society.
Community Psychologist
Community psychology incorporates many different elements of general psychology, including portions of sociology, political science and healthcare sciences. Community psychologists may carry out research on many different subjects, including researching theoretical issues, but also using research to identify community problems and solving them to help communities work better and function in more efficient ways.
Related Reading
- Careers in Counseling Psychology
- How to Become a Health Counselor
- Behavioral Therapist Career and Degrees
- How to Become a Clinical Social Worker
- How to Become a Social Work Therapist
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