PSY 4050 - Integrative Health Psychology: The Application of Psychological Concepts and Tools to Health

The subject matter of health psychology as a discipline overlaps greatly with the fields of integrative health and mind-body medicine. In the broadest sense, health psychology is the organized and systematic effort to apply the knowledge and skills of the behavioral sciences to human health and illness. This course introduces health psychology as an application of psychological principles and skills to health care. It presents the framework, methodology, and applications of mainstream health psychology, and reviews common applications of health psychology, such as increasing patient compliance with well-lifestyle changes, and mind-body interventions to reduce irritable bowel or asthma symptoms. The course introduces basic skill sets in health psychology, such as brief dynamic psychotherapy, humanistic psychotherapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy, health coaching, relaxation and meditation techniques, imagery therapy, biofeedback and applied psychophysiology, and hypnosis. Finally, it introduces divergent approaches to health psychology including optimal health and wellness programs, humanistic and existential psychology, energy psychology, and transpersonal/spiritual approaches. 3 credit(s)

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