For Professionals

Clinical Health Services

Welcome to the Clinical Health Services Council webpage! The Clinical Health Services Council addresses isseus related to the practice and delivery of services in health psychology, and thus engages in activities to promote best practices of Clinical Health Psychologists within the Division. To do so, we:

• Coordinate our activities with the Practice Directorate of APA, and other APA task forces and Committees to provide meaningful input on the practice of health psychology
• Advise the DIvision's Executive Committee on issues pertinent to the practice of health psychology and assists in efforts to recruit and involve practicing psychologists in the Division
• Coordinate submission of articles to The Health Psychologist on the practice of health psychology
• Establish and maintain liaison relationships with other Division Committees and outside professional organizations
• Provide input on integrating clinical issues into Division publications and the APA convention program
• Develop an annual program, overseen by the Clinical Health Psychology Institute Chair, in partnership with the Education Directorate, to provide evidence-based clinical health psychology training

Council members include the Council Chair, Interdivisional Healthcare Committee Representative(s), the Liaison to the Committee for the Advancement of Professional Practice (CAPP), the Chair of the Clinical Health Psychology Institute, a member responsible for practice-related ethics issues, and a Liaison to the APA Board of Professional Affairs.

The Division-endorsed definition of clinical health psychology is as follows (12/2007):

Clinical Health Psychology (also known as behavioral medicine, medical psychology, and psychosomatic medicine) is the application of the specific educational, scientific, and professional contributions of the discipline of psychology to the promotion and maintenance of health; the prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation of illness and disability; the identification of etiologic and diagnostic correlates of health, illness, and related disability or dysfunction; and the analysis and improvement of the health care system and health policy formation (adapted from Matarazzo, 1980, pg. 815).

The distinct focus of clinical health psychology is on physical health problems -- their prevention and treatment. Fundamental to this specialty are the biopsychosocial model of human behavior, the relationships between behavior and health, and the ability to work in a broad array of health care settings with other health care disciplines. Clinical health psychologists have in-depth training and expertise in assessment and intervention involving the integration of behavior and health.