As advancements in medicine and technology are revealing the close interrelation between body and mind, new fields of healthcare are developing to further explore how behavioral factors (such as stress and lifestyle) and social factors (such as one’s family and culture) can affect one’s health. Health psychology careers, which were established recently, fall into one of these new career fields. If you are interested in embarking on a career in the field of psychological health, here is some important information you’ll need to know before applying for health psychologist jobs:
- Job description: A health psychologist can work in a clinical setting, in order to provide counseling, behavioral assessments and clinical interviews to patients in the quest to learn more about their frame of mind and their background. With this information, the health psychologist can work with the patient’s other health care givers, in order for them to create a comprehensive plan for his treatment. For example, a cancer patient with a very pessimistic outlook will benefit from sessions with a health psychologist, as studies show that cancer patients with a hopeful outlook have better chances of successfully battling the disease. Health psychologists can also focus on becoming research scientists and teaching without any counseling aspect to their job.
- The divisions of health psychology: Health psychology can be divided into four subdivisions: clinical health psychology, community health psychology, public health psychology and occupational health psychology.
- Clinical health psychologists work with individuals and how behavior, background, genetics and other factors could affect a certain individual’s health habits and overall state of health. They usually work with techniques such as psychotherapy and behavior modification.
- Community health psychologists study the general health of communities (such as what diseases and conditions typically affect certain communities) and the different factors that cause it. They could live for a time in the field in order to know more about the community they are studying. Community health psychologists can work in urban, rural or ethnic communities while providing psychological services.
- Public health psychologists often work in the government setting, as they are concerned with the study of health in the level of communities and populations. They offer advice based on their studies and research in order to influence policies and government health programs.
- Occupational health psychologists study the interrelationship between a person’s job and the state of his health. They work in companies in order to help promote the health of employees, or they do research on different types of occupations.
- The popular topics of interest within health psychology: Though health psychology is a very broad field of study, and with many different possibilities for application, there are certain issues that health psychologists aim to explore further. Some of these issues include disease prevention, the mind-body connection, psychological adjustment and social support.
- Disease prevention is the study of how certain diseases can be prevented through acquiring the proper frame of mind (such as how lung cancer can be prevented if a smoker quits his habit).
- The mind-body connection aims to explore further how one’s state of mind (such as his personality, his upbringing, etc.) can affect the state of his health.
- Psychological adjustment deals with the study of the treatment procedures for those with depression and anxiety, in order to promote better overall health.
- Social support studies how the family or communities can influence the general health of an individual.
- Education: Health psychology has two main divisions of education and you will need to know what your goals are as you are looking for schools. Some health psychology programs grant a PhD and the practitioner will work in academia or research. They are trained to be a research scientist and do not do any treatment or counseling of patients. Others grant a PhD or a PsyD and the practitioners treat and counsel patients. Some schools confer both degrees.
The actual education may take different paths, but generally a four year bachelor’s degree with at least some psychology courses is the beginning step. Then the student will continue his or her education for another two years for a master’s degree. At this point some students elect to work for a period of time and then continue on with their education either part time or full time for another two to four years for their PhD or PsyD. Any student that wants to do counseling must attend a program that is American Psychological Association (APA) accredited. Also, those that plan to do counseling will also engage in vigorous clinical training program as part of their course work. - Licensure: All health psychologists who will be counseling patients must be licensed in the state where they practice.
- Credentialing: There are many different credentials one can obtain in addition to their degree in counseling. Many credentials are granted to those who have not trained at the doctorate level. While there is no specific health psychology credential, it is very possible that you may also want a credential as a sub-specialty to your degree.
- Salary: There is a huge salary range when it comes to health psychologists. The low end is around $45,000 while the upper end is around $143,000. The range has to do with the area of the country, private or corporate sector jobs and academia.
- Job outlook: The mental health field has been hit rather disproportionally compared to other health fields. The growth is expected to be about average over the next ten years with a growth of about 12%. That can change at anytime depending upon funding issues.
This is some of the important information you’ll need to know regarding health psychology careers. This is a very rewarding career with several different avenues which can be pursued.