Health psychology is a specialized branch of psychology that deals with the psychological and behavioral manifestations of health and illness. Health psychologists take a biopsychosocial approach to treatment. This means health psychologists understand health to be a product of not only biological processes, but also psychological, behavioral, and social processes. Research has found that 60-80% of all primary care visits include a behavioral health component, as such, psychologists are uniquely positioned to be able to treat the whole patient, particularly when the care is coordinated with the patient’s physician.
One subspecialty area within the field of health psychology is pediatric pain management. At the most general level, pediatric pain psychologists hold a doctoral degree in clinical health psychology.
