Primary care psychology is a growing area of practice. There are increased pressures on primary care physicians (PCPs) to diagnosis and treat a broad spectrum of health problems that include both biomedical and psychosocial concerns. PCPs treat over 60% of all mental health problems in the United States, without assistance from psychologists. We are frequently […]
Psychologists became active in hospitals after World War II, and their involvement was largely in psychiatric facilities, either through departments of psychiatry at medical schools or other large teaching institutions and in Veterans Administration hospitals or state hospitals, where they functioned in a supportive, typically assessment role with staff psychiatrists. During the sixties there was […]
Stone (1991) recognized that there exists “… a core of knowledge and technique common to all practice of psychology” and “competence acquired elsewhere must be modified and extended if proficiency in medical settings is to be achieved” (p xii). Stone went on to say there is indeed “functional specialization” within medical settings based upon the […]
The emerging practice of primary care psychology is creating new opportunities for psychologists. Psychologists are adapting their skills to the primary care environment and primary care providers are welcoming them into their practices and sharing patients with them. The Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC) are recruiting behaviorists to their mission of creating health care homes […]
Giftedness has a long association with psychology. Indeed, popular conceptualizations of gifted individuals often highlight two constructs that are of particular interest to psychologists, intelligence and creativity. From this point of view, the relationship of professional psychology to giftedness is relegated simply to assessment, or using psychological tools to locate the gifted individuals among us, […]
As medical care moves well into the 21st century, there are increasing calls for enhanced integration of psychology and medical practice. With the focus on healthcare quality improvement we have seen efforts to increase coordinated care, eliminate unnecessary steps or hand offs, increase use of patient-centered teams, and improve access to care (IOM, 2001; Berwick, […]
Psychologists interested in expanding their practice by linking with primary care physicians may feel like visitors to a foreign culture and unprepared for establishing productive relationships with primary care physicians. Without question, closer collaboration between psychologists and primary care physicians is helpful to patients, physicians, psychologists, and ultimately the health care system. The challenge is […]