Health Psychology

What is Health Psychology?

Health Psychology is an exciting and relatively new field devoted to understanding psychological influences on how people stay healthy, why they become ill, and how they respond when they do get ill. Health psychologists both study such issues and develop interventions to help people stay well or recover from illness. - Shelley Taylor, 2014

In addition to being its own sub-area in psychology, psychologists from a variety of sub-areas (e.g., social psychology, clinical psychology, developmental psychology etc.) are health psychologists.

Explore Career Opportunities
Student working in a clinical setting.

Study Topics

  • how sleep is related to health
  • health-related decision making
  • how stress affects health and biological functioning in humans
  • how stress affects pregnancy
  • how to communicate health information
  • drinking behaviors and treating problem drinking
  • eating disorders
  • suicidal thoughts and behavior
  • health-related self-regulation
  • associations between nostalgia and health
  • promoting health
Student working at a computer in a clinical setting.