Graduate Study
Introduction
 
Experimental
- Cognitive
- Health
- I/O
- Social
- Applied Quantitative
 
Clinical
- General
- Health
- Child
- Applied Quantitative
 
Graduate Admissions
- Application Process
- Financial Aid
- Housing
- Community Life
- Admission FAQs
- Travel Directions
 
Psychology and
Social Work Clinic
 
APA Self Study
 
Thesis/Dissertation
Guidelines
 

Health Psychology

• The promotion and maintenance of health and the prevention of physical and mental illness;
• Psychological aspects of the diagnosis and management of physical and mental illness;
• Psychosocial, emotional, and behavioral consequences of physical and mental illness;
• The improvement of the health-care system and formulation of health policy.

Clinical

Clinical activities of health psychologists include programs of stress management, pain management, AIDS prevention, exercise and fitness, smoking cessation and prevention, rehabilitation, and consultation with medical specialty services. Research activities include evaluation of the above clinical activities, investigation of behavioral factors involved in the etiology and prevention of physical and mental illness, and compliance with medical regimens. In addition, many researchers are involved in basic laboratory investigation of mechanisms linking psychological variables, behavior, and disease.

Experimental

Students who elect the health psychology specialization in experimental psychology must complete all of the general requirements for the experimental psychology doctoral program. Program-specific requirements include courses or seminars of particular relevance to health psychology, and supervised research experience in an area of health psychology. Courses or seminars may simultaneously meet other requirements or research course requirements of the experimental program.

Faculty

• Mary de Groot, Ph.D., University of Rhode Island (1999),
  Assistant Professor – Research interests include: depression and diabetes, cultural components of diabetes self-care behaviors, individually-tailored health promotion interventions (e.g. smoking cessation, weight management, stress management) and rural health.
  Go to Laboratory.
   
• Christopher France, Ph.D. (McGill University, 1991),
  Professor - Research interests include psychophysiology of pain and cardiovascular disorders, hypertension, interventions to prevent blood donation syncope, stress and coping.
  Go to Laboratory.
   
• Bernadette D. Heckman, Ph.D. (Washington University, St. Louis, 2001),
  Assistant Professor - Research interests include cross-cultural and multicultural issues in health, health and race-related health disparities, ethnic minory mental health.
   
• Kathi L. Heffner, Ph.D. (University of Nevada, Reno, 2001),
  Assistant Professor - Research interests include: cardiovascular, endocrine and immune linkages between emotional expression and health outcomes, including attention to these processes in older adulthood; physiological indicators of coping during impression management.
  Go to Laboratory.
   
• Kenneth Holroyd, Ph.D. (University of Miami - Florida, 1975),
  Professor - Research interests include pain and headache management, assessment of the effectiveness of drug and psychological treatments for pain, innovative methods of delivery of psychological services.
  Go to Clinic/Laboratory.
   
• Stephen Patterson, Ph.D. (Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, 1993),
  Associate Professor - Research interests include cardiovascular psychophysiology, psychological stress and hematology, rural health, racial and gender differences, behavioral epidemiology.
  Go to Laboratory 1 and Laboratory 2 and Laboratory 3.
   
• Julie Suhr, Ph.D. (University of Iowa, 1994),
  Associate Professor - Research interests include neuropsychology of pain and other medical conditions, assessment and management of Alzheimer's disease, detection of malingering, effects of psychological state on neuropsychological performance.
  Go to Laboratory.
   

Affiliated Faculty

• Timothy Anderson, Ph.D. (Miami University, 1993),
  Associate Professor - Research interests include psychotherapy process and outcome research in the context of physical and mental illness, psychological assessment.
   
• Bruce Carlson, Ph.D. (University of Michigan, 1984),
  Associate Professor - Research interests include the evaluation of diagnostic tests, generalized regression models.
   
• Claudia Gonzalez-Vallejo, Ph.D. (University of North Carolina, 1992),
  Associate Professor - Research interests include applications of judgment and decision-making research to medical decision making and public policy.