Psychology 407 - Health Psychology
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Lecture 1: Behavioral Medicine

 I. Overview of Course

• A. General Information
• B. Tests and Evaluation
• C. Topics and Readings

II. Overview of Instructor

• A. Professional Background
• B. Personal/Professional Interaction
  • Worshipping at the Altar of Science
  • "Psychological Shroud"
• C. Clinical Interests
  • (Licensure & Supervision)
    • 1. Motivational Interventions
    • 2. Forgiveness, Health and Healing
    • 3. PTSD
    • 4. Treating the Religiously-Commited Client
    • 5. Integrating spiritual and behavioral approaches to change

D. Research Interests

• 1. Cardiovascular Risk Modification
  • a. Hypertension Control
  • b. Compliance
  • c. Exercise Promotion
  • d. Smoking Treatment
• 2. Addictive Behavior
  • Smoking in Alcoholics
  • Brief Motivationally-Based
  • Harm Reduction Approaches to Problem Drinking
• 3. Exercise and Diet Modification
• 4. Spiritual and Religious Factors in Health and Disease
• 5. Minority Health Intervention
• 6. Church-Based Health Interventions

E. Current Research Projects

• 1. Smoking Treatment Projects
• 2. African-American Church-based Health Intervention Project.
• 3. Alcohol Information and Motivation Program (AIM)

 I. Definitions of the Field

A. Behavioral Medicine.

1. The Biopsychosocial (Interdisciplinary) School

Yale Conference Definition
Behavioral Medicine is the interdisciplinary field concerned with development and integration of behavioral and biomedical science, knowledge and techniques relevant to the understanding of physical health and illness and the application of this knowledge and these techniques to prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation. (Schwartz & Weiss, 1978)

2. The Behavioral School
"Behavioral medicine can be defined as (a) the clinical use of techniques derived from the experimental analysis of behavior -- behavior therapy and behavior modification -- for the evaluation, prevention, management, or treatment of physical disease or physiological dysfunction; and (b) the conduct of research contributing to the functional analysis and understanding of behavior associated with medical disorders and problems in health care (Pomerleau & Brady, 1979, p. xii)."

B. Health Psychology.

APA Division 38 Definition

"Health psychology is the aggregate of the specific educational, scientific and professional contributions of the discipline of psychology to the promotion and maintenance of health, the prevention and treatment of illness, the identification or etiologic and diagnostic correlates of health, illness and related dysfunction, and the analysis and improvement of the health care system and healthy policy formation. (Matarazzo, 1982, p. 4).

C. Behavioral Health (Matarazzo)

• Non-disease population
• Apparently Healthy
• Not Optimally healthy
• Promotion of optimal health
• and minimal disease and disability ` risk

II. Historical Background

(Leading up to current Behavioral Medicine movement)

A. Psychosomatic Medicine

• From Freud to Franz Alexander

B. Medical Psychology

• VAMC’s
• Medical School Psychologists
• Personality Tests and the Problem Patient
• Organic vs. Functional?
• LBP and malingering?

C. Autonomic Modification Research

• Relaxation/Cognitive Control
• Biofeedback

D. Epidemiologic Research

• The Finns, Swedes and We
• The Behavior in Disease Risk.

E. Personality/Stress and Disease Link

• *Type A Coronary Prone Behavior
• Pattern
• *Type C

F. Chronic Pain Control Research

• Fordyce - Behavioral Intervention
• Turk - Cognitive Behavioral Intervention

G. Newer Trends

1. Behavioral Economics, Health & Disease
2. Brief Motivational/Stages of Change Approaches to Health Intervention