Handbook of Clinical Health Psychology

Book excerpt: The Handbook of Clinical Health Psychology provides a comprehensive overview of the practice of clinical health psychology. It is primarily a well-referenced but practical resource, which provides an authoritative, up-to-date guide to empirically validated psychological interventions in health care. Each contributor provides a conceptual synthesis of the area, and how key models are related to formulation, service delivery and research. The book also considers contextual issues and the importance of topics such as ageism and power, which may have an impact on how health psychology is delivered by practitioners, and experienced by recipients of services. It also seeks to provide a summary of evidence concerning crucial aspects in the delivery of care, such as adherence, rehabilitation and stress. The biopsychosocial model is the major theoretical model underpinning all contributions, but use is also made of other models. * Informative and practical: a guide to action * An authoritative, critical and evidence based synthesis of knowledge that will guide best practice * Easy-to-use format intended for practitioners who want to ensure their practice is state-of-the-art