Clinical Health Psychology
Major Area of Study in Clinical Health Psychology (CHP)
Because factors at the level of the individual, group, and larger social system influence health, issues pertinent to improving the health care system and health policy are relevant to clinical health psychology. Individuals who specialize in clinical health psychology typically obtain professional positions that involve some combination of conducting research, providing services, serving as administrators, and teaching. Clinical health psychologists work in a variety of settings, including medical schools and centers, universities, hospitals, medical clinics, private or group practice, and government.
The Major Area of Study in Clinical Health Psychology at the University of Kansas is designed to be completed in conjunction with the requirements for the APA-accredited clinical program. A number of faculty members, located within the Department of Psychology and other departments at the Lawrence campus and the University of Kansas Medical Center, provide the teaching, research, and supervisory support for the specialty. A unique facet of the specialty is its practicum in clinical health psychology, conducted during the third program year at the University of Kansas Medical Center (KUMC) and fourth year at a variety of sites to include primary care clinics, local VA sites, and a children's hospital. Additional coursework is also available through the Department of Preventive Medicine and its Masters program in public health at the University of Kansas Medical Center.
Students in the Major Area of Study in Health Psychology (CHP) complete all the requirements of KU's general clinical program. CHP also requires six graduate credit hours over and above those required by the clinical program and six hours of electives that are relevant to the track and also complete clinical program requirements. In addition to these differences, CHP requires four semesters of advanced clinical practicum that occur on health teams via the KU Medical Center. Additionally, students' thesis and dissertation topics should be relevant to the health area, and students' internships should provide training in behavioral medicine or health/rehabilitation psychology.
KU Medical Center Clinical Health Psychology Practicum (3rd Year)
NeuroRehabilitation Psychology Inpatient Consult Service: The neurorehabilitation psychology inpatient service is consulted to provide evaluation and limited interventions to adults, older adults, and adolescents ages 14 and older with diverse diagnoses, including traumatic and non-traumatic brain and spinal cord injury, stroke, brain tumor and other cancer diagnoses, organ transplant, burn, amputation, neurological illnesses such as Gullian Barre and multiple sclerosis, and other medical conditions requiring rehabilitation services. Neurorehabilitation psychology also provides consultation to burn, trauma, surgery, and medicine services within the medical center. The inpatient rehabilitation unit is a 29 bed acute and short-term rehabilitation unit for people with physical and cognitive difficulties resulting from trauma and/or disease. The unit is staffed by a multidisciplinary team including rehabilitation medicine physicians (physiatrists), rehabilitation nurses, occupational and physical therapists, speech language pathologists, social work/nurse case management, nutrition specialist/dietician, pharmacist, activities specialist, and the neurorehabilitation psychologists. The team meets twice weekly to discuss patients currently on the unit and determine treatment goals, plan of care, and discharge. The neurorehabilitation psychologists also participate in weekly multidisciplinary burn unit staff meetings. As a member of the teams, the neurorehabilitation psychologists evaluate, monitor, and treat mood and cognition, administer cognitive screens, give feedback and education to patients, families and staff, and provide psychological treatment (e.g., CBT, relaxation training, supportive counseling). The neurorehabilitation psychologists are called to other units in the hospital for similar consultative services, including surgical trauma units. This service also has a neurorehabilitation psychology postdoctoral fellow, and sometimes a clinical psychology intern, who work(s) with the psychology externs.
Optional: NeuroRehabilitation Psychology Outpatient Clinic: On Tuesdays and Thursdays, neuropsychological evaluations of adults and children with physical and cognitive disabilities (e.g., stroke, brain injury, other neurological diagnoses, and/or psychiatric diagnoses) are performed. The clinical interview (starts at 8:15 am) is led by the neuropsychologist with the extern or intern and the psychometrist also present. The interview is followed by the testing. Feedback sessions on this testing are performed on Thursday afternoons at 1 and 2 pm.
The Psychodiagnostic Evaluations for Medical Interventions (PEMI) service provides comprehensive psychological evaluation and consultation for adult outpatients preparing for or undergoing complex medical procedures. The service conducts pre‑transplant evaluations, bariatric surgery evaluations, and chronic pain intervention procedures across the health system. Core populations include individuals pursuing solid organ transplantation, bariatric surgery, and those receiving care in the pain clinic, with additional consultation provided to other medical specialties as needed.
PEMI functions as part of a broad interdisciplinary network within the medical center. The service participates in treatment team meetings across hospital settings, where psychological findings and recommendations contribute to medical decision‑making, risk assessment, and care planning. As members of these teams, psychology trainees will assist with psychodiagnostic evaluations, administer and interpret objective and cognitive screening measures, provide integrative feedback to patients and families, and communicate recommendations to medical teams. Trainees gain experience formulating medically focused psychological reports, identifying psychosocial risk factors relevant to medical interventions, and coordinating follow‑up behavioral health care. Evaluations are primarily conducted in outpatient clinic, with additional opportunities to participate in interdisciplinary meetings throughout the hospital.
The PEMI service includes faculty, psychology fellow, psychology intern, advanced externs and may include additional trainees, such as medical students, who work collaboratively under supervision. Trainees receive weekly individual supervision with a licensed psychologist specializing in Pre-Surgical Psychological Evaluations, as well as ongoing informal consultation within interdisciplinary teams.
The Psychology Consultation-Liaison Service (PCLS) is consulted to perform assessments of cognitive, emotional and behavioral functioning, provide individual psychotherapy and behavioral health interventions and limited psychological psychometric evaluations to patients at the University of Kansas Medical Center who have been hospitalized for medical services. The PCLS also coordinates with other service providers from the nursing, case management and social work discipline in the delivery of patient care. The PCLS is comprised of 1) a licensed psychologist, 2) postdoctoral fellow, 3) psychology interns, 4) medical students and 5) psychology practicum students.
