QM News 63 (pdf 752KB) - Queen Margaret University

PAGE 06
UNDERSTANDING THE LINK BETWEEN
PSYCHOLOGY AND HEALTH
Academics at Queen Margaret are
using the principles of psychology to
understand the major health related
challenges facing society today.
Health psychology examines the factors
which influence health behaviour by
applying psychology to the
understanding of health, illness
and healthcare.
The principles can be used to explain
some of the unhealthy behaviours
exhibited by today’s society, such as
smoking, binge drinking, bad diets and
lack of exercise, and why many people
choose to ignore advice from health
professionals. But as well as helping us
understand why some people take risks
with their own health, psychology can
also be used to explain why people
become ill, how individuals behave when
diagnosed with an illness and how they
adapt to and recover from it.
Michele Hipwell is a lecturer in Health
Psychology at Queen Margaret. “The
way people think and behave affects
their health but an individual’s health will
also affect the way they think and
behave,” explains Michele. “Health
psychology examines how health and
behaviour are linked. It examines why
people adopt behaviours and continue
to act in a way that they know will
have a negative impact on their health,
such as smoking. But it also focuses
on improving the experiences and
wellbeing of people with chronic
illness, and examines the ways in
which people cope with diabetes or
cancer, for instance.”
Health Psychology at Queen Margaret is
run at undergraduate, postgraduate and
doctorate level and all courses are
accredited by the British Psychological
Society. Training to be a Chartered
Health Psychologists is a rigorous and
extensive process, taking seven years in
Scotland or six in England.
Charteredship is gained through
completion of a Masters degree,
followed by the presentation of a
portfolio illustrating a range of
competencies gained through work
experience or a PhD, supervised by a
chartered health psychologist. Chartered
status can also be gained through the
taught doctoral route while working in
areas related to health psychology.
Queen Margaret has run the MSc for the
past five years, in which time over 80
students have successfully completed
the programme, and is the first higher
education institute in the country to run
the taught doctoral programme, which
started in 2005, with 12 students
currently enrolled on the course. The
BSc in Health Psychology continues to
be the only one of its kind in Scotland.
Health psychology touches on many
areas connected to health. The
principles can be applied to public
health, health promotion and policy
making, in addition to activity concerned
with specific health-related matters,
including cardiovascular disease, pain
management, cancer management,
HIV/AIDS and diabetes. And the
principles can also be applied to the
study of other behaviours which could
have a negative impact on people’s
wellbeing, such as bullying, domestic
abuse, phobias, stress and body image.
Current Queen Margaret Health
Psychology student, Paul Millar, is a
clinical hypnotherapist and uses the
principles of health psychology every
day in dealing with clients who have
issues with weight, smoking, phobias,
anxiety and depression.
“Health Psychology at Queen Margaret
has given me much more of an insight
into the bases of these conditions,” says
Paul. “It teaches models of health
behaviour that people adopt to deal with
problems and knowing how these
models work has substantially improved
the quality of my practice.
“What’s more, health psychology sees
the client as a whole human being
whose body and mind are fully
integrated in dealing with issues of
health. This is a very modern approach
to health issues that recognises that
clients are active participants in their
own healing. My clients much prefer to
have their own hard work recognised; to
be seen, not as passive victims, but as
taking active measures on their own
behalf. This lies at the core of health
psychology and is a very appealing
healing approach for my clients.”