Medical psychology is the branch of psychology that works inside medical care: helping people cope with illness, pain, surgery and treatment, and helping doctors understand how behaviour and emotion affect physical health. In a few US states the title “medical psychologist” has a narrower, legal meaning: a psychologist with extra training who is allowed to prescribe psychiatric medicine.
Also called: health psychology or clinical health psychology (the usual names in the UK and much of the world); behavioural medicine (the wider field shared with doctors); in Louisiana and New Mexico, a prescribing psychologist.
Examples
- Helping someone with diabetes, HIV or hypertension take medicine as prescribed and cope with a long-term condition.
- Pain management without more painkillers: pacing, relaxation, CBT for chronic pain.
- Preparing a person for surgery, dialysis or cancer treatment, and supporting the family through it.
- Assessing memory or mood after a stroke or head injury.
Uses
Medical psychologists work in teaching hospitals, cancer and HIV clinics, rehabilitation units and pain services. The evidence is strongest for CBT-based programmes for chronic pain, for depression and anxiety that come with physical illness, and for changing habits such as smoking and inactivity. Our article on chronic illness and depression covers the overlap.
Medical psychology vs clinical psychology vs psychiatry
Clinical psychology assesses and treats mental health conditions in general; medical psychology applies the same skills to people whose main problem is physical. A psychiatrist is a medical doctor who diagnoses and prescribes. In Nigeria, psychologists do not prescribe; only doctors do. The prescribing “medical psychologist” exists in a handful of US states, beginning with New Mexico in 2002 and Louisiana, where the state medical board licenses them. Our guide to therapists, counsellors and psychiatrists explains who does what.
In Nigeria
Clinical psychologists in Nigerian teaching hospitals do much of this work. Universities such as Nsukka and Ibadan train clinical psychologists; we found no Nigerian degree named “medical psychology”. If a serious illness has left you low, anxious or unable to face treatment, a therapist can help alongside your doctors.
When to get help
You can browse licensed therapists on Mytherapist.ng and book a session by video, voice or chat, which suits people recovering at home. Tell the therapist about your diagnosis and your medicines so they can work with your medical team.
Read next
This entry is awaiting clinical review. It’s based on published research and health guidelines, and we’ll update it once a clinician has reviewed it.
List of terms
- depression
- anxiety