What is the difference between a Health Psychologist and a Clinical Psychologist?

Question

For a person who loves Human Biology and Human Anatomy, which branch of Psychology would be the best? Clinical Psychology or Health Psychology?

Answer 1

I will suggest to you if you are still unsure of the field to follow it will best to study Clinical because my lecturer told me that it is easy for a person trained as a clinical psychologist to then become a health psychologist but impossible for someone who trained as health psychologist to become a clinical psychologist!!

I can't really say what is best because that is about personal choice! career wise though i think going into the Health psychology field is most likely the best option because it is a fast growing area that I predict will one day have lots of jobs available. Clinical psychology on the otherhand is an increasingly difficult area to get into. Training wise that is. Apparently only 23-28% of all applicants each year secure a place on a clinical psychology course. And this is likely to decline over the next few years due to the NHS cutbacks.

If you are smart enough and are a hard worker and believe you can get a place on a clinical psychology course then follow that route, at least then you can always fall back into a career in health psychology if you later find out it is not what it is cracked up to be! Clinical psychology courses also have the added advantage of being funded by the governement so you have no course fees and you will get the chance to get paid whilst training!! Also by the looks of it it appears that you would probably enjoy clinical psychology more because clinical psychology goes into more depth on the physiological side of human behaviour than does health psychology!!

Answer 2

Health psychologist focuses upon how biological, psychological, and social factors affect health and illness. It is a fairly new field because society has become more conscious of being healthy -- whether it pertains to the food we eat, the way our bodies look, or how we feel. Because of this, psychologists developed health psychology. Many health psychologists perform on the best ways to promote healthy living and prevent disease and/or how people react psychologically when they are diagnosed with an illness. Health psychologists are also interested in patients' personality or attitude to see if it has a positive or negative effect on their health.

Clinical psychology is the application of psychology to relieve mental distress in a health and social care context. Clinical psychologists assess mental health problems; conduct and use scientific research to understand mental health problems; and develop, provide and evaluate psychological care and interventions (psychotherapy). In America, clinical psychologists are defined as having completed a doctoral-level education from an accredited university, usually as part of a training program leading to either a Ph.D. or Psy.D. degree,[1] whereas clinicians with a Masters degree (M.A.) in Clinical Psychology can often practice as a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) or psychotherapist

I think being a health psychologist would be something you are interested in.

Answer 3

Health Psychologist help Us to relate to what We look like, and how best We can deal with the effects of Our lifestyle, and how We cope with the decisions We make.

Clinical Psychologists assist Us with the Way we think what We do, and how that makes Us interact with society as a whole.

Simple isn't it?

Answer 4

What about neuropsychology? If you have a strong interest in biology and anatomy, this would probably be the best area for you to go into.

However, regardless of what area you go into you will most likely need to take at least 1-2 "hard-science" classes, so it's good that you have an interest in these subjects