 OverviewThe goal of our program is to produce outstanding research scientists whose major focus is on the intersection of psychological processes and physical health and disease. More specifically, our program provides training in the development and use of basic theories and research findings in psychology to elucidate issues in physical and mental health and their interrelationship through studies in lab, community and health settings. Research training in our program spans diverse populations with regard to age, ethnicity, socioeconomic background, and health status. Beyond a firm foundation in psychology, we offer strong biological, methodological, and statistical training, along with interdisciplinary research opportunities.Strengths of the ProgramA number of strengths in our program make it a unique and exciting place for graduate or postdoctoral study. Opportunities for training in biopsychosocial bases of health and illness are broad, well developed and still growing. Our faculty has established programs of research on the reciprocal links between psychological and physical health and disease which provide superb venues for research experience. The faculty is composed of scholars with expertise in psychoneuroimmunology; stress, coping, and social support processes; health behavior and behavior change; social neuroscience; and ethnic, racial and sociocultural aspects of health with a range of theoretical and methodological approaches brought to bear on these central themes (e.g., family, individual, community perspectives; experimental, intervention, daily diary, and survey research). In addition, our program offers research opportunities in cancer, pregnancy, HIV/AIDS, and heart disease, as well as healthy populations. Research programs on depression, anxiety disorders, bipolar disease, and schizophrenia by affiliated faculty offer further venues for our students to study comorbidities and integrate mind and body approaches in their research. Finally, our faculty have extensive ongoing interdisciplinary research collaborations in the psychiatry, public health, social science, life science, medical science, and nursing for student involvement. (see training opportunities for more details and links)Back to Top Research Training and CourseworkClosely supervised research and coursework provide foundations in theoretical approaches to fundamental issues in psychology and in the study of physical and mental health. At the same time, our department and the program offer education in the use of rigorous methodologies for testing theory in laboratory, community, and clinical settings.Beyond the coursework common to all the majors in psychology, the health psychology major has two required courses. One is a proseminar in health psychology and the other is a course in biological bases of health psychology. These are accompanied by elective seminars chosen from a number of options (see course list). In addition, majors in Health Psychology attend the area lecture series once a week during fall and winter quarters for 3 years. The health psychology faculty members hold weekly lab meetings with graduate students in which important training experience is gained above and beyond individual research supervision and coursework. Students concentrate primarily on a single research project in the first and second years (Psych 251) culminating with the receipt of the Master's degree. As training progresses thereafter, health psychology predoctoral students typically work with two or more faculty members to develop an increasing focus on their own particular topics in research, and expertise in the associated methods. The program admits students who have been identified as a good match for at least one faculty member, but we do not operate by a strict apprenticeship model in that students are encouraged to conduct research with at least two faculty members over the course of their doctoral education. Interdisciplinary Training. In addition to the area's core faculty, we have a number of faculty affiliates in other areas of the Psychology Department as well as across other departments at UCLA. These include Dr. Michael Irwin and others in the Norman Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology; Dr. Teresa Seeman and Tara Gruenwald and others in Medicine; Dr. Patricia Ganz and others in the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center. Students are encouraged to develop their training across boundaries as deemed valuable to pursue their research interests. Methodological and statistical training covers experimental design, survey and field research methods, intervention research, and univariate and multivariate techniques including use of structural equation modeling and hierarchical linear modeling. Biological Training. We are committed to providing a foundation of biological training to all graduate students through coursework and involvement in our health psychology laboratory. For those who wish in-depth biological research experiences, we are partnered with the Norman Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology and other centers on campus to tailor further training to the individual student’s interests and needs. Back to Top History of the ProgramThe Health Psychology Program at UCLA evolved in the early 1980s from social psychology program roots and NIMH training grant funds. Prof. Bertram Raven established and directed the program initially.From 1983 to 1995, Profs. Christine Dunkel Schetter and Shelley E. Taylor directed the program in conjunction with a core faculty group. During this time, they established the core course, an undergraduate course, and a weekly lecture series, and they integrated the program more with clinical psychology training. Since that time, the HP program has focused on behavioral issues in physical and mental health. Core and affiliated faculty in Psychology and other UCLA departments and schools including Public Health and Psychiatry provide training to pre- and postdoctoral fellows, many of whom are supported by our long-standing NIMH training grant.
Commonly Asked Questions:Should I apply in health psychology or in clinical psychology at UCLA? Training to offer mental health services to clients is not provided in our health psychology major. If you are interested in such clinical training, you should apply to the APA-accredited UCLA clinical program What is the difference between the health psychology major and the clinical psychology major? The primary difference is the clinical training component, which requires extensive time during graduate training and an internship year at the end. Otherwise, both programs aim to train top research scientists who investigate fundamental problems. Those who seek to study psychological disorders as a primary focus and who wish to obtain training in treatment of these disorders might be best suited to the clinical program. Those who seek to study interactions between mental and physical health and illness, comorbidities of diseases such as cancer or heart disease and mental health, or biological processes underlying physical and/or mental health broadly might be best suited to the health psychology major. Clinical graduate students can elect the health psychology minor. What will graduates of the health psychology major do? Our program has been graduating social and clinical psychologists with minor concentrations in health psychology for over 25 years, and we anticipate that graduates of our major in health psychology will have similar careers. Specifically, graduates typically go on to become psychology professors and research scientists studying health psychology issues. Some become researchers in research organizations or the federal government. Other options are available as well. Most importantly, the foundation in psychological science offered in our program uniquely positions our graduates to be outstanding contributors to research on health in the future in the United States and abroad. Is this an “applied degree”? No, it is not. Our program differs from a doctorate in public health or in clinical health psychology at some other institutions in that the fundamental principle is to train behavioral scientists whose work exemplifies the best of psychological science within the health domain. Back to Top |
