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Behavioral Medicine

Behavioral medicine has emerged as a scientific and clinical discipline in its own right in the early 1970's. Psychosomatic medicine was not helpful to physicians who had large numbers of patients with significant behavioral components associated with, and contributing to, their illnesses.

 Behavioral Medicine interventions are primarily designed to treat patients with physical and psychophysiological disorders and behavioral problems. There was also some major movement in working with patients who exhibit chronic psychological arousal (chronic stress) which is seen as being a precursor to disease and mortality.

 Initial interventions were developed to treat a wide range of physical disorders including: pain, headache, cancer, cardiovascular disease, asthma and gastrointestinal disorders. At the same time, cognitive behavioral therapy, mindfulness meditation, hypnosis, learning self-compassion, clinical relaxation strategies and imagery became the subjects of researchers and were found to have tremendous healing velocity.

Treatment at the Psychological Center focuses on altering the cognitive factors that maintain the anxiety, depression and resulting physical illness - ergo, the attitudes, beliefs and self-statements that are seen as being part of the patients emotional style. Attention is also paid to helping the patient develop new coping mechanisms through the generating of new life skills and the alteration of health-risk factors.

 In addition to the cognitive and coping skill approaches we will teach an array of relaxation skills including passive and progressive relaxation, visualization and imagery, self-hypnosis and mindfulness meditation. Attention is also paid toschemas and the memetic transfer of beliefs that effect health and illness coping behaviors.

For more information, please click here to email our Clinical Director for more information.