Psychology for Medicine and Healthcare

Susan AyersSusan is a psychologist specialising in wellbeing and mental health during pregnancy and after birth. She is a professor at City, University of London in the School of Health Sciences, a chartered health psychologist and cognitive behaviour therapist. Since obtaining her PhD from the University of London, Susan worked at St. George′s Hospital Medical School (London) and Brighton and Sussex Medical School (Sussex) before moving to City, University of London. Susan is co-author of Psychology for Medicine (2011), and Psychology for Medicine and Healthcare (Sage, 2017) and editor of the Cambridge Handbook of Psychology, Health and Medicine (2007, 2019). She has given numerous invited lectures and workshops and was awarded the Annual Lecturer Prize by the Society of Reproductive and Infant Psychology in 2012.Dr Richard de Visser has been working in the fields of health psychology and public health for 25 years.  He is Reader in Psychology at Brighton & Sussex Medical School and the School of Psychology at the University of Sussex, where has received awards for his individual and group teaching.  He was co-author of Psychology for Medicine (Sage, 2011) and Psychology for Medicine and Healthcare (Sage, 2017). Richard completed a BSc in psychology at the University of Melbourne, and a PhD at the Australian Research centre in Sex, Health & Society. He then undertook post-doctoral work at Birkbeck College, University of London before moving to Sussex.  Richard’s research interests span a broad range of topics in health psychology, including: sexuality and relationships; gender and health; alcohol use; use of health services; and cross-cultural analyses. He has expertise in qualitative and quantitative methods, intervention studies, and mixed-methods designs. He is lead- or co-author on over 130 papers in peer-reviewed journals, and his work is cited widely.

• Chapter 1: Psychology and medicineSection I: Psychology and HealthChapter 2: Motivation, emotion, and healthChapter 3: Stress and healthChapter 4: Symptoms and illnessChapter 5: Health and behaviourChapter 6: Chronic illness, death, and dyingSection II: Basic Foundations of PsychologyChapter 7: Brain and behaviourChapter 8: Psychosocial development across the lifespanChapter 9: Social psychologyChapter 10: Cognitive psychologySection III: Body SystemsChapter 11: Immunity and protectionChapter 12: Cardiovascular and respiratory healthChapter 13: Gastrointestinal healthChapter 14: Reproduction and endocrinologyChapter 15: Genitourinary medicineChapter 16: Psychiatry and neurologySection IV: Healthcare PracticeChapter 17: Evidence-based practiceChapter 18: Clinical interviewingChapter 19: Psychological intervention

The book is my bible! I teach UG medical students psychology (Years 1-5) and always use it as a key reference for most topics including: Stress and health; Developmental Psychology and Health; Chronic illness; Grief; Health behaviour and behaviour change etc. I think the book covers really well the key theoretical approaches relevant to medical students/future clinicians and makes excellent use of practical examples. It helps students apply psychological theory to clinical practice and makes psychology relevant to medics in an uncomplicated and sensitive way.