Health care is more comprehensive if provided by a team of health care professionals, including primary care physicians working with health care psychologists. This approach helps improve medical visit outcomes and patient’s adherence to interventions and reduce overall costs. Today, health care services are often too specialized, leading to higher costs for patients and an increased reliance on expensive medications rather than addressing unhealthy behavior. Medications for disorders like depression may actually be ineffective in treating the problems if not accompanied by psychotherapy. However, aligning primary care physicians with health care psychologists can improve patient health care by creating one-stop service provision, involving family or community members in supportive treatment, reducing inappropriate or unnecessary medications, and increasing patient satisfaction.

"A 50-year-old woman who has moderately severe cardiovascular disease and social phobia was seen by the health psychologist. She was also drinking quite heavily. She was very reluctant to tell her physician about the drinking out of fear of judgment and getting the lecture but has granted permission for the psychologist to communicate with her PCP. By approaching the physician during a relative down time, the psychologist was able to communicate not only the patient’s drinking and her fear, but how the physician could approach this issue within the context of the patient’s fear of judgment. The physician was, in turn, able to educate the psychologist about his specific concerns regarding her drinking. This was helpful to the psychologist to provide targeted information to the patient to help encourage her sobriety. This leads to a better outcome for the patient where her drinking and her social phobia were addressed by both providers, using up-to-date information and techniques,” by Mark E. Vogel, PhD, ABPP, Heather Kirkpatrick, PhD, ABPP, and Maria Fimiani, PsyD.

The Effectiveness of Psychotherapy: What the Research Tells Us
by Henny Westra, PhD

The average client receiving psychotherapy is better off than 79% of clients who do not seek treatment. By comparing the effects of psychotherapy with the effects of medication, Dr. Robert Rosenthal, Harvard University psychologist, convincingly demonstrated that the typical effects of psychotherapy often exceed the degree of effect found in biomedical breakthroughs. Simply put, psychotherapy is quite effective.
- Westra

• Blending Behavioral Health into Primary Care at Cherokee Health Systems
by Dennis S. Freeman, PhD

• Expanding Psychologists' Clinical Roles
by Ronald H. Rozensky, PhD

• Graduate School Practica in Primary Care Settings: Building Identity and Competencies
by Linda Berg-Cross, PhD, Denee Thomas Mwendwa, PhD, Stacey L. Crump, M.S. and Richard Griffith, M.S.

• Health Psychology in Primary Care: Postdoctoral Fellowship Training at the University of Mississippi Medical Center
by Patrick O. Smith, PhD and Kathy L. Crockett, PhD

• I Ola Lahui: Rural Hawaii Behavioral Health Program
by Joseph Keawe'aimoku Kaholokula, PhD, A. Aukahi Austin, PhD, K. Beth Yano, PhD, Jill M. Oliveira, PhD, Darryl Salvador, PsyD, and Robin E.S. Miyamoto, PsyD

• Integrated Training and Practice in Primary Care: Postdoctoral Psychology Fellowship and Medical Residency Training Partnership at Genesys Regional Medical Center in Grand Blanc, Michigan
by Mark E. Vogel, PhD, ABPP, Heather Kirkpatrick, PhD, ABPP, and Maria Fimiani, PsyD

• Interprofessional Education & Practice in Newfoundland/Labrador: The Vision and the Challenges
by Olga Heath, PhD and Vernon R. Curran, PhD

• Mental Health Care Services in Primary Care: Tackling the Issues in the Context of Health Care Reform
by Lesley Russell , October 4, 2010, Center for American Progress

• Practicing Integrated Healthcare in a Primary Care Setting: University of Kentucky Department of Family and Community Medicine
by William G. Elder, PhD

• The Integration of Psychology Services at Hurley Medical Center in Flint, Michigan: The Benefits of Parallel Training for Physicians and Psychologists
by Kirk Stucky, PsyD, ABPP, Christine Chew, PhD, and Shannon McIntosh, PhD

• The Role of the Psychologist in Intermountain's Mental Health Integration Program
by Brenda Reiss-Brennan, MS APRN, Dennis Van Uitert, PhD and Quincey Atkin, PhD