ABPP Clinical Health Psychology case studies
ABPP Clinical Health Psychology · Put your knowledge to work in context.
ABPP board certification in Clinical Health Psychology is a specialty credential for licensed psychologists who want their expertise in the intersection of psychological and physical health formally recognized by their peers. Candidates are typically practicing health psychologists in medical centers, integrated primary care, rehabilitation, oncology, pain, or academic settings who already hold licensure and have substantial supervised experience in the specialty. The examination process is multi-part: a written practice sample and professional statement describing your actual clinical work, followed by an oral examination in which a panel of board-certified specialists probes your reasoning across the specialty's domains - biopsychosocial foundations, health behavior and prevention, assessment, intervention across medical conditions, chronic illness and rehabilitation, interprofessional consultation, diversity and health disparities, ethics and law, and professional practice, supervision, and program development. Preparation is less about memorizing facts than about being able to defend your clinical judgment out loud: know the evidence base behind what you do, be able to articulate why you chose one approach over another, and be ready to discuss cases where things went poorly. The ABPP Clinical Health Psychology case studies are 5 cases and about 3,939 words.
1The Sleep Clinic's Referral for a Patient Who Won't Use CPAP
Okafor, a health psychologist embedded in a sleep medicine clinic, receives a referral for Mr. Delgado, a 58-year-old man with severe obstructive sleep apnea (AHI 47) and a BMI of 38.
825 words, about 4 min2Screening for Depression in a Cardiac Rehabilitation Program
A hospital's cardiac rehab program asks Dr. Lin, a health psychologist, to add a depression screen to intake.
851 words, about 4 min3Rehabilitation After Stroke: Whose Goal Is It?
Patel, a rehabilitation psychologist, is consulted on an inpatient stroke unit for Mrs. Kowalski, a 71-year-old woman 10 days post left-hemisphere ischemic stroke.
763 words, about 4 min4A Community Health Worker Program and the Question of Evidence
Reyes directs behavioral health for a federally qualified health center serving a largely Spanish-speaking immigrant population. She has piloted a promotora-delivered diabetes self-management program: 8 group sessions, co-led by a community health worker and a diabetes educator, delivered in Spanish, with childcare and evening hours.
716 words, about 4 min5Supervising a Trainee's First Integrated Care Consult
Haddad supervises Jordan, a third-year practicum student in a primary care clinic. Jordan is scheduled to see Mr.
784 words, about 4 min