What is a General Health Psychologist and how to become one?

If going through the PIR is not your option, you can always obtain this training degree.

While there are many other equally interesting and essential fields, the typical image of a psychologist that most people have is that of a professional who treats adjustment and mental health problems. a professional who treats adjustment and mental health problems..

And it is because the clinical and health field is one of the most desired by a large part of psychology students. But working in this sector may not be easy, since there is little supply for so much demand. One of the ways to work as a psychology professional dedicated to health is to obtain the title of General Health Psychologist or PGS..

A brief preamble: Clinical Psychology

Before delving into what a general health psychologist is, it is necessary by way of preamble to refer to what clinical psychology is and how it can be accessed. the necessary qualification to exercise the profession of clinical or health psychologist.

Clinical psychology is the branch of psychology in charge of research, diagnosis, therapeutic approach, treatment and follow-up of mental disorders and other complex psychological processes that are maladaptive or involve psychological distress and interference in the functioning of the subject's life.

Within this branch we can find a great variety of performances in which its practice can be focused, such as the treatment of adults or children, neuropsychology and neuropsychological rehabilitation, the intervention in the family nucleus or the psychological treatment or the advice of the difficulties derived from the presence of serious illnesses as for example can be the case of Cancer or HIV.

The two routes of access

At the moment, to be a psychologist of the clinical branch and of the health in Spain there are only two waysEither to train as a Specialist in Clinical Psychology or to qualify as a General Health Psychologist.

The first of the access routes involves going through the PIR training system. (Resident Intern Psychologist), a four-year training period in which the student works in hospitals and rotates through the different psychological care services. This path leads to the attainment at the end of the training of the title of Specialist in Clinical Psychology, which allows the student to work in the public network.

The other access route is the Master's Degree in General Health Psychology, which is completed in a period of between one and a half and two years and in which knowledge is acquired of the different disorders, techniques used and competencies that a health psychology professional must have. In this case the student obtains the degree of General Health Psychologist, which qualifies him/her to work in the health psychology field.This qualification enables him/her to work in the clinical and health branch, but without access to the public network, but only in the private one. In addition, due to a matter of nominalism, although people with this degree are dedicated to the branch of clinical and health psychology, they cannot legally use the term "clinical psychologist", which is reserved for those who go through the PIR.

Both routes have their advantages and disadvantages and enable psychology professionals to practice as clinicians. In this article we are going to focus on the figure of the General Health Psychologist.

General Health Psychologist: what is he/she?

A general health psychologist is understood as a psychology professional whose main professional competences are to carry out research, evaluations and psychological interventions related to those elements of the behavior, functioning and activity of people that have relation with the improvement and promotion of their state of health.

Thus, the General Health Psychologist has the competence to investigate, diagnose and treat phenomena phenomena such as psychological disorders.

This may lead us to think about what differences there may be between the PIR and the PGSIn general terms, the only perceptible differences with respect to the other degree, that of Specialist in Clinical Psychology, is the scope of action and the name of the category that gives its name to the profession, with the PIR being able to access the public network as well as the private one, in addition to using the term "clinical psychologist", and the PGS being restricted to the private one (although there may be changes in the future).

How does one become one?

Becoming a General Health Psychologist involves the completion of a series of steps to first obtain the degree and then to practice as such.

1. Studying for a university degree with a clinical pathway

First of all It is a prerequisite to take the Degree in Psychology.This university degree allows the student to acquire the title of psychologist. This degree in itself allows access to different branches and jobs, although it does not directly allow the practice as a clinical psychologist.

It is advisable to try to to pursue a pathway focused on the clinical aspect, since in many universitiesIn many universities, a minimum number of credits related to clinical psychology is required in order to access certain master's degrees, such as the one needed to become a General Health Psychologist.

2. Studying for a master's degree

Secondly, it is necessary to specialize in the field of Clinical Psychology by taking the Master's Degree in General Health Psychology. This is an enabling master's degree thanks to which the title of General Health Psychologist can be obtained, which allows the professional to work in the health sector.

3. Register

Thirdly, although it can be done from the moment of finishing the Degree in Psychology or even a little earlier, in order to practice psychology, it is mandatory to register with the it is compulsory to register with the Official College of Psychologists.. Apart from being essential to be able to practice legally, this registration allows us to access job exchanges, to be registered as professionals. Also from there it is possible to contract a civil liability insurance, which is also necessary for the professional practice.

If we are self-employed and we set up our own practice, we will also need to be registered as such in addition to having health authorization.