This concise paperback edition takes a selection of the most clinically focussed chapters from the prestigious Handbook of Clinical Health Psychology. Ideal for the individual practitioner, this accessible guide presents an excellent overview of the key contributions in this growing field. An international panel of authors - all practising clinicians and researchers - demonstrate how clinical health psychology can make a difference to the experience of patients, families and carers. Key topics covered include: * The person's experience of health care * The experience of families and carers * Oncology and psycho-oncology * Chronic pain * Treatment of obesity * Sexual health and HIV * Ageing. The Essentials of Clinical Health Psychology provides authoritative accounts of psychological models, interventions and evidence base in a broad range of conditions and concepts. It will be a valuable resource for all academics, researchers and practitioners in this area, and will also be of great use to students and those in training. Contributors Cynthia Belar, USA Suzanne Bennett Johnson, USA Joyce A. Corsica, USA Jane Duff, UK Patricia E. Durning, USA Timothy R. Elliott, USA Mary Gilhooly, UK Robert L. Glueckauf, USA Barbara Hedge, UK Paul Kennedy, UK Timothy U. Ketterson, USA Kristin M. Kilbourn, USA Gary Latchford, UK Wolfgang Linden, Canada Susan Llewelyn, UK Jeffrey S. Loomis, USA Eileen McDonach, UK Elena S. Monarch, USA Jeri Morris, USA Dawn Newman Carlson, USA David W. Nickelson, USA Michael G. Perri, USA Treven C. Pickett, USA Patricia Rivera, USA Pauline Slade, UK Dennis C. Turk, USA