Cardiac Psychology

Cardiac Psychology :

is a specialization of health psychology that focuses on the primary and secondary prevention of heart disease by incorporating strategies to address the emotional and behavioral barriers to lifestyle changes (e.g. smoking cessation), and that seeks to enhance recovery in cardiac patients by means of providing patients tools (e.g. stress management and psychotherapy) to cope with life and physical changes associated with their disease.

Cardiac psychologists can help cardiac patients across the lifespan: prevention, pre-surgery, post-surgery, and rehabilitation of cardiac disease with a particular emphasis on achieving optimal quality of life outcomes.