Physical Health

Mary Ann Hoffman & Nicole E. Taylor

Health concerns, even those that are not life threatening, profoundly affect people's emotional, social, sexual, and vocational functioning and cause disruptions in valued life goals and roles. Counseling psychology's core emphasis on enhancing optimal development across the life span is especially helpful when considering the interaction of disease with normal developmental processes, as well as during the long-term course of many chronic diseases and health concerns. The concept of the healthy personality, rather than the medical model of a person with disease or deficits, provides a much-needed perspective in the ongoing development of health counseling psychology. The influence of the famous 17th-century philosopher René Descartes, who believed that the mind and the body were separate entities, has been felt for centuries as Western countries have continued to bifurcate mental and physical health services. Yet it is difficult to talk about mental health issues without addressing issues of physical health. Likewise, ...

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