Health psychology differs from traditional psychology. Its basic premise is that people are healthy and need only short-term treatment. Unlike traditional psychology, where there is often a focus on pathology with the concomitant need for long-term therapy to gain appropriate insight, health psychology focuses on a short-term approach to help individuals cope with the health issues that affect them. Health psychology often uses a brief cognitive-behavioral model, while traditional psychology generally uses a long-term psychodynamic model. Although often using the techniques of CBT, health psychology is more than just CBT. It focuses on the interface between mental health and physical/medical illness, as contrasted with CBT, which is often done with those experiencing a psychiatric disorder, which in most cases is not related to nor associated with a physical/medical illness.

Health Psychology is a relatively young, but rapidly growing discipline that is attracting a great deal of interest from undergraduate students as a potential postgraduate career path. In order to become a Chartered Health Psychologist, students must fulfil a number of requirements determined by the British Psychological Society. These include Stage 1 training, which involves the satisfactory completion of an accredited MSc course followed by Stage 2 training, of two or more years spent acquiring a range of supervised skills connected with consultancy, research, teaching and training.

Health Psychology is concerned with the study of psychological process in health, illness and health care. Health psychologists study behavioural factors associated with staying healthy, and they examine how patients with health problems can be helped to improve their quality of life. They may also examine individuals in an experimental setting, work with groups in real-life settings, or observe social interactions taking place betwen health-care professionals and patients in a variety of health-care contexts.