Do we need to rethink health psychology? Commentaries on Crossley's "Do we need to rethink health psychology?"

Towards a Critical Health Psychology Practice

The field of critical psychology is exerting an influence in the way various sub-disciplines within psychology operate. In this article we use a critical psychology framework to review the field of health psychology. Through the use of values, assumptions and practices we review progress in health psychology and offer recommendations for aligning contemporary practices with current thinking in critical psychology. We discuss typical expectations, critical formulations and critical practice for interventions with individuals, groups and communities along these dimensions.

Postpartum depression in refugee and asylum-seeking women in Canada: A critical health psychology perspective

Canada has one of the world's largest refugee resettlement programs in the world. Just over 48 percent of Canadian refugees are women, with many of them of childbearing age and pregnant. Refugee and asylum-seeking women in Canada face a five times greater risk of developing postpartum depression than Canadian-born women. Mainstream psychological approaches to postpartum depression emphasize individual-level risk factors (e.g. hormones, thoughts, emotions) and individualized treatments (e.g. psychotherapy, medication). This conceptualization is problematic when applied to refugee and asylum-seeking women because it fails to acknowledge the migrant experience and the unique set of circumstances from which these women have come. The present theoretical article explores some of the consequences of applying this psychiatric label to the distress experienced by refugee and asylum-seeking women and presents an alternative way of conceptualizing and alleviating this distress.

Psicologia da saúde crítica no contexto hospitalar

O texto apresenta uma discussão sobre a Psicologia da saúde no contexto hospitalar a partir de uma perspectiva histórica e ética, mostrando como o desenvolvimento desse campo foi caracterizado pelo surgimento de duas perspectivas: a Psicologia da saúde tradicional e a Psicologia da saúde crítica. O modelo de quatro abordagens à Psicologia da saúde é apresentado e reformulado com a inclusão do conceito de Psicologia sanitária, e a prática em Psicologia da saúde é discutida à luz do conceito de reflexividade. Por fim, alguns questionamentos derivados da Psicologia da saúde crítica são feitos à prática do psicólogo no contexto hospitalar.