Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, BETHESDA, MD  –  
Embedded in medical specialty outpatient clinics at Walter Reed, Health Psychology Service staff members provide same-day access to care for beneficiaries with behavioral health challenges.

“We’re on the front lines with the physicians in the medical outpatient clinics. We work collaboratively to determine what behavioral and psychology factors may be contributing to the concerns of our patients,” said Dr. Erica Jarrett-Murrill, chief of Health Psychology Service in the Directorate of Behavioral Health at Walter Reed.

The Health Psychology Service staff provides care to adult and pediatric patients. “We play a central role in helping patients engage to improve their health,” said Jarrett-Murrill. 

The service includes 10 health psychologists in nine medical specialty clinics, including Internal Medicine, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Pediatric Subspecialty, Women’s Health, Endocrinology, Bariatrics, Adolescent/Pediatrics, and Rheumatology clinics.

“We also provide services in GI (Gastrointestinal), Tele-pain, Pain Clinic, IVF (In Vitro Fertilization), and Urogynecology clinics,” Jarrett-Murrill added.

“Health psychologists examine how biological, social, and psychological factors influence health and illness,” Jarrett-Murrill said. “Specifically, [we] focus on the intersection of psychological functioning and behavior in health, and focus on understanding how people react, cope, and recover from illness, explore why some people may not follow medical advice, and help patients develop strategies that foster emotional and physical well-being,” she added.

“We also focus on interdisciplinary care provided in these populations and provide comprehensive and coordinated care that contributes to better communication, collaboration, and treatment between providers, which improves patient and staff satisfaction and outcome.”

“Walter Reed provides the perfect setting to advance health psychology’s role in the overall improvement of health and health care. “[It’s] the largest and most renowned military medical center and has been an early adopter of innovative delivery of health care. It has also been very rewarding to work with physician leadership across medical specialties and implement the changes necessary to sustain a thriving health psychology service to meet the changing health care needs of our beneficiaries that demand a more comprehensive and integrated interdisciplinary approach to the delivery of health care,” said Jarrett-Murrill.

For more information about the Health Psychology Service at Walter Reed visit walterreed.tricare.mil/Health-Services/Mental-Health.