Clinical Education: Consultation-Liaison Psychology Services

Consultation-liaison (CL) psychology is a subspecialty of clinical health psychology primarily focused on providing both consultation and liaison services in the medical inpatient setting to benefit patients, families, and/or healthcare providers. The goals of this paper are threefold. The first is to educate clinicians about the scope and functions of traditional CL psychology services. The second is to identify contemporary areas of growth and development in CL psychology services. The third is to discuss practical recommendations and lessons we have learned throughout the process of establishing and sustaining CL psychology services at our organization. Additionally, we discuss the future of CL psychology particularly with regard to the dearth of CL psychology research.