Albert J. Bellg, PhD

Dr. Albert Bellg is the Appleton Heart Institute's Cardiac Psychologist.  He works with heart patients and their spouses and families to help them deal with the wide variety of issues they may encounter as a result of heart disease.  These issues include:

• Coping with heart disease and its treatment
• Making and maintaining healthy lifestyle changes
• Depression, anxiety, and other psychological problems
• Reducing the risk of further cardiac problems
• Stress reduction

Dr. Bellg is known for his work on health behavior change and stress, and has been invited to present at conferences sponsored by the American Heart Association and the American Psychological Association.  He has been involved as an investigator on several research projects funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), including a $2.4 million study called "A Couples Intervention for Cardiac Risk Reduction."  In conducting this study, he found that that finding positive ways to involve a heart patient's spouse in the process of making healthy lifestyle change increases the chance that the patient will succeed in changing old habits and maintaining healthy new ones.  He is also the co-author of Listening to Life Stories: A New Approach to Stress Intervention in Health Care (New York, Springer, 1997).

Dr. Bellg received his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Rochester in New York.  He did fellowships at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit and in the Department of Medicine at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry.  Prior to joining Appleton Cardiology Associates, Dr. Bellg was the Director of Cardiac Psychology at the Rush Heart Institute in Chicago, and Assistant Professor of Psychology and Medicine at the Rush College of Medicine.

Note: Care provided by Dr. Bellg is covered by Medicare and other insurance carriers.

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