Beth D. Darnall, PhD, is clinical professor in the Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine, and by courtesy, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, at Stanford University. She is principal investigator for multiple national pain and opioid reduction research projects that test the efficacy and mechanisms of psychological treatments in individuals with acute and chronic pain. She investigates mechanisms of pain catastrophizing, targeted pain psychology treatments she has developed, online perioperative behavioral treatments she has developed to reduce postsurgical pain and opioid use, and patient-centered opioid tapering for community outpatients. She delivers pain psychology and opioid reduction lectures and workshops nationally and internationally. She received a presidential commendation from the American Academy of Pain Medicine and currently serves as cochair of their Behavioral Medicine Committee.
She is author of The Opioid-Free Pain Relief Kit (2016), and Less Pain, Fewer Pills: Avoid the Dangers of Prescription Opioids and Gain Control Over Chronic Pain (2014), and coauthor of the American Pain Society book Principles of Analgesic Use (2016, 7th ed.). She spoke at the 2018 World Economic Forum (Davos, Switzerland) on the psychology of pain relief, and has been featured in major media outlets, including O magazine, Forbes, Scientific American, The Washington Post, BBC Radio, Nature, and Time magazine.
Website: bethdarnall.com
Twitter: @bethdarnall