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    Author2024-01-14T16:18:29-08:00

    Beth Darnall, PhD, is a psychologist-scientist who studies the mind and body within the contexts of pain and pain relief. She As director of the Stanford Pain Relief Innovations Lab, she studies how pain can be altered by helping people learn to favorably shape the nervous system toward relief. She develops treatments that empower patients to best control their symptoms and reduce pain medications when desired. Her publications are resources that are widely used by clinicians and patients. Beth leads training workshops for organizations, healthcare clinicians and psychologists, so they can use these powerful evidence-based therapies.

    Books, Videos, and Audio

    Selected Open-Access Scientific Articles

    1. Darnall BD, Burns JW, Hong J, Roy A, Ziadni MS, You DS, Cook KF, Poupore-King H, Slater K, Jung CE, Tian L, Mackey SC. Empowered Relief, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Health Education for People with Chronic Pain: A Comparison of Outcomes at 6-Month Follow-up for a Randomized Controlled Trial. (in press, PAIN Reports®)
    2. Banerjee A, Mackey SC, Vest N, Darnall BD. Pain in U.S. Corrections Settings: The Promise of Digital Solutions for Better Data and Treatment Access. Pain Med. 2023 Nov 9:pnad150. doi: 10.1093/pm/pnad150. PMID: 37950495
    3. Maddox TW, Sparks C, Sackman J, Oyao A, Garcia L, Maddox R, Ffrench K, Garcia H,  Adair T, King A, Irvin A, Lacy T, Maislin D, Keenan B, Bonakdar R, Darnall BD. At-Home Virtual Reality Program for Chronic Low Back Pain: A Randomized Sham-Controlled Effectiveness Trial in a Clinically Severe and Diverse Sample. Mayo Clinic Proceedings: Digital Health. Volume 1, Issue 4, Dec 2023, 563-573. DOI:10.1016/j.mcpdig.2023.09.003
    4. Darnall BD, Edwards KE, Courtney R, Ziadni MS, Simons LE, Harrison LE. Innovative Treatment Formats, Technologies, and Clinician Trainings that Improve Access to Behavioral Pain Treatment for Youth and Adults. Front Pain Res. June 2023; Vol 4.
    5. Webster F, Connoy L, Longo R, Ahuja D, Amtmann D, Anderson A, Ashton-James C, Boyd H, Chambers CT, Cook KF, Cowan P, Crombez G, Feinstein AB, Fuqua A, Gilam G, Jordan I, Mackey SC, Martins E, Martire LM, O’Sullivan P, Richards DP, Turner JA, Veasley C, Würtzen H, Yang S, You DS, Ziadni M, Darnall BD. Patient Responses to the Term Pain Catastrophizing: Thematic Analysis of Cross-sectional International Data. J Pain. 2023 Feb;24(2):356-367. PMID: 36241160
    6. Ziadni MS, You DS, Tanner R, Salazar B, Jaros S, Ram J, Roy A, Tanner N, Salmasi V, Gonzalez-Castro L, Gardner M, Darnall BD. “My Surgical Success”: Feasibility and Impact of a Single-Session Digital Behavioral Pain Medicine Intervention on Pain Intensity, Pain Catastrophizing, and Time to Opioid Cessation After Orthopedic Trauma Surgery – A Randomized Trial. 2022. Anesthesia & Analgesia. June 13, 2022 – Volume – Issue – 10.1213/ANE.0000000000006088.
    7. Davin S, Savage J, Schuster A, Darnall BD. Transforming Standard of Care for Spine Surgery: Integration of an Online Single-Session Behavioral Pain Management Class for Perioperative OptimizationFrontiers in Pain Research. 2022 May 2;3:856252. doi: 10.3389/fpain.2022.856252. eCollection 2022. PMID: 35599968
    8. Darnall BD and Fields HL. Clinical and neuroscience evidence supports the critical importance of patient expectations and agency in opioid taperingPAIN®. 2022; May 1, 163(5): 824-826. doi: 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000002443. PMID: 34382602
    9. Ziadni MS, Anderson SR, Gonzalez-Castro L, Darnall BD. Efficacy of a Single-Session “Empowered Relief” Zoom-Delivered Group Intervention for Chronic Pain: Randomized Controlled Trial Conducted During the COVID-19 PandemicJ Med Internet Res 2021;23(9):e29672 PMID: 34505832
    10. Darnall BD, Roy A, Chen A, Ziadni MS, Tanner R, You DS, Cook KF, Lorig K, King H, Slater K, Mackey IG, Kao MC, Hong J, Tian L, Mackey SC. Comparison of a Single-Session Pain Management Skills Intervention With a Single-Session Health Education Intervention and 8 Sessions of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in Adults With Chronic Low Back Pain: A Randomized TrialJAMA Netw Open. 2021;4(8):e2113401. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.13401
    11. Mardian A, Perez L, Flood P, DeBruyne K, Lorig K, Porter J, Moore N, Pun T, Cheung M, Colloca L, Ashton-James C, Mackey SC, Darnall BD. Engagement in Prescription Opioid Tapering Research:  The EMPOWER Study and a Coproduction Model of SuccessJ Gen Intern Med. 2021 AUG 13. DOI: 10.1007/s11606-021-07085-w
    12. Garcia L, Birckhead B, Krishnamurthy P, Sackman J, Mackey IG, Louis R, Salmasi V, Maddox WT, Darnall BD. Garcia L, Birckhead B, Krishnamurthy P, Sackman J, Mackey IG, Louis R, Salmasi V, Maddox WT, Darnall BD. An 8-Week Self-Administered At-Home Behavioral Skills-Based Virtual Reality Program for Chronic Low Back Pain: Double-Blind, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial Conducted During COVID-19JMIR. 23 (3) 2021:FEB  DOI: 10.2196/26292.
    13. Darnall BD, Ziadni MS, Krishnamurthy P, Mackey IG, Heathcote L, Taub CJ, Flood P, Wheeler A. “My Surgical Success”: Effect of a Digital Behavioral Pain Medicine Intervention on Time to Opioid Cessation After Breast Cancer Surgery—A Pilot Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial. Pain Med. 2019; 20(11): 2228–2237. https://doi.org/10.1093/pm/pnz094. Received Editor’s Choice designation for the issue.
    14. Darnall BDTo treat pain, study people in all their complexity. Nature 2018 May; 557 (7703):7. PMID: 29717254.
    15. Darnall BD, Ziadni MS, Stieg RL, Mackey IG, Kao MC, Flood P. Patient-Centered Prescription Opioid Tapering in Community Outpatients with Chronic Pain. JAMA Internal Medicine, 2018 May 1;178(5):707-708. PMID: 29459978.

    View Dr. Darnall’s full listing of peer-reviewed articles.

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