November Member Focus: Beth Darnall
Member Focus: Beth Darnall, PhD — Expanding Access to Pain Relief
This month, AAPM is proud to spotlight Beth Darnall, PhD, a longtime AAPM member, psychologist-scientist, and nationally recognized leader in behavioral pain medicine whose research, advocacy, and dedication to patient-centered care are helping expand access to effective pain relief around the world.
Dr. Darnall is a Professor of Anesthesiology, Perioperative, and Pain Medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine and Director of the Stanford Pain Relief Innovations Lab. Her work focuses on developing and expanding access to evidence-based behavioral treatments for acute, chronic, and postsurgical pain, with particular attention to underserved populations and patient-centered approaches to opioid reduction.
Throughout her career, Dr. Darnall has been an active leader within AAPM, serving on the Board of Directors from 2021 to 2024 and as Co-Chair of the Behavioral Medicine Committee from 2019 to 2023. Her contributions to the Academy and the broader field of pain medicine have been recognized with AAPM's 2022 Distinguished Service Award and a 2023 Presidential Commendation. Through her longstanding involvement, she has helped advance the role of behavioral medicine in multidisciplinary pain care and strengthen opportunities for education and collaboration across the Academy.
At the heart of her work is a commitment to making effective pain management more accessible. Dr. Darnall created Empowered Relief, a single-session behavioral pain intervention designed to equip patients with practical skills for managing pain. The program has expanded internationally and is now delivered in 31 countries and nine languages, helping bring behavioral pain care to communities around the world.
Her leadership extends well beyond the research setting. Dr. Darnall leads national studies funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), investigating scalable behavioral pain interventions and strategies that support individualized, patient-centered opioid reduction.
She has also helped bring the patient perspective into national conversations about pain care and policy, briefing the U.S. Congress and the Food and Drug Administration on three occasions about patient-centered pain treatment and opioid stewardship. Her expertise has taken her to international stages, including keynote presentations at national pain society conferences in Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. In 2018, she spoke about the psychology of pain relief at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
An accomplished author and educator, Dr. Darnall has written five books for patients and clinicians on behavioral pain treatment, including Psychological Treatments for Patients with Chronic Pain, published by the American Psychological Association. A second edition is scheduled for publication in 2027. She is also the incoming 2027 President of the United States Association for the Study of Pain (USASP), where she will continue her leadership in advancing pain research, education, and clinical practice.
Despite the broad reach of her work, Dr. Darnall's motivation remains centered on the people whose lives are affected by pain.
“Helping patients reclaim their lives is deeply rewarding work.”
Through her research, advocacy, and commitment to expanding access to behavioral pain care, Dr. Darnall continues to demonstrate how innovation can translate into meaningful improvements in patients' lives. Her longstanding service to AAPM reflects that same dedication to advancing multidisciplinary, evidence-based pain medicine.
We are honored to feature Dr. Beth Darnall as November's Member Focus and recognize her many contributions to AAPM and the field of pain medicine.
Nominate a fellow AAPM member who exemplifies our mission to advance multidisciplinary pain care, innovation, education, advocacy, and research by completing the nomination form here.