Patient-Centered Prescription Opioid Reduction: A Toolkit for Psychologists

Psychologists play a critical role in helping patients with chronic pain achieve their goals for opioid reduction. Dr. Beth Darnall reviews results from opioid tapering scientific studies, iatrogenic consequences of poor tapering practices, pitfalls to avoid, best clinical practices for patient safety, and tools and treatments that may support patient success.

Beth Darnall, PhD, is Associate Professor at Stanford University School of Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative, and Pain Medicine. Dr. Darnall is principal investigator for NIH and PCORI-funded clinical trials that broadly investigate behavioral medicine and self-management strategies for acute and chronic pain, and voluntary patient-centered prescription opioid reduction. She has authored/co-authored five books for patients and clinicians, including The Opioid-Free Pain Relief Kit, Less Pain, Fewer Pills, and Psychological Treatment for Chronic Pain. She develops and investigates digital interventions and virtual reality for perioperative and chronic pain, and is the chief science advisor for appliedVR. In 2018 she briefed the U.S. Congress on the opioid and pain crises, and in 2019 provided invited testimony to the FDA on iatrogenic harms from forced opioid tapering. Her work has been featured in Scientific American, NPR Radio, BBC Radio, JAMA Internal Medicine, and Nature. In 2018 she spoke on the psychology of pain relief at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.