She is former president of the Pain Society of Oregon and co-chair of the Pain Psychology Task Force at the American Academy of Pain Medicine. Her NIH-funded research investigates mechanisms of pain catastrophizing, CBT, and the effectiveness of a targeted treatment she developed. She also studies prevention of post-surgical pain and outpatient opioid tapering. 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). She blogs for Psychology Today and the Huffington Post. She has been featured in the San Francisco Chronicle, New York magazine, Forbes, and Scientific American. Dr. Darnall reports that she is the author of two books and is on the scientific advisory board at Axial.