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Bio“Understanding and appreciating the totality of a person’s experience within the context of a challenging pain condition is essential to helping them heal in a way that honors their body and reduces suffering,” says Dr. Kristen Slater. “With a compassionate, interdisciplinary team in place, I wholeheartedly believe that anyone living with pain can pursue a meaningful, values-driven life.”

Dr. Slater is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Pain Medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine, where she specializes in pain psychology and behavioral medicine.

She earned her Doctorate in Psychology (PsyD) with an emphasis in Behavioral Medicine and Health Psychology from Loma Linda University. She completed her APA-accredited predoctoral internship at the Southern Arizona VA Health Care System in Tucson, Arizona, where she developed a deep appreciation for the profound impact pain has on all domains of life — and the transformative potential of interdisciplinary pain treatment.

Dr. Slater went on to complete an APA-accredited Postdoctoral Fellowship in Pain Psychology at Stanford University School of Medicine in 2014. Following fellowship, she served as Lead Psychologist and Director of Behavioral Medicine and Psychological Services at Comprehensive Spine and Sports Center in Campbell, California, where she co-founded and helped develop both the Functional Restoration Program and the Pain Psychology Program. During this time, she also maintained a clinical instructor role at Stanford and a private practice.

She transitioned to Stanford full-time in 2019 and now dedicates the majority of her work to delivering and advancing evidence-based pain psychology interventions within a multidisciplinary framework. Her clinical work focuses on comprehensive pain evaluations, neuromodulation candidacy assessments, and mechanism-based behavioral treatments for brain-based and complex chronic pain conditions.

Dr. Slater is actively involved in advancing the field through research and serves as an investigator on multiple NIH- and PCORI-funded clinical trials aimed at improving treatment accessibility, efficacy, and implementation. She is also faculty with the Empowered Relief™ program and is a Master Trainer, teaching national and international workshops to train clinicians in delivering the single-session, evidence-based pain relief skills class (www.empoweredrelief.com).

Outside of work, Dr. Slater enjoys spending time with her family, hiking, traveling, and visiting her home state of Colorado.