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Clinical Director
Mayo Clinic Pain Rehabilitation Center
Phoenix, Arizona, United States
Dr. Cynthia Townsend, PhD, ABPP is a licensed clinical health psychologist, clinical director for the Mayo Clinic Arizona Pain Rehabilitation Center and Division Chair for the Department of Psychiatry and Psychology Clinical Health Psychology faculty. After receiving her doctorate at Virginia Commonwealth University, Dr. Townsend achieved board certification in Clinical Health Psychology. She completed fellowship training in Medical Psycholog specializing in chronic pain rehabilitation at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota where she then served as staff pain psychologist, clinical director of the Pain Rehabilitation Center. Prior to joining Mayo Clinic faculty in Phoenix, Dr. Townsend served as clinical director of the Chronic Pain Rehabilitation Program (CPRP) for the Veteran Affairs Health Care System in Minneapolis, Minnesota where she founded a pain rehabilitation program for veterans with complex pain and mental health comorbidities. She has authored/co-authored over 30 manuscripts and book chapters – the majority focused on chronic pain interdisciplinary rehabilitation and nonopioid cognitive-behavioral and functional restoration approaches to chronic pain management. The American Pain Society, Pain Rehabilitation Special Interest Group (2014) awarded her a ‘Meritorious Award for Contributions to the Field’, an acknowledgement by her pain peers for “Outstanding contributions to the field of pain rehabilitation and to the interdisciplinary development of colleagues.” She currently is a consultant for the AZ DHS Pain and Addiction statewide medical school curriculum development and engaged in teaching non-interventional/non-pharmacological pain management strategies to medical school, resident, and fellowship trainees at Mayo Clinic. Dr. Townsend’s career highlights include her work as a co-investigator on a NIH grant held jointly with Mayo Clinic and the Lake Superior Fond du Lac Ojibwe to develop a pain rehabilitation program for Native Americans with chronic pain. Dr. Townsend’s personal highlights include celebrating their 24th wedding anniversary with her husband and being inspired by their 4 children.
I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.
Thursday, November 10, 2022
1:30 PM – 2:45 PM
