About me
Bethany Pester is an assistant professor and pain psychologist in the Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine at the University of Washington. She earned her PhD in clinical psychology from Wayne State University and completed her predoctoral clinical internship at the Charleston Consortium Internship Program, where she specialized in behavioral medicine. She then completed a two-year postdoctoral research fellowship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, developing and evaluating nonpharmacological interventions for chronic and postsurgical pain. Her research focuses on identifying psychosocial mechanisms that contribute to the development and persistence of chronic pain and other medically unexplained symptoms, as well as investigating the effectiveness and implementation of innovative psychological treatments for these conditions. Outside of work, when not chasing after her 1.5-year-old son, Bethany enjoys practicing yoga, biking, swimming, conquering her fear of skiing, and reading psychological thrillers.
