For the past 20 years, Dr. Jody Thomas has committed to providing the highest level of mental healthcare.

 

Dr. Thomas’ Mission

To provide the highest level of care based on empirically validated methods of treatment, and a commitment to continuing education and keeping up with the latest research.  To empower patients and families to have control over their own mental and physical health.

Career Highlights

  • Twenty+ years of experience working with children, families, and adults dealing with medical illness and trauma, depression, and anxiety

  • Founder and Executive Director of the Meg Foundation (www.megfoundationforpain.org)

  • Adjunct faculty at the Stanford University School of Medicine (current)

  • Assistant Professor at the Stanford University School of Medicine (previous)

  • Consultant to Lucile Packard Children's Hospital and Stanford Children's Health

  • Founding Clinical Director of the Pediatric Pain Rehabilitation Center at Stanford Children's Health (previous)

  • Core faculty at the National Pediatric Hypnosis Training Institute

  • Frequent speaker and teacher nationally and internationally to professional and lay groups on topics such as pain management, psychotherapy, coping with medical illness, improving health care, health care communication, and hypnosis

  • Experienced and professionally trained in media, including print and television interviews, op-ed writing, and blog writing

  • Selected for the prestigious MayDay Pain and Society Fellowship 2019: Communicating Science and Improving Care

  • Licensed clinical psychologist in the states of California and Colorado

Areas of Expertise

  • Psychotherapy

  • Pain management

  • Coping with medical illness

  • Palliative care

  • Families systems dealing with significant medical illness

  • Medical traumatic stress treatment and prevention

  • Medical provider burnout and compassion fatigue

  • Hypnosis

  • Program development

  • Large systems change

  • Consultation to medical providers and organizations

  • Creating therapeutic resources

  • Leveraging technology to improve patient care

Education

  • Graduated Phi Beta Kappa and with Honors from Stanford University with a BA in Psychology and a specialization in Health and Development

  • Masters degree and PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of Connecticut

  • Internship at the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute and UCLA Mattel Children's Hospital

  • Post Doctoral Fellowship in Pediatric Psychology at the Children's Hospital Orange County

Recent Publications and Presentations

Thomas, J.D. & Gentille, J. (2022, November) Avoiding the Freakout: Tools and Resources for Managing Pain and Medical Anxiety. Mohsen Ziai Pediatric Conference, Inova Children's Hospital, Falls Church, VA.

Thomas, J.D. (2022, September) Integrative Health Toolkit for Healthcare Related Anxiety. Sixth Annual Integrative Medicine Health Symposium, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA.

Thomas, J.D. (2022, September) Biopsychosocial Model in Action: How To Make Things Less Painful for Patients and Providers. Pediatric Grand Rounds, Kansas Mercy Children’s Hospital, Kansas City, MO.

Olness, K., Krishnamurthy, V, Lombard, L., & Thomas, J.D. (2022, April) What Can We Do?: A virtual seminar featuring free resources and experts discussing ways to support children, caregivers, and relief workers impacted by war. Webinar, National Pediatric Training Institute, Minneapolis, MN.

Thomas, J.D. (2022, April) Biopsychosocial Model in Action: How To Make Things Less Painful for Patients and Providers. Pediatric Grand Rounds, Inova Children’s Hospital, Falls Church, VA.

Thomas, J.D. (2022, February) Biopsychosocial Model in Action: How To Make Things Less Painful for Everyone. Staff pain management training, Inova Children’s Hospital, Falls Church, VA. 

Thomas, J.D. (2022, January) Hypnosis for Pain: How To Use Technology To Help. Webinar, National Pediatric Training Institute, Minneapolis, MN.

Becker, D, Friedrichsdorf, S., Kutter, L., & Thomas, J.D. (November 2021 and January 2022) Introductory Workshop: Hypnosis for Pain and Palliative Care. University of San Francisco Children’s Hospital, San Francisco, CA.

Thomas, J.D. (2022, November) Don't Fear the Freakout: Strategies to Help Kids (and their Grownups!) Manage Medical Procedures. STAR Symposium Parent Workshop, STAR Institute, Centennial, CO.

Thomas, J.D. (2021, October) Acute and Procedural Pain: Big Picture to Specific Tools. Webinar, National Pediatric Training Institute, Minneapolis, MN.

Becker, D., and Thomas, J.D. (2021, September) Taking Fear and Pain Out of Needles—for Your Child and You. article, www.healthychildren.org, American Academy of Pediatrics website.

Thomas, J.D. (2021, August) Biopsychosocial Model in Action: How To Make Things Less Painful Everyone. Keynote Speaker, Retreat for the Department of Child Life, Inova Children’s Hospital, Falls Church, VA.

 Thomas, J.D., Ressler, P., & Lee, E. (2021, March) The Social-Psycho-Bio Model: What Does this Mean for the Lived Experience of Pain? Webinar, International Association for the Study of Pain Virtual Series on Pain and Expo, International virtual event.

Thomas, J.D. (2020, September) Acute and Procedural Pain: Big Picture to Specific Tools. Webinar, National Pediatric Training Institute, Minneapolis, MN.

Van Tilburg, M., Edlynn, E., Maddaloni, M., van Kempen, K., Díaz-González de Ferris, M., & Thomas, J. (2020). High levels of stress due to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic among parents of children with and without chronic conditions across the USA. Children, 7(10), 193.

Thomas, J.D. (2020, September) Procedural Pain: Using Technology to Expand Our Reach and Impact. Webinar as part of the National Pediatric Hypnosis Training Institute webinar series.

Thomas, J.D. (2020, April) From Self Regulation to Self Efficacy:  The Extraordinary Potential of Hypnotic Intervention In Medical Settings. Psychology Didactic Training Lecture Series for the Department of Psychiatry & Biobehavioral Sciences at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.

Thomas, J.D. (2019, October) Hypnotic Techniques for Pediatric Pain Management, Workshop and master class at 2019 SPANZA Annual Scientific Meeting, Brisbane, QLD, Austrailia.

Thomas,  J.D. , and Griffin, A. (2019, May) Psychological Treatment of Chronic Pain in Pediatric Populations. In C. Arnold, (Ed) Handbook of Psychosocial Interventions for Chronic Pain.  New York, NY: Taylor & Francis/Routledge.com.

 Thomas, J.D. (2019, May) Hypnosis, pain management, and mental health interventions: using technology to expand our reach. Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Grand Rounds, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA.

 Thomas, J.D., (2018, October) Creating Goal Driven Suggestion in Hypnosis. Workshop at the National Pediatric Hypnosis Training Institute, Minneapolis, MN.

 Thomas, J.D., (2018, October) Acute and Procedural Pain:  Big Picture to Specific Tools.  Workshop at the National Pediatric Hypnosis Training Institute, Minneapolis, MN.

 Thomas, J.D., (2018, September) Be the Boss of Your Body:  Teaching Parents to Teach Kids To Take Control Over Pain.  Workshop for parents sponsored by the Meg Foundation, Denver, CO.

Professional Affiliations