Timothy Dawson, M.D. is a Board Certified Pain Management Specialist, a Board Certified Anesthesiologist, and Board Certified in Addiction Medicine. He received fellowship training in pain management from Stanford University School of Medicine. He received his medical degree from Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Dawson has a comprehensive, multidisciplinary approach to pain management. He provides therapeutic options for all aspects of a wide variety of painful conditions, including chronic axial and radicular low back pain, cervical pain, myofascial pain syndromes, headaches, neuropathic pain, complex regional pain syndrome, cancer pain and acute post-operative pain. Dr. Dawson is well versed in interventional pain management techniques as well as conservative management strategies. In addition, he serves as a pain medicine team leader, coordinating complete pain care among various pain and rehabilitation specialists, including pain psychologists, occupational and physical therapists and alternative medicine providers.

Dr. Dawson is the Director of Northern California Pain Care and serves as Clinical Assistant Professor for the Stanford Pain Management Center. He has previously served as the Director of the Acute Pain Management Service and Medical Director of the Chronic Pain Management Clinic at Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu, Hawaii. Dr. Dawson is also a Qualified Medical Evaluator.

Erik Bernecker, PhD is a licensed Clinical Psychologist. He received his doctoral degree from California School of Professional Psychology with an emphasis on Health Psychology. He also has a Master’s Degree in Sport Psychology with a specialization in working with injured athletes.  

Dr. Bernecker completed his pre-doctoral internship with the University of California San Francisco Psychosocial Medicine Program at San Francisco General Hospital. For his doctoral research he investigated how psychological variables affect outcomes in the treatment of chronic pain. He then went on to complete a postdoctoral residency in pain management with the Kaiser Permanente Chronic Pain Management Program in San Francisco.

Dr. Bernecker has significant clinical training and experience in health psychology/behavioral medicine and has worked effectively with individuals diagnosed with a wide variety of chronic pain conditions.  Dr. Bernecker is a Clinical Health Psychologist with Northern California Pain Care and also works at the Kaiser Permanente Chronic Pain Management Program in San Francisco where he serves as a staff Health Psychologist and the program coordinator for medication management services.