Do you have chronic pain? Have you tried many different treatments (eg- medications, injections, ablations, surgery, acupuncture, physio, chiro, massage, etc) only to be left with temporary relief, if any at all. Unfortunately, many approaches focus solely on the physical body and treat chronic pain similarly to the kind of acute pain that occurs immediately after an injury. We now know that chronic pain involves different areas of the brain than acute pain, so effective approaches to resolution of this pain is very different.
Research has now identified that the role of the nervous system in chronic pain is significant, and this has led to a shift away from a singular focus on structural causes and treatments of chronic pain. What we know is that when pain persists, the nervous system may have become hypersensitive, amplifying pain signals even when no injury is present. The nervous system continues to respond with pain to try to protect the person from further injury, even though the body has healed. This can occur even without an initial injury or illness, whereby the brain misinterprets body sensations as dangerous and generates pain as a result.
Approaches like Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT) can address these hypersensitive neural responses by helping re-train the brain’s response to pain sensations, and a growing body of research is showing lasting pain relief with this approach. So rather than viewing pain as solely due to an injury or illness, it viewed as an over-protective nervous system response to perceived danger or stress.
When people see that their chronic pain may be due, even in part, to brain processes rather than just bodily injury, long-lasting healing can begin. People really can un-learn their pain!
As a pain psychologist, I previously felt somewhat limited in my ability to help clients create meaningful change in their pain experience. Now, with PRT, I have seen clients not only manage their pain more effectively but actually reduce or eliminate it.
There is renewed hope in the field of chronic pain!
Janice Cathcart, BSN, M.Ed., R.Psych., Advanced PRT Practitioner
If you are interested in more information, you can check out the resources below or contact me directly through my website: Cathcartpsych.com
Websites:
https://www.painreprocessingtherapy.com/
https://www.symptomatic.me
https://unlearnyourpain.com/
App: Curable
Books:
The Way Out: A Revolutionary, Scientifically Proven Approach To Healing Chronic Pain, Alan Gordon & Alon Ziv
Unlearn your Pain, 4th ed., Howard Schubiner with Michael Betzold
Research: There are numerous published research studies. Here is an example of a notable randomized controlled trial:
Ashar YK, Gordon A, Schubiner H et al (2021). Effect of Pain Reprocessing Therapy vs Placebo and Usual Care for Patients with Chronic Back Pain. A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Psychiatry, 79(1), 13-23.
