About 1.5 billion people worldwide suffer from chronic pain, but many do not have to. Recent neuroscience breakthroughs show that most chronic pain results from the brain misinterpreting safe messages from the body as if they were dangerous. Research has found that the brain has the power to generate pain even in the absence of physical damage or long after structural issues have been healed. This pain is also very, very real.

Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT) is a system of psychological techniques that retrains the brain to accurately interpret and respond to signals from the body, breaking the cycle of chronic pain. It focusses on treating “Neuroplastic pain” – pain generated by the brain despite the absence of structural injury. Although various treatments aim to manage pain, PRT stands apart as an evidence-based treatment to eliminate pain.

Core Principles and Techniques

PRT operates on the premise that chronic pain is a learned response, and therefore, it can be unlearned. This is accomplished through:

Pain Neuroscience Education: Understanding that the brain generates pain as a protective mechanism, not always due to physical damage.

Somatic Tracking: A core technique involving observing pain sensations with a calm, curious, and non-threatening mindset.

Cognitive Reframing: Changing the emotional response to pain to reduce fear.

Mindfulness & Emotional Regulation: Developing the ability to de-escalate fear-based reactions to bodily sensations.

Key Components of PRT

1. Recognise the Pain is Safe: Shifting belief from “my body is damaged” to “my brain is creating a false alarm”.
2. De-escalate Fear: Reducing the fear and anxiety surrounding pain, which often keeps the nervous system in a high-alert state.
3. Positive Affect: Engaging in positive emotions to counter the negative emotions often associated with chronic pain.
4. Action Plan: Actively re-engaging in physical activities that were previously avoided due to fear of pain.
5. Conditions Treated
   PRT is particularly effective for chronic pain with no clear structural cause, such as:
   • Chronic back and neck pain
   • Fibromyalgia
   • Tension headaches and migraines
   • Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
   • Pelvic pain]