Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT) is a psychological treatment that retrains the brain to interpret and respond to signals from the body correctly, which reduces or eliminates pain altogether. For some individuals with chronic pain, there is evidence that the brain is misinterpreting pain signals and thus generating a sensation of pain in the body when there is actually no structural evidence or tissue damage causing the pain. These individuals may have seen innumerable doctors but walked away with little or no improvement in their pain levels. In these cases, neuroplastic pain may be considered the root cause of the pain – and the good news: with neuroplastic pain, the brain can be retrained to properly respond to pain signals and to stop generating pain. Research shows that many chronic pain conditions are maintained by the nervous system on the brain rather than structural injury.

When I work with clients using PRT methods, I focus on calming the nervous system, reducing fear around pain and retraining the brain to interpret sensations. I use education, emotional awareness, somatic techniques and cognitive reframing to help clients break the pain-fear cycle that keeps the pain active. PRT has been shown to be effective for conditions such as chronic back pain, headaches, fibromyalgia, pelvic pain, and other centralized or neuroplastic pain conditions. While other methods help individuals “manage” pain, PRT helps the brain unlearn pain patterns, allowing the body to return to a state of safety and relief.