Module 3: Pain Education
What is Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT)?
Pain Reprocessing Therapy is a powerful new approach to treating chronic pain by helping the brain and nervous system respond differently to pain signals. Instead of focusing only on the body, PRT retrains the brain to stop misinterpreting normal sensations as dangerous. This is especially important when pain continues even after the body has healed.
New Perspective of Pain
We used to view pain as a direct signal from the body to the brain, the idea was that pain only occurred when there was physical damage or injury. If something hurt, it must mean the body was harmed, and the solution was to fix the structural issue. However, modern science has shown that pain is not just a reflection of the body, but a complex experience created by the brain.
The brain decides when we feel pain based on how it interprets signals from the body and environment, including past experiences, emotions, beliefs, and perceived threats. This explains why some people have significant findings on an MRI but feel no pain, while others suffer chronic pain despite no visible injury. Pain is real, but it is shaped by the brain’s perception of safety or danger and this means it can change.
What Does the Research Say?
Modern research using brain scans (fMRI) shows that chronic pain is often linked to brain activity in areas related to emotion, fear, and attention, not just physical injury. One key study showed that after people went through Pain Reprocessing Therapy, not only did their pain decrease, but their brain scans also showed less activity in those fear-related areas.
Another important piece of research involves MRI scans of the spine. Studies show that the majority of people, even those without any back pain, have disc bulges, herniations, or other “abnormal” findings. In fact, these kinds of changes are considered normal as people age. Yet, many people with these same MRI results experience no pain at all.
This is powerful evidence that pain is not always caused by physical issues in the body, it’s often how the brain interprets what it sees and feels. It explains why two people with similar MRI findings can have completely different pain experiences.