Study Overview
Official Title:
Comparing a Single-Session of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Pain Reprocessing Therapy, and Emotion Awareness and Expression Therapy for Chronic Pain
Status:
RECRUITING
Status Verified Date:
2025-07
Last Known Status:
None
Delayed Posting:
No
If Stopped, Why?:
Not Stopped
Has Expanded Access:
False
If Expanded Access, NCT#:
N/A
Has Expanded Access, NCT# Status:
N/A
Brief Summary:
Many people in the US suffer from chronic pain. Often times, individuals who have chronic pain also feel depressed, anxious, or hopeless, which can worsen pain. Psychologists, therefore, have developed several treatments to help people with chronic pain. These psychological treatments differ. The most common treatment is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for chronic pain, which helps patients better manage pain through changing thoughts and behaviors. Two newer, less common psychological therapies are Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT) and Emotion Awareness and Expression Therapy (EAET). These therapies emphasize that chronic pain is mainly due to plastic processes of over-sensitization in the brain and nervous system, and that psychotherapies can significantly reduce or eliminate pain. Although similar, PRT and EAET stress different aspects of treatment. PRT emphasizes that one's fear of pain and bodily injury maintains the brain's sense of threat, thereby also maintaining the pain response; EAET emphasizes that one's conditioned psychological state of stress and tension maintains a sense of threat, thereby maintaining the pain response. These three treatments have yet to be compared; it is unclear which psychological processes are most important to treating chronic pain.
There is growing interest in single-session psychotherapy interventions. Studies have shown that just a single session of CBT or EAET can help individuals reduce their pain. PRT has yet to be condensed to a single-session intervention.
This study will compare a single session of CBT, PRT, and EAET with a no-treatment control group to test whether 1) one treatment outperforms the others, and 2) different mechanisms/ approaches matter to chronic pain treatment.
Detailed Description:
Psychological therapies have been found to improve pain and functioning among individuals with chronic pain. Even a single-session of some of these therapies have been found to reduce pain. There are several competing psychological models and therapies for chronic pain that have yet to be compared in a single-session format: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT), and Emotion Awareness and Expression therapy (EAET). CBT is the most common behavioral intervention for individuals with chronic pain. CBT assists individuals in modulating thoughts and behaviors in order to better manage their pain. However, two newer behavioral treatments for chronic pain, PRT and EAET, postulate that chronic pain can be eliminated, rather than just managed. Both PRT and EAET emphasize that fear underpins pain generation in the nervous system. PRT suggests that fear of injury or further pain maintains chronic pain. EAET suggests that fear of emotional experiences and life stressors maintain chronic pain. These two new therapies, PRT and EAET, have yet to be compared. Individuals with chronic musculoskeletal pain will be randomized to receive either single-session of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Pain Reprocessing Therapy, Emotion Awareness and Expression Therapy, or a no-treatment control condition. Participants' pain and mood will be assessed at baseline, pre-intervention, post-intervention, and at two follow-up periods: 1 week and 4 weeks. The purpose of the proposed study is twofold: 1) to compare these three competing models of chronic pain treatment in a single-session, and 2) to investigate what potential mediators of change may be underpinning changes in pain for each treatment. The investigators therefore hypothesize that all 3 treatment types will reduce pain severity and improve functioning; the investigators do not have clear evidence to suggest that one therapy may outperform the others. The secondary hypothesis is that treatment-specific mediators will be more salient in each of the given treatments. The investigators hope to learn what kind of model is most effective for individuals with chronic pain, and whether a single-session of a given intervention can enact meaningful change in pain severity and functioning.
Study Oversight
Has Oversight DMC:
False
Is a FDA Regulated Drug?:
False
Is a FDA Regulated Device?:
False
Is an Unapproved Device?:
None
Is a PPSD?:
None
Is a US Export?:
None
Is an FDA AA801 Violation?: