Blog Post #2: Why Understanding Pain Can Help You Heal — A Look at Pain Reprocessing Therapy
What If Pain Isn’t Just in Your Body?
When you’ve lived with chronic pain for months or years, it can feel like the pain controls your life. You may have tried medications, procedures, or physical therapy—yet the discomfort persists.
Here’s a new perspective: in many cases, chronic pain is not a sign of ongoing damage, but of a nervous system that has learned to stay “on alert.”
This doesn’t mean the pain is “in your head.” It means your brain and body have become stuck in a protective loop—one that can be safely retrained.
That’s where Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT) comes in.
What Is Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT)?
PRT is an evidence-based psychological approach that helps the brain “unlearn” chronic pain. It’s grounded in the understanding that the brain plays a powerful role in how pain is processed and perceived.
When pain signals continue long after an injury has healed—or when no clear medical cause is found—your brain may still interpret harmless sensations as dangerous. This is called neuroplastic pain, and it’s treatable.
PRT helps you gently retrain your brain to interpret these signals accurately and reduce unnecessary alarm responses.
How Pain Reprocessing Therapy Works
Pain Reprocessing Therapy combines education, awareness, and behavioral techniques to reduce the fear and focus that keep pain pathways active.
Here’s what the process often includes:
1. Understanding the Science of Pain
The first step is learning how pain actually works. You’ll discover that pain is created in the brain—not imagined, but constructed—as a protective response. Understanding this helps reduce fear and anxiety, which are key drivers of chronic pain.
2. Learning to Reinterpret Sensations
Through gentle attention exercises, you’ll learn to notice sensations in your body without labeling them as threats. By sending your brain new messages of safety (“This feeling isn’t dangerous”), the pain signal begins to quiet down.
3. Calming the Nervous System
PRT often includes techniques from mindfulness, relaxation training, or somatic awareness to help calm the body’s fight-or-flight response. As your body relaxes, the brain interprets fewer signals as painful.
4. Shifting Focus Toward Safety and Joy
As fear decreases, your brain begins to rewire. You’ll gradually return to activities you may have been avoiding and start to experience movement, work, and life with greater ease.
The Science Behind PRT
Pain Reprocessing Therapy builds on decades of research in neuroscience and behavioral medicine. A 2021 clinical trial published in JAMA Psychiatry found that over two-thirds of participants receiving PRT for chronic back pain were pain-free or nearly pain-free after treatment—and improvements lasted for months.
This approach reflects a major shift in understanding pain:
The brain can generate real pain even when the body is physically healed, and by teaching the brain to feel safe again, the pain can decrease or even resolve.
Common Conditions PRT Can Help
Pain Reprocessing Therapy can be effective for a variety of chronic pain conditions, especially when medical evaluations have ruled out ongoing injury or disease. These may include:
Back, neck, or joint pain
Tension headaches or migraines
Pelvic pain
Fibromyalgia
Repetitive strain pain
Nonspecific pain syndromes
PRT can also complement other treatments such as physical therapy or medication management by addressing the brain’s role in pain.
What to Expect in Pain Psychology Treatment
At Power of the Mind Psychology, sessions are tailored to your individual experience. You’ll learn:
How to recognize patterns that keep the pain cycle going
Techniques to lower fear and increase confidence in your body
Practical skills to reduce stress and physical tension
How to re-engage in activities safely and meaningfully
Our approach is compassionate and collaborative—we help you reconnect with your body, trust your resilience, and build lasting relief through understanding.
Does This Mean the Pain Is “All in My Head”?
Not at all. Chronic pain is real—it’s just that the cause may no longer be structural. Pain Reprocessing Therapy doesn’t deny your symptoms; it helps explain and retrain them.
Think of it as helping your brain update an outdated alarm system—so it no longer rings when there’s no real danger.
A Hopeful Path Forward
Living with chronic pain can feel isolating, but recovery is possible. Understanding your pain is the first step toward healing it.
At Power of the Mind Psychology, we specialize in Pain Reprocessing Therapy and chronic pain psychology, helping clients find meaningful relief through evidence-based care.
Whether you prefer in-person sessions in Lincoln, NE or online therapy across Nebraska and Texas, we’re here to help you retrain your brain, calm your nervous system, and reclaim your life.
👉 Schedule a consultation to start your healing journey today.