What Is Pain Reprocessing Therapy?
A Brain-Based Approach to Chronic Pain in the Twin Cities
If you’ve tried everything for your chronic pain—PT, injections, medications, endless stretching—and you’re still hurting, it’s understandable to feel discouraged.
Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT) offers a different path. Instead of chasing pain around the body, it helps retrain how the brain and nervous system interpret signals from the body.(1)
The Basics: How Pain Works in the Brain
All pain is processed in the brain. When there’s a new injury, the brain receives danger signals from the body and creates pain to protect you.
Sometimes, though, the brain gets stuck in protection mode even after tissues have healed. It keeps sounding the alarm as if you’re still in danger. This is the essence of neuroplastic pain—real pain driven by learned patterns in the nervous system, not ongoing damage.(2)
What Is Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT)?
Pain Reprocessing Therapy is a structured approach that helps people unlearn chronic pain by changing the brain’s interpretation of body signals. It was developed by clinicians and researchers and has been studied in randomized clinical trials for chronic back pain.(3)
Core ideas of PRT:
- Your pain is real—but often does not reflect ongoing damage.
- The brain has become overprotective, stuck in a self-reinforcing loop.
With the right education, emotional support, and body-based experiences, the brain can shift from “danger” to “safety.”
The Key Elements of Pain Reprocessing Therapy
While each practitioner and client is unique, PRT usually includes several common elements.
1. Education: Making Sense of Your Pain Story
We start by walking through your history and patterns to see whether your symptoms fit neuroplastic pain. We look at:
- When pain started
- How it behaves day to day
- What imaging or tests have shown
- What tends to flare or calm it
The goal is to build a coherent explanation of your pain that is both scientifically grounded and emotionally relieving.
2. Evidence Gathering: Why Your Body Might Be Safer Than It Feels
We look for evidence that your body is likely safe, such as:
- Symptoms moving around the body
- Pain changing with stress or attention
- Relief from relaxation, laughter, or distraction
We also look at evidence that some old structural explanations may not fully account for the severity or persistence of your pain.(2)
3. Somatic Tracking: Noticing Sensations Through a Lens of Safety
A central skill in PRT is somatic tracking—gently noticing sensations in the body with curiosity, not fear.(4)
Instead of bracing, monitoring, or trying to push pain away, you practice:
- Noticing where the sensation is
- Describing its quality (dull, sharp, tingling, warm, tight)
- Observing how it changes moment to moment
- Reminding your brain that the sensation is uncomfortable but not dangerous
Over time, this gives your nervous system new experiences of safety, which can help dial down the alarm.
4. Working with Thoughts, Emotions, and Patterns
PRT also explores:
- Fearful thoughts about pain (“I’ll be like this forever,” “I’m broken”)
- Perfectionism, people-pleasing, or high self-pressure that keeps the system on edge
- Past experiences of stress, trauma, or chronic tension
We’re not digging for pain’s “one root cause,” but we gently reduce the overall danger load on your system so it can settle.
What the Research Says About PRT
A 2022 randomized clinical trial in JAMA Psychiatry found that Pain Reprocessing Therapy led to large reductions in chronic back pain for many participants, with a significant portion becoming nearly or completely pain-free. These gains were largely maintained over time, and a 5-year follow-up suggests durable benefits.(5)
While no approach works for everyone, this research supports what many clients already experience: when the brain learns safety, pain can change.
Pain Reprocessing Therapy in the Twin Cities
At Rhubarb Holistic Health, we offer:
- A free 20-minute phone consultation to explore whether PRT might be a good fit
- A comprehensive 90-minute assessment session
- Ongoing 60-minute support sessions to apply PRT skills in daily life
We work with clients throughout Minneapolis, St. Paul, and the greater Twin Cities area, as well as virtually across Minnesota.
Sources
- Painreprocessingtherapy.com: What Is Pain Reprocessing Therapy? Understanding the Method That Helps the Brain Unlearn Pain.
- Painreprocessingtherapy.com: Neuroplastic Pain.
- Sharon Reynolds. National Institutes of Health: Retraining the brain to treat chronic pain.
- Painreprocessingtherapy.com: Treatment Outline for Pain Reprocessing Therapy.
- National Library of Medicine: Effect of Pain Reprocessing Therapy vs Placebo and Usual Care for Patients With Chronic Back Pain: A Randomized Clinical Trial
