Pain Reprocessing Therapy: FAQs and My Story
Updated: Sep 24
In this article, you’ll find:
What is the clinical evidence for PRT?
Medical imaging showed I have a physical injury and diagnosis. Could I still be a candidate for PRT?
What if I've tried other treatments, and they haven't worked?
Is this an actual cure for chronic pain, or a pain management strategy?
How long does treatment take?
What distinguishes Anoma as a PRT practitioner?
Anoma's story
By my late twenties, everything hurt. I had searing pain from my neck to my fingers that prevented me from working. I could not walk more than 10 minutes without foot and knee pain. I had done years of physical therapy, saw countless orthopedic and neurology specialists, and tried traditional remedies from acupuncture to Tibetan medicine. Nobody had a good explanation for my pain, and nothing worked to fully relieve it. I felt deeply isolated, sad, and afraid.
One day, I stumbled upon Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT). I was skeptical to try yet another treatment, as I had been through the hope-and-disappointment cycle many times. Little did I know that PRT would change my life.
I started weekly appointments with the primary goal of addressing my hand pain, since that was the most debilitating. Although we were focusing on my hands in each session, miraculously, my foot and knee pain subsided and disappeared within 2 months. I could suddenly walk longer distances and go to the gym again. The breakthrough with my hands happened a few months later, but through continued sessions, we managed to alleviate my hand pain completely and I even returned to a full-time office job.
To this day, I have no pain. My journey with PRT was so transformative that I decided to get certified. The techniques I learned have even helped me manage uncomfortable but normal physical sensations all the way from stubbing a toe to labor contractions.
The science: why does PRT work?
Pain warns us that something is wrong. For example, if you sprain an ankle, your brain produces pain signals to stop you from walking, which would make it worse.
However, sometimes, our brains and bodies can activate these warning signals even when there is no threat of harm, or long after an injury has been treated. In such cases, our brains are misinterpreting neutral sensations in the body as dangerous, or mistakenly amplifying the feeling of pain disproportionately beyond what is happening anatomically. This phenomenon is called "neuroplastic pain."
To be clear, the pain is very real: it's just that the cause lies more in learned neural pathways, rather than only in tissue damage.
PRT is an evidence-based approach to help people retrain how their brains interpret bodily sensations when there is such a mismatch. It can be supportive both in cases where there was an initial structural injury and the brain has gotten "stuck," and in cases where symptoms are purely psychosomatic without any known physical cause.
What is the clinical evidence for PRT?
A considerable, growing field of research supports PRT. A randomized controlled trial published in JAMA Psychiatry in 2021 demonstrated that 98% of chronic back pain patients who underwent PRT improved, and 66% reported being pain-free or nearly pain-free after treatment. Benefits were largely sustained at a five-year follow up. Learn more about this research here.
Medical imaging showed I have a physical injury and diagnosis. Could I still be a candidate for PRT?
It's a good question, and one you should consult your doctor on. Sometimes, people can have abnormal imaging without it being the main cause, or the only cause, of their pain. A landmark study found that 64% of people with no back pain at all actually had abnormal spinal findings (e.g. disc bulges, degeneration, etc) when they received MRIs. Another study provided shoulder MRIs to a random population sample, and found that 96% of pain-free shoulders actually contained rotator cuff abnormalities such as tendinopathy or tears.
In my case, I received MRIs and related diagnoses for all of my issues. After trying innumerable treatments, the only thing that gave me longlasting relief was PRT and a shift in my relationship with my body.
I can’t guarantee that your experience will be the same as mine. But if you feel like you’ve tried everything and are looking for a non-invasive option, talk to your doctor about PRT.
What should I expect a PRT session to look like?
PRT is a supportive, conversational, and slightly meditative process. Here’s what to expect.
Free introductory call: I’ll ask you more about your journey with chronic pain and answer any questions. If you decide to work together, I’ll send over some paperwork.
Session 1: We’ll do a detailed intake of your history with chronic pain, how it is preventing you from daily activities, and your current priorities in life. I’ll recap the science of PRT and preview what sessions will look like. We’ll also start getting into some of the PRT practices.
Session 2 and beyond: There is some variation based on your needs and interests, but PRT involves a combination of:
Somatic tracking: we will gently bring our awareness to different parts of the body. This includes the parts that feel pain, and parts that feel neutral or safe.
Resourcing: using our body awareness, 5 senses, external space, and body movements, we build “resources” that feel safe.
Emotional conversation: we may talk about current sources of stress, historical tendencies towards self-criticism or perfectionism, and emotions like fear, sadness, and anger as they manifest in the body. PRT is not a replacement for psychotherapy.
Conversations with the body & visualization: it can be useful to actually talk to or personify parts of the body that feel pain or tension. When clients have long held resentment or frustration towards the body, it takes time and effort to repair the relationship.
Self-awareness, reappraisal, and habit formation: we may recognize habit and thought patterns that tend to trigger the pain or being in a state of high alert. We replace counterproductive ones with ones that generate safety and calm.
I usually give clients a simple, optional “homework” task to do on their own.
What if I've tried other treatments, and they haven't worked?
I understand the pain -- both literal and figurative -- of trying countless treatments with no results. My clients often find that PRT is a transformative approach to breaking free from chronic symptoms. If you're experiencing neuroplastic pain, i.e. pain that has become a learned response in the nervous system, consider booking a free introductory call to assess fit.
Is this an actual cure for chronic pain, or a symptom management strategy?
PRT tackles the underlying driver of certain types of chronic pain. While it may not be a "cure" for everybody, some people find that it drastically changes their relationship to pain, and in cases like mine, completely eliminates it.
How long does treatment take?
I had the same question when I was starting out as a patient. The clinical research mentioned above demonstrated a significant benefit after eight sessions, but in reality, the timeline varies based on a number of factors, including but not limited to the consistency of treatment, clients' willingness to engage in the practices outside of session, and other lifestyle factors. I've had clients benefit from as few as four sessions, but candidly my own PRT journey was on the longer side.
What distinguishes Anoma as a PRT practitioner?
Above all, being a PRT patient across multiple issues created a strong foundation for me as a practitioner. Having been treated for over a year at the Pain Psychology Center in Los Angeles, whose founder created PRT, I know exactly what top notch care looks like. And I can deeply relate to feeling frustrated, hopeless, and alone in your pain.
My internship in clinical pastoral education at Cedars Sinai Medical Center also taught me how to interact sensitively with vulnerable populations experiencing medical issues and chronic pain. I have an innate intuition for guiding clients through somatic tracking due to my 20 years of meditation experience, including teaching meditation in groups.
All this said, it's incredibly important that you choose a PRT practitioner that you feel comfortable with and who understands you well. I won't take it personally if that's not me. In fact, I'll even help you find another PRT practitioner, because I believe so strongly in the methodology.
Book a free, no obligation intro call to get started.