What is Pain Reprocessing Therapy? A Beginner’s Guide to Healing Chronic Pain Naturally

A New Approach to Chronic Pain

If you’ve been told that you’ll just have to manage your chronic pain, you're not alone—and you're not out of options. Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT) offers something different: a science-backed, mind-body approach to pain that actually aims to eliminate it.

In this post, I’ll explain what Pain Reprocessing Therapy is, how it works, and why it could be the missing link in your healing journey—especially if you’ve tried everything and still feel stuck.

What is Pain Reprocessing Therapy?

Pain Reprocessing Therapy is a groundbreaking approach developed to treat neuroplastic pain—pain that originates in the brain, not the body. In other words, it's pain that’s real, but not caused by tissue damage or ongoing injury.

PRT helps rewire the brain’s response to pain signals so it no longer interprets harmless sensations as dangerous.

This method moves away from the model of managing pain with medications or endless physical therapy and instead targets the root cause—the brain’s interpretation of threat.

The Science Behind Pain Reprocessing

PRT is backed by neuroscience. Research shows the brain can generate real physical pain even in the absence of injury—often as a response to fear, stress, or unresolved emotion.

The brain learns pain through repeated neural pathways. When fear or hypervigilance is involved, the brain can stay stuck in a loop, interpreting safe signals as dangerous and sounding the “pain alarm” unnecessarily.

One key part of this process is the amygdala, the fear center of the brain. In chronic pain, it can become overactive—keeping your nervous system in a state of protection, even when you’re safe.

But thanks to neuroplasticity—the brain’s ability to change—this loop can be interrupted and retrained.

One of the most well-known studies on PRT, the Boulder Back Pain Study, found that 66% of people with chronic back pain became pain-free or nearly pain-free after just four weeks of PRT. That’s a big deal.

What Happens in a PRT Session?

A Pain Reprocessing Therapy session is a safe space to explore your symptoms through a brain-first lens.

Some of the tools and techniques we use include:

• Gathering evidence that your pain is neuroplastic (and not a structural danger)

• Somatic tracking to observe sensations without fear or resistance

• Reframing the thoughts and beliefs that feed the fear-pain loop

• Emotional awareness to identify and release underlying stress or suppressed emotion

You’ll learn to teach your brain safety rather than fear—because when the brain no longer feels like it needs to protect you, it stops sending pain signals.

What does Pain Reprocessing Therapy Help with?

PRT is ideal for people dealing with chronic pain without clear structural cause—especially when scans and tests show nothing alarming, yet the pain persists.

Conditions that often respond well to PRT include (but not limited to):

• Back and neck pain

• Migraines or chronic headaches

• Nerve pain and numbness

• TMJ and jaw tension

• Chronic pelvic pain

• Chronic stomach and digestive pain (IBS)

• Chronic pain related to disease (such as arthritis, fibromyalgia, scoliosis, etc.)

Even when pain began with an injury, if it continues beyond normal healing time, the brain may still be stuck in protection mode—and PRT can help gently guide it out.

Real Results: My Story + Client Successes

I personally used Pain Reprocessing Therapy to eliminate months of chronic shoulder pain. I hadn’t injured my shoulder, just noticed pain one day that didn’t go away. At first I thought I must have slept wrong, but eventually I started to loose strength in my shoulder and it started to limit my movement.

Once I started implementing the pain reprocessing steps, I was able to retrain the way I interpreted the pain, and it disappeared completely within a few weeks.

Since then, I’ve helped clients release:

• Migraines that came on weekly for for years

• Debilitating back pain no doctor could explain

• Chronic arthritis pain

• Sciatica and nerve-related symptoms

• Even scoliosis pain that had been constant for years

• Fibromyalgia pain and symptoms

These shifts weren’t temporary—they were sustainable, because we weren’t just chasing symptoms. We were teaching the brain and body to feel safe again.

How to Get Started with Pain Reprocessing Therapy

If you're wondering, “Could my pain be neuroplastic?”—you’re not alone. Most people with chronic pain are never told this is even a possibility.

The first step is awareness. From there, we begin to gently shift your brain’s perception of danger back to safety.

I offer one-on-one Pain Reprocessing Therapy sessions that combine brain retraining, somatic tools, and emotional release to help you create lasting relief.

Want to explore if this method is right for you? You can:

• Book a free 30-minute consultation with me

• Take my Neuroplastic Pain Quiz to find out more

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q: Is Pain Reprocessing Therapy the same as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)?

A: Not quite. While both involve changing thought patterns, PRT is more focused on teaching the brain safety through somatic tracking and direct work with the pain response. It's gentler, body-inclusive, and designed specifically for chronic pain.

Q: How long does PRT take to work?

A: Some people feel relief in the first session, while for others it’s more gradual. Neuroplasticity is unique to everyone, but with consistency, most people begin to notice meaningful changes within weeks.

Q: Is the pain really “all in my head”?

A: No—and that’s not what PRT teaches. All pain is generated in the brain, whether you have neuroplastic pain or structural damage. The pain is real and it’s equally as painful. Neuroplastic pain simply has a different source—your brain’s interpretation of threat, rather than from damage. The goal is to help your brain feel safe again so it can stop sending pain signals.

Q: Can I do PRT while still using other treatments?

A: Absolutely. You don’t have to give up anything that helps you. PRT complements physical therapy, medication, or other modalities—it simply adds a powerful mind-body piece that most approaches miss.

Final Thoughts

So, what is Pain Reprocessing Therapy? It’s a powerful, research-backed approach that helps you unlearn pain by teaching your brain that you're safe.

If you’re feeling stuck in your healing journey—frustrated by symptoms that won’t budge—PRT could be the piece you’ve been missing. Your pain isn’t your fault. And it’s not forever.

Your brain is capable of change. And that means healing is possible.