What Is Pain Reprocessing Therapy?

by Sipora | Nov 16, 2025 | Chronic Pain, Vulvodynia

What is Pain Reprocessing Therapy?

Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT) is a cognitive and somatic therapy that helps people heal from chronic pain syndromes. PRT doesn’t just help you manage pain, it helps you heal it and finally find relief. Chronic pain originates from the brain. Importantly, PRT uses techniques that bring about neuroplasticity- the brain’s ability to change through learning or unlearning. The brain then reinterprets the signals as a false alarm, and subsequently stops the pain signals.

Chronic pain management is NOT the goal! Healing and relief IS the goal.

Chronic Pain Is Big Business

A 2021 study found that individuals with chronic pain had an additional total annual medical expenditures of $8068 and additional lost productivity of $2923 per person compared to people without chronic pain. In 2023, it was found that 25% of adults in the United States suffered from chronic pain.

People living with chronic pain are often desperate for relief. That desperation can lead to unnecessary or risky surgeries that may not help—and sometimes create complications. Others turn to medications like addictive opioids. Many people flock to Chiropractors or expensive time-consuming physical therapy. Others spend thousands of dollars on naturopaths and supplements. While some do get help from chiropractors and supplements, more often, it’s a lot of money down the drain with not much relief. Overall, the result is a painful cycle of symptoms, fear, and frustration that can feel impossible to escape.

Pain Reprocessing Therapy in Ventura can help!

What is Pain?

Pain is an alarm system that alerts your brain that you are in danger. Pain screams- Seek help now! This is a great thing if you’ve burned your hand or broken your leg. But when pain becomes chronic, there’s nothing physically wrong with your body. Chronic pain moves to a different part of the brain that is involved in emotional circuits and reward centers. Chronic pain becomes a brain feedback loop that is perpetuated by fear, worry, and anger. Importantly, Pain Reprocessing Therapy helps shift- “this pain means damage” to “this pain is a false alarm.”

The more fear and worry, the longer the chronic pain lasts.

Pain Reprocessing Therapy Tools

Pain Reprocessing Therapy has a few core tools. The first tool that I teach my Ventura, California clients is -sending yourself messages of safety. Remind yourself- “There is nothing wrong with my body, I am safe. These sensations are coming from my brain and messages of safety help to rewire my brain”.

Secondly, I teach my clients the skill of somatic tracking. Somatic tracking is mindfully paying attention to pain sensations without fear, worry, or trying to get rid of the pain. Again, this is another way to teach your brain these sensations are safe, promoting neuroplastic brain change.

Pain Reprocessing Therapy Results

Pain Reprocessing Therapy alone has helped people suffering with chronic back pain, pelvic pain, migraines, fibromyalgia complex regional pain syndrome, and more.

The 2021 Boulder Back Pain Study tested Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT) on people suffering with chronic back pain. Participants who received PRT had major improvements, with the majority becoming pain-free or nearly pain-free by the end of the four-week treatment. Additionally, brain imaging also showed reduced activity in pain-related areas, suggesting the brain was no longer generating the same pain signals.

For many people, PRT alone can be enough to stop the pain loop. For others, they might need additional tools to support and calm the nervous system and help with processing trauma.

pain reprocessing therapy california

Pain Reprocessing Therapy in Ventura, California

Reach out for support. As a chronic pain therapist, I see clients in person at my Ventura therapy office (close to Ojai, Santa Barbara, Oxnard, Thousand Oaks) and also offer online sessions to individuals anywhere in California. My goal is not just chronic pain management. Using PRT and other transformational therapies, my goal is to help people finally find relief from chronic pain.

References:

Hashmi JA, Baliki MN, Huang L, Baria AT, Torbey S, Hermann KM, Schnitzer TJ, Apkarian AV. Shape shifting pain: chronification of back pain shifts brain representation from nociceptive to emotional circuits. Brain. 2013 Sep;136(Pt 9):2751-68. doi: 10.1093/brain/awt211. PMID: 23983029; PMCID: PMC3754458.

https://www.ninds.nih.gov/news-events/directors-messages/all-directors-messages/nih-heal-initiativer-promising-path-forward-pain-research

Guy GP Jr, Miller GF, Legha JK, Rikard SM, Strahan AE, Mikosz C, Florence CS. Economic Costs of Chronic Pain-United States, 2021. Med Care. 2025 Sep 1;63(9):679-685. doi: 10.1097/MLR.0000000000002181. Epub 2025 Jul 3. PMID: 40730349.

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