Recruiting

Pain Reprocessing Therapy

Sponsor:

Ottawa Hospital Research Institute

Code:

NCT07919626

Conditions

Chronic Pain

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18+

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Interventions

PRT (Pain Reprocessing Therapy)

Study Details

Brief summary:

The goal of this study is to find out if a one-time session of Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT) intervention improves participant's mood and pain. Participants in this 4 hours session will be 40 patients who've been referred to the The Ottawa Hospital Pain Clinic (TOHPC) for chronic pain.

The main questions of this study are:

  • Can we recruit 40 participants within 6 months?
  • Do at least 32 participants complete the session and answer follow up questions?
  • Does 1 session of PRT have a positive impact on participants' mood and pain?

Participants in this study will:

  • Attend 1 session of PRT.
  • Answer questions that relate to their experience of pain and their mood. They will answer these questions immediately before/after the session, 1 week after the session, and 1 month after the session.
  • After the session, some participants will participate in an interview to talk about their experience.

Conditions

Chronic Pain

Study ID

NCT07919626

Start date

Oct 16, 2026

Status verified date

Oct, 2026

Completion date

Oct 1, 2027

Anticipated

Primary completion date

May 1, 2027

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18+

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Minimum age of 18 years or older at time of consent.
  • Chronic pain persisting for a minimum of 3 months, consistent with the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) definition of chronic pain.
  • Self-reported 1-week average pain intensity score between 4/10 and 9/10 on the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI)12 at screening.

o Note: Individuals scoring less than 4/10 or more than 9/10 will be directed to other pain clinic workshops and available resources (e.g., Power Over Pain)
  • Referred to TOHPC and triaged by a registered nurse, nurse practitioner, or physician to the "diffuse pain" pathway;
  • Completed the initial pain clinic patient education and resource session (PERS) for patients triaged to the "diffuse pain" pathway;
  • Currently waiting for a 1st consultation with the Nurse Practitioner assigned to the "diffuse pain" pathway.
  • Able to read, write, and communicate in English at a level sufficient to engage with research team, the psychoeducational content, and to complete self-report measures.
  • Able to attend a single, in-person 4-hour group session at TOHPC in Ottawa on a scheduled weekday.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Active mental health symptoms that significantly interfere with the ability to engage with psychoeducational content (e.g., dissociation, active psychosis), or participate in a group setting
  • Cognitive impairment that significantly limits the ability to comprehend study information, provide informed consent, or meaningfully engage with psychoeducational content.
  • Scheduled for a major surgical procedure within the study timeframe.
  • Currently receiving other individual or group psychotherapy that directly targets pain, pain cognitions, or pain-related emotional responses within the 12 weeks prior to enrollment.
  • Currently receiving interventional pain management services (e.g., injections, nerve blocks) from another clinic or institution within the 12-week period prior to enrollment through the 3-month follow-up.

Study Design

Enrollment

40 participants

Anticipated

Intervention Model

Single group

Primary purpose

Treatment

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

experimental: Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT) session

Interventions

PRT (Pain Reprocessing Therapy)

The intervention involves a single 4-hour PRT in-person group session (up to 20 patients per group) at The Ottawa Hospital Pain Clinic, delivered by a PRT certified clinician.

The intervention is a brief mindfulness exercise (mindfulness of breath, energy, emotions, thoughts, sensations), followed by 90 minutes of didactic content focused on pain science education and foundation of pain reprocessing therapy. This includes interactive discussions, self-reflection, and skills building. This is followed by a brief exercise called predictive coding where participants are invited to draw a picture representing their pain. The remainder of the session includes gentle movement, somatic tracking, and practices to increase positive affect induction- specifically leaning into positive or neutral sensations and establishing short-term safety behaviours.

Primary outcome measure

  • Clinical Effectiveness: Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) Pain Intensity and Pain Interference [ Time Frame: Baseline, 1 week post-intervention, 1 month follow up. ]
  • Interview [ Time Frame: Interviews will be conducted within 6 months of participating in the PRT session. ]
  • Clinical Effectiveness: Pain Self-Efficacy Questionnaire (PSEQ-10) [ Time Frame: Baseline, 1 week post-intervention, 1 month follow up. ]
  • Clinical Effectiveness: Patients' Global Impression of Change (PGI-C) Scale [ Time Frame: 1 week post-intervention, 1 month follow up. ]
  • Clinical Effectiveness: Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS) [ Time Frame: Day of Intervention, 1 week post-intervention, 1 month follow up. ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Susan Ward, MSW

613-737-8899SWard@toh.ca

Research Co-ordinator

6137378899painresearch@toh.ca

Locations

The Ottawa Hospital

Recruiting

Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1H8L6

Principal Investigator:

Susan Ward, MSW

More Information

Sponsor

Ottawa Hospital Research Institute

Last update posted

Nov 5, 2026

Last verified

Oct, 2026

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-11-06. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by Ottawa Hospital Research Institute on 2026-11-05. Recruitment status is synced daily from ClinicalTrials.gov and may not reflect the sponsor's current status. Confirm during your call.