Pain Reprocessing Therapy in Vancouver.

What is Pain Reprocessing Therapy?

PRT is a psychological approach to persistent pain that addresses how the brain interprets body sensations. It aims to change learned patterns of threat, fear, and avoidance that can help maintain pain.

Neuroplastic pain describes pain in which nervous-system processes play an important role beyond what ongoing tissue damage adequately explains. This does not mean pain is imagined. Physical and neuroplastic contributors can coexist.

Start with an explanation that fits.

A normal scan alone does not prove pain is neuroplastic. We consider your history, examination, previous investigations, and whether further medical assessment is needed before choosing this approach.

PRT may be relevant when pain persists beyond expected healing or when nervous-system sensitization appears to contribute. New, changing, or unexplained symptoms deserve appropriate medical evaluation. We keep that distinction part of the conversation throughout care.

What do PRT sessions involve?

• Pain education. Develop an understandable account of how pain can persist and how it relates to your own experience.
• Somatic tracking. Practise noticing sensations with curiosity and reduced threat, at a pace that feels manageable.
• Working with fear. Explore the meanings, expectations, and habits that can reinforce a pain–fear cycle.
• Returning to activity. Gradually rebuild confidence in appropriate movement and everyday activities.

I use PRT principles throughout my pain care and offer dedicated PRT sessions for chronic neuroplastic pain when appropriate. The work can sit alongside physical rehabilitation and other care.

Evidence & realistic expectations.

A randomized trial found meaningful benefit from PRT in selected adults with primary chronic back pain. That finding does not establish the same response for every diagnosis or every person with persistent pain.

Sessions can bring attention to uncomfortable sensations or emotions. We work collaboratively, adjust the pace, and reassess if symptoms change or the approach is not helping. There is no requirement to push through pain or to adopt an explanation that does not fit your clinical situation.

Common questions.

Learn more.

These resources explain the approach and the evidence discussed above. Research findings are interpreted in the context of your diagnosis and care.

• Pain Reprocessing Therapy patient information ↗
• Randomized trial in primary chronic back pain · JAMA Psychiatry ↗

Page updated November 2026.

Care with Dr. Jeff Martineau, BScH, BHSc, ND

Start with your priorities.

Care is offered at Healthcode Regenerative in Vancouver. My approach brings assessment, shared decisions, and ongoing follow-up together. Learn about my education and clinical training, or begin with a meet and greet to discuss whether the practice fits your needs.