Healing from Within

Launched in Spring 2025, Healing from Within is a groundbreaking program that empowers participants to explore evidence-based mind-body approaches to managing chronic pain. The program integrates Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT), Emotional Awareness & Expression Therapy (EAET), and mindfulness-based techniques to help individuals address the root causes of persistent pain and reclaim a sense of safety and well-being in their bodies. 

Chronic pain is a widespread issue with profound personal and societal impact. According to the CDC, approximately 51.6 million adults in the United States (about 20.9% of the population) experienced chronic pain in 2021, with 17.1 million suffering from high-impact chronic pain that limits daily activities. 

According to the 2024 National College Health Assessment, 66% of University of Rochester undergraduates and 70.8% of graduate students reported seeking care from a health or mental health professional for chronic pain—compared to 69.4% of undergraduates and 68.9% of graduate students nationally. 

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Research Supports These Methods 

A growing body of research demonstrates that mind-body approaches such as Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT), Emotional Awareness and Expression Therapy (EAET), and mindfulness-based interventions can significantly reduce chronic pain by targeting the brain’s role in pain perception and regulation. 

• The Boulder Back Pain Study (2019), led by Dr. Yoni Ashar and colleagues, was a groundbreaking randomized controlled trial evaluating the effectiveness of Pain Reprocessing Therapy. The study found that 73% of participants were pain-free or nearly pain-free after just four weeks of PRT, with gains maintained at one-year follow-up. This marked one of the most successful clinical trials ever conducted for chronic back pain. 

• Ashar et al. (2022) further demonstrated that PRT led to substantial reductions in pain intensity and pain-related fear in individuals with chronic back pain and fibromyalgia. Functional MRI scans in this study showed decreased activity in brain regions associated with threat perception and increased activity in areas linked to safety and positive emotion—providing neurological evidence for the therapy’s effectiveness. 

• Emotional Awareness and Expression Therapy (EAET) has also shown promise in treating chronic pain. Research by Lumley & Schubiner (2019) and others has shown that EAET can outperform traditional Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), particularly in conditions like fibromyalgia. Patients receiving EAET reported greater reductions in pain severity and more frequent achievement of clinically significant improvement. 

• Neuroimaging research shows that chronic pain sensitizes the central nervous system, creating a cycle of heightened pain sensitivity and fear. However, therapies like PRT and EAET help disrupt this cycle. For example, Apkarian et al. (2011) found that chronic pain is associated with functional and structural changes in the prefrontal cortex and limbic system, but these changes can be reversed through psychological and mindfulness-based interventions. 

• Mindfulness-based approaches have been shown to reduce pain-related activation in the primary somatosensory cortex while increasing activity in the prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate cortex, which are involved in cognitive control and emotion regulation (Zeidan et al., 2011). These brain changes help individuals uncouple pain sensation from emotional distress, improving quality of life even when physical symptoms persist. 

• Additional studies by Williams et al. (2020) and Vachon-Presseau et al. (2016) support the idea that addressing the brain’s interpretation of pain—through psychological safety, emotional processing, and attention retraining—can lead to long-lasting relief even in the absence of structural abnormalities. 

• Ashar, Y. K., Gordon, A., Schubiner, H., Uipi, C., Knight, K., Anderson, Z., … & Lumley, M. A. (2021). Effect of pain reprocessing therapy vs placebo and usual care for patients with chronic back pain: A randomized clinical trial. JAMA Psychiatry, 78(11), 1231–1240. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2021.2669 
• Lumley, M. A., Schubiner, H., Lockhart, N. A., Kidwell, K. M., Harte, S. E., Clauw, D. J., & Williams, D. A. (2017). Emotional awareness and expression therapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy, and education for fibromyalgia: A cluster-randomized controlled trial. PAIN, 158(12), 2354–2363. https://doi.org/10.1097/j.pain.0000000000001036 

• Apkarian, A. V., Hashmi, J. A., & Baliki, M. N. (2011). Pain and the brain: Specificity and plasticity of the brain in clinical chronic pain. Pain, 152(3), S49–S64. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pain.2010.11.010 

• Zeidan, F., Grant, J. A., Brown, C. A., McHaffie, J. G., & Coghill, R. C. (2011). Mindfulness meditation-related pain relief: Evidence for unique brain mechanisms in the regulation of pain. Neuroscience Letters, 520(2), 165–173. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neulet.2012.03.082 

• Williams, D. A., Kuper, D., Segar, M. L., Mohan, N., & Schubiner, H. (2020). Psychological therapies for the treatment of chronic pain in adults. In S. W. Smith (Ed.), Contemporary Clinical Neuroscience: Pain Management. Springer. 

• Vachon-Presseau, E., Roy, M., Martel, M. O., Albouy, G., Chen, J., Budell, L., … & Rainville, P. (2016). The stress model of chronic pain: Evidence from basal cortisol and hippocampal structure and function in humans. Brain, 136(3), 815–827. https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/aws371