A group-based chronic pain intervention using the Unlearn Your Pain method: A retrospective one-arm cohort study

Abstract

Introduction: Chronic pain is a prevalent health issue in military and Veteran populations. The current retrospective one-arm cohort study sought to determine whether a group-based chronic pain intervention, using the Unlearn Your Pain method, was effective in reducing chronic pain in military and Veteran participants. Methods: Retrospective chart reviews were conducted for 21 military and Veteran patients who participated in a 10-week group intervention based on the Unlearn Your Pain method at a specialized outpatient clinic that focuses on the mental health needs of this population. The intervention included psychoeducation on the mind-body connection, discovering and addressing personal sources of stress, mindfulness exercises, and brain retraining exercises. All participants completed questionnaires on pain severity, pain-related disability, and pain-related fear of movement at pretreatment and posttreatment time points, while a subset also completed these measures after an eight-week follow-up. Another subset completed a measure of pain-related catastrophizing at pretreatment and posttreatment. Results: Over the course of the 10-week program, participants experienced large effects-size reductions in total pain and pain-related catastrophizing, moderate changes in sensory descriptors of pain, and small changes in affective descriptors of pain, average pain, pain-related disability, and pain-related fear of movement. Participants who completed measures at the eight-week follow-up experienced greater improvements, with all effects in the large and moderate range. Discussion: These results off er preliminary support for using the Unlearn Your Pain method in a group format with military and Veteran populations. Further studies should be conducted using randomized controlled trials and larger sample sizes to support the eff ectiveness of this treatment approach.