Pain Disengagement Training (Open Pilot)
Pain Disengagement Training: A Self-directed Intervention for Pain Catastrophizing (Open Pilot)
Massachusetts General Hospital
10 participants
Oct 14, 2025
INTERVENTIONAL
Conditions
Summary
The investigators aim to conduct an open pilot trial to determine the initial feasibility of a self-directed writing-based intervention in individuals with chronic musculoskeletal pain and elevated pain catastrophizing. The investigators will assess the feasibility of recruitment, acceptability of the treatment, credibility and participant satisfaction, treatment adherence, and feasibility of assessments following pre-specified benchmarks.
Eligibility
Inclusion Criteria7
- Outpatient adults (i.e., greater than or equal to 18)
- Has self reported chronic musculoskeletal pain (i.e., pain persisting for at least 3 months)
- Pain score greater than or equal to 4 (moderate) on the Numerical Rating Scale
- Pain catastrophizing score greater than or equal to 20 on Pain Catastrophizing Scale
- Willingness to engage in a writing-based intervention and self-reported ability to write or type for at least 30 minutes in a sitting
- Received care at Massachusetts General Hospital
- English verbal and writing fluency
Exclusion Criteria5
- Clinically significant change in therapy or medication in the past 3 months
- Severe untreated mental health condition (e.g., psychosis)
- Active suicidality with history of plan or current intent
- Serious illness expected to worsen in the next 6 months (e.g., cancer)
- Untreated substance use problem that, per patient's self-report, would interfere with the ability to complete the intervention.
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Interventions
The intervention involves approximately 8 sessions. The first session will involve a psychoeducation component describing the association between negative emotions and pain and the rationale for the intervention strategies. The intervention sessions will consist of approximately 30 minutes of writing alternating between imaginal exposure writing and positive writing periods alternating back and forth (e.g., 3-5 minutes of imaginal exposure writing followed by 3-5 minutes of positive writing before returning to imaginal exposure writing, etc.). Exposure writing will involve writing about a pain-related catastrophic worry repeatedly until it becomes less anxiety-provoking. The positive writing topics will change with each prompt and will be structured by session theme (e.g., values/goals, meaningful activities). They will also complete between session practice by setting aside a time for worrying and then completing a meaningful activity.
Locations(1)
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NCT06870162