Single Session Pain Psychology Treatment: Comparative Efficacy & Mechanisms

"Empowered Relief (ER): A single-session skills-based approximately 2-hr group intervention to treat chronic pain.~Format of intervention: Therapist-delivered PowerPoint presentation with experiential exercises. Experienced senior level psychologist and two (2) additional doctoral level psychologists will conduct the ER sessions.~Content of intervention: ER Participants have the 'ER Relaxation Resource' app (guided relaxation audiofile) loaded on their apple or android electronic device."

"Format of intervention: 8-week Manualized Pain-CBT Group Intervention will be delivered by PhD-level psychotherapists (3 in total). The group is run weekly for 8 consecutive classes. Each class is 2 hours with a midpoint break (16 hours total intervention time).~Content of intervention: The protocol and materials were developed with funding from NIH/NCCAM R01 AT006226 (Dan Cherkin, PI) \[1\& 2\], and include content from a pain-CBT program developed by Drs. Ehde, Dillworth, and Turner \[3\].~Participants receive a workbook with homework and a copy of The Pain Survival Guide: How to reclaim your life © 2005 by Turk \& Winter \[4\] for optional reading."

"Format of intervention: The HE class will be instructor taught and will involve a PowerPoint presentation and handouts. Two additional providers will be identified and trained to conduct the sessions. Selected instructors will have substantial health education experience.~Content of intervention: HE content will include basic information such as nutrition and interacting with the healthcare system; these relatively 'inert' topics are unlikely to impart any specific effects typically found with a true psychobehavioral intervention."