Healthcare Professionals
Evidence-Informed Resources for Chronic Pain Care
Improving chronic pain care involves shifting the focus from passive biomedical treatment aimed primarily at fixing pain toward person-centered care that supports active self-management.
This approach recognizes that chronic pain is a biopsychosocial experience and that effective care should consider the whole person, including function, emotions, beliefs, relationships, goals, and quality of life.
"Well explained. This is the kind of thought process that must reach not only patients but also more healthcare professionals."
- Person living with pain"I send your website and e-book to many of my patients. Thank you for all you do!"
- Zachary Grin, Doctor of Physical TherapyBest practices for chronic pain care
1. Recognize our humanity
Treat the person, not just the pain.
See people as people first - not pain numbers, appointment times, body parts, symptoms, or diagnoses. A person is more than the pain.
- No single contributor drives pain. Chronic pain is a biopsychosocial experience.
- A pain score doesn't fully capture a person's experience.
- Explore how chronic pain is affecting sleep, mobility, daily activities, relationships, work, and quality of life.
- Consider psychosocial factors such as catastrophizing, all-or- nothing thinking, fear, anxiety, helplessness, hopelessness, and fear avoidance when they're relevant to the person's experience.
- Treat the person as an equal through shared decision-making. Discuss benefits, risks, alternatives, uncertainties, and potential outcomes.
- Help the person identify what matters most to them and create meaningful goals.
2. Prioritize listening
Listen to the person's story.
The person sitting in front of you wants to be heard and believed. The pain is real. Taking time to listen can help you understand the person's experience, values, concerns, and hopes.
A conversation that makes someone feel safe enough to share their story can be an important part of person-centered care.
- Use open-ended questions and motivational interviewing strategies when appropriate.
- Listen without interruption, suspicion, or judgment.
- Repeat the person's story back to them to make sure you've understood it correctly.
- Remember that while the healthcare professional may understand the science and treatment options, the person is the expert on their own experience.
- Ask how chronic pain is limiting what they do, what they fear, what concerns them most, what makes symptoms better or worse, and what they hope to accomplish.
3. Choose your words with compassion
Language can inform - or unintentionally create fear.
The words healthcare professionals use, how they're delivered, and even body language can influence how a person understands and responds to chronic pain.
- Avoid language that may unintentionally create fear, anxiety, or invalidation.
- Be cautious with phrases such as "bone on bone," "wear and tear," "degenerative disease," "you look normal," or "the pain is in your head."
- Avoid unnecessarily alarming descriptions of imaging findings.
- Avoid excessive clinical jargon when simpler language would communicate the same information.
- Use clear, straightforward language and stories or metaphors when they help explain difficult concepts.
4. Incorporate active self-management
Help people develop skills they can use independently.
Active self-management can help people develop a sense of control, build confidence, and participate more actively in their healthcare.
- Encourage people to develop skills they can use outside the healthcare setting rather than relying entirely on healthcare providers or passive treatments.
- Help people identify practical behaviors and strategies that support their goals.
- Shift the provider's role toward that of a coach who validates, supports goal setting, develops skills, encourages behavior change, and builds self-efficacy.
- Use passive therapies when appropriate to facilitate participation in an active self-management program.
5. Help make sense of pain
Give people a useful explanation and a path forward.
People living with chronic pain often want two things: acknowledgment that the pain is real and a path forward.
Many become caught on what I call the pain merry-go-round - moving between providers, tests, procedures, medications, and searches for an explanation or cure, sometimes without finding answers that match their experience.
- Offer hope and cautious optimism. There may not be a quick fix, but the pain experience can change and people can learn to live well with chronic pain.
- Provide clear information and help dispel misconceptions that may be holding the person back.
- Incorporate pain neuroscience education into appropriate patient discussions.
- Explain how pain works and why symptoms can continue, helping people develop a more useful understanding of the pain experience.
- Explain that hurt doesn't necessarily equal harm. Pain can occur with little or no tissue damage, while findings on diagnostic imaging can also be present in people who have little or no pain.
- Emphasize functional goals and quality of life rather than making pain elimination the only measure of success.
- Transition from passive therapies toward active self-management when appropriate.
- Consider referral to professionals such as physical therapists, pain psychologists, occupational therapists, pharmacists, nutrition professionals, and formal interdisciplinary pain rehabilitation programs when their expertise can support the person's goals.
- Recommend trustworthy educational resources that can reinforce what's been discussed.
Featured clinical topics
Communication & listening
Explore practical ways to listen more effectively, build trust, create space for the person's story, and use communication to support meaningful change.
READ COMMUNICATION & LISTENING →Pain science & chronic pain
Explore contemporary pain science, the distinction between pain and nociception, and why pain severity doesn't always correspond with tissue damage or imaging findings.
EXPLORE PAIN SCIENCE →Person-centered chronic pain care
Explore how to see the person behind the pain, incorporate goals and values into care, use shared decision-making, and communicate in ways that inform rather than unnecessarily frighten.
EXPLORE PERSON-CENTERED CARE →Active self-management in pain care
Explore how healthcare professionals can help people develop knowledge, skills, confidence, and support while becoming active participants in their own care.
EXPLORE ACTIVE SELF-MANAGEMENT →Trusted information & research
A curated selection of research and clinical resources for healthcare professionals working with people living with chronic pain.
Motivational interviewing
Research and practical information about motivational interviewing and patient-centered communication.
MOTIVATIONAL INTERVIEWING →Positive language in pain consultations
Practical guidance on using positive, supportive language when communicating with people living with chronic pain.
EXPLORE POSITIVE LANGUAGE →Communicating about chronic pain
Guidance for clinicians on communicating effectively with people living with chronic pain.
VIEW CLINICIAN RESOURCE →International Association for the Study of Pain - chronic pain
Information and resources from the International Association for the Study of Pain on chronic pain, including education and resources relevant to healthcare professionals.
EXPLORE IASP CHRONIC PAIN RESOURCES →Noigroup
Education, courses, books, and resources focused on contemporary pain science and helping healthcare professionals improve pain care.
VISIT NOIGROUP →Is it time to reframe how we care for people with non-traumatic musculoskeletal pain?
A call to reconsider how healthcare is delivered to people living with chronic musculoskeletal pain.
READ THE ARTICLE →Systematic literature review of imaging features of spinal degeneration
A systematic review examining imaging findings of spinal degeneration in people without symptoms.
READ THE SYSTEMATIC REVIEW →Role of active versus passive approaches in pain management
Research examining the role of active versus passive approaches in pain management.
VIEW THE RESEARCH →Provider education
How to move patients from passive management to active self-management
A practical discussion of the shift from passive treatment toward active self-management, including how healthcare professionals can help people become more engaged in managing chronic pain.
READ THE MEDCENTRAL ARTICLE →Trapped by Chronic Pain? Break Free and Take Back Your Life
Tom Bowen's book explores modern pain science, acceptance, self-management, and practical strategies for helping people move forward with chronic pain.
EXPLORE THE BOOK →Chronic Pain Champions education course
A five-hour, self-paced course exploring chronic pain, modern pain science, acceptance, and active self-management strategies.
EXPLORE THE COURSE →Institute for Chronic Pain
Educational information about chronic pain, pain psychology, rehabilitation, and evidence-informed approaches to care.
VISIT THE INSTITUTE →Pain Toolkit
An accredited CPD online course designed for healthcare professionals who want to learn self-management skills.
EXPLORE PAIN TOOLKIT →Modern Pain Care
Education and resources focused on modern approaches to pain care, pain science, and whole-person care for healthcare professionals.
VISIT MODERN PAIN CARE →Evoolve Pain Care Academy
Clinician education focused on person-centred care and Cognitive Functional Therapy, with training designed to help clinicians improve care for people with musculoskeletal pain.
VISIT EVOOLVE PAIN CARE ACADEMY →Formal interdisciplinary pain rehabilitation
Formal interdisciplinary pain rehabilitation can provide people with chronic pain access to coordinated care from multiple professionals working toward shared functional goals.
Depending on the program, the team may include physicians, psychologists, physical therapists, occupational therapists, pharmacists, nutrition professionals, nurses, and other professionals.
Rehabilitation generally expands the focus beyond pain relief to include function, confidence, independence, self-management, and participation in meaningful activities.
Tom attended the three-week interdisciplinary Mayo Clinic Pain Rehabilitation Center program twice. His experience helped shape the patient-centered, active self-management approach behind Chronic Pain Champions.
READ TOM'S EXPERIENCE →Better chronic pain care begins with seeing the person behind the pain - listening to their story, building trust, providing hope, and helping them develop the skills and confidence to move forward.
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