AUTHOR=Ziadni Maisa S. , Sturgeon John A. , Lumley Mark A. 

TITLE=“Pain, Stress, and Emotions”: Uncontrolled trial of a single-session, telehealth, emotional awareness and expression therapy class for patients with chronic pain

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Pain Research

VOLUME=Volume 3 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/pain-research/articles/10.3389/fpain.2022.1028561

DOI=10.3389/fpain.2022.1028561

ISSN=2673-561X

ABSTRACT=Objectives: Trauma- and emotion-focused chronic pain interventions, particularly Emotional Awareness and Expression Therapy (EAET), show much promise for reducing pain and improving functioning. We developed a novel, single-session, telehealth-delivered EAET class (“Pain, Stress, and Emotions”; PSE) and tested it on adults with chronic pain of mixed etiology. 

Methods: After an initial developmental phase, we conducted an uncontrolled trial, providing PSE to 74 individuals with chronic pain (63.5% female; 64.9% White; 60.8% with pain duration > 5 years) in four class administrations. Participants completed self-report measures (primary outcomes: pain intensity and pain interference) at baseline and multiple follow-ups to 12 weeks. Linear mixed-models examined changes over time, and effect sizes were calculated on change from baseline to 4-week (primary endpoint) and 12-week follow-ups. The trial was registered with clinicaltrials.gov (NCT05014126)

Results: Participants reported high satisfaction with the PSE class. Pain intensity showed a significant, medium reduction across time (p <.001; d = 0.60 at 4 weeks); one-quarter of participants had clinically meaningful pain reduction (> 30%). Pain interference had a large reduction (p < .001; d = 0.74). There were significant but smaller improvements in most secondary outcomes (ds= 0.15 to 0.55; ps < .01). Effects were generally maintained or increased at 12-week follow-up. Higher education and baseline ambivalence over emotional expression predicted greater pain reductions.

Conclusions: People taking this EAET class had reduced pain severity and interference and improvements in other pain-related outcomes. The single-session, telehealth class holds promise as an easily delivered, efficient, and potentially impactful intervention for some patients with chronic pain, although controlled trials are needed.