Where to Book PRT (Pain Reprocessing Therapy) and What to Look for in a Provider
- Cynthia Austin, NBC-HWC
- May 29
- 4 min read
If you have been searching for pain reprocessing therapy, you already know something important: the standard options have not been enough. You have probably tried physical therapy, medication management, injections, or some combination of all three, and the pain is still there.
PRT is a different kind of approach entirely, and finding the right provider matters.
This post explains what PRT is, who delivers it, what to look for when booking, and how My Pain Coach fits into that picture.
What Is Pain Reprocessing Therapy?
Pain reprocessing therapy is a structured approach to chronic pain developed by Alan Gordon, LCSW, and the Pain Reprocessing Therapy Center. It is grounded in the neuroscience of how the brain constructs the pain experience. The core principle is this: for many people living with chronic pain, especially when no ongoing structural damage is present, the brain has learned to generate pain as a protective response, even when that protection is no longer needed.
A landmark randomized clinical trial published in JAMA Psychiatry in 2022 found that after eight weeks of PRT, nearly two thirds of participants were pain free or nearly pain free, and those results held at one year follow up. That is not a small finding. It is one of the most significant pain outcomes in recent research history.
PRT works by helping the nervous system reappraise pain signals. Instead of treating pain as evidence of ongoing injury, a person learns to observe pain with curiosity rather than fear, interrupting the pain fear cycle that keeps the brain generating more pain signals.
This is not about minimizing what you feel. Your pain is real. The question PRT asks is: what is actually driving it?
Who Delivers PRT?
PRT is delivered by certified providers who have completed training through the Pain Reprocessing Therapy Center. Providers come from a range of professional backgrounds including licensed therapists, psychologists, board-certified health coaches, and other clinicians. What they share is a foundation in pain neuroscience and specific training in the PRT protocol.
When you are searching where to book pain reprocessing therapy, the credential to look for is a PRT certification through the Pain Reprocessing Therapy Center. Beyond that, look at whether the provider integrates PRT into a broader framework of support. Pain that has been present for months or years rarely resolves through any single tool in isolation. The most effective PRT providers work within a context that also addresses nervous system regulation, behavior change, and the full picture of how pain has shaped your daily life.
What to Expect When You Book
A good PRT provider will not simply walk you through a protocol. They will take time to understand your pain history, your previous treatments, what has and has not helped, and what your daily life actually looks like.
Before beginning any work, they should confirm that you have had a thorough medical evaluation and that serious structural causes have been ruled out. PRT is designed for primary chronic pain, meaning pain that is maintained by central nervous system processes rather than active tissue damage.
You should also expect some conversation about your readiness. PRT requires engagement. It asks you to pay attention to your pain in a new way, which can feel unfamiliar and sometimes temporarily uncomfortable. Providers who are honest about that upfront are the ones worth trusting.
Sessions are typically delivered virtually, which makes access significantly easier for people managing chronic pain. You do not have to drive across town on a hard day. You show up from where you are.
How My Pain Coach Incorporates PRT
At My Pain Coach, PRT is one of the core tools woven throughout the C.H.A.N.G.E. Lab: Chronic Pain Edition. The program integrates PRT techniques with nervous system science, evidence informed behavior change, and more than eighteen additional tools developed specifically for people living with chronic pain.
Cynthia Austin, NBC-HWC, is PRT certified through the Pain Reprocessing Therapy Center and brings both professional training and lived experience to this work. The C.H.A.N.G.E. Lab is not a passive course. It is a structured, active coaching program that combines self paced learning with weekly live coaching sessions, creating the consistency and support that lasting change requires.
The pain coaching program serves people living with fibromyalgia, chronic back pain, neck pain, migraines, and conditions that have not responded to traditional treatment. Sessions are fully virtual, available across the United States and internationally.
Is This Right for You?
PRT is most appropriate when a thorough medical evaluation has been completed, when serious structural conditions have been ruled out, and when you are open, even if not fully convinced, to the idea that the nervous system is playing a role in your pain. You do not have to believe it completely at the start. You do need to be willing to engage with the possibility.
If you are ready to find out whether this approach is a fit, the next step is a free thirty minute consultation. That conversation is not a sales pitch. It is a real conversation to determine whether the program is appropriate for where you are right now.
Cynthia Austin, NBC-HWC is a National Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach, certified pain coach, and PRT certified provider specializing in chronic pain coaching for people living with fibromyalgia, chronic back pain, neck pain, migraines, and conditions that have not responded to traditional treatment. My Pain Coach serves clients online across the United States and internationally.
