Explore Our

Pain Program

for Veterans of the Canadian Armed Forces

Our Pain Program is currently only available to Veterans of the Canadian Armed Forces.

Complete the Intake Form to start your pain healing process.

Intake Form

What We Offer

Our Veteran Pain Program is geared towards serving veterans who have been struggling with pain and have had trouble obtaining the relief that they are seeking or getting to the bottom of what maintains their pain.

Pain does not have to be chronic.

Our approach is geared towards helping veterans better understand the emotion-physiology and mind-body connection in an experiential way that puts the control of the pain back in the hands of the veteran.

We offer a tiered and personalized treatment approach that assesses the veteran’s psychological functioning, psychodynamic processes, tolerance for internal emotional processing, and pain belief system.

Wondering if this program is right for you?

Our pain program is designed specifically for veterans who have undergone medical testing (e.g. CT, MRI, bloodwork etc.) and treatment (e.g. surgery, physiotherapy) but have found no physical cause for their pain or have not experienced pain relief from typically beneficially medical treatments.

  • The intake assessment involves a pain focused assessment that explores the veteran’s pain related symptoms, triggers, and belief system. We also assess their psychodynamic emotional processing and current functioning. Based on this information we collaborate with the veteran to generate their treatment plan.

  • The Pain Reprocessing Therapy group provides veterans with education on pain neuroscience and concrete exercises to address their pain. A veteran-specific group offers a supportive peer environment where participants can feel understood by others with shared service experiences, which can reduce isolation and make it easier to apply pain-management strategies with confidence.

    Click here to learn more about our PRT group.

  • The Emotional Awareness and Expression Therapy group integrates pain neuroscience education with experiential and relational approaches, such as emotional exposure, self-compassion, and addressing interpersonal patterns that contribute to and maintain physical pain. This veteran-specific group similarly offers a supportive peer environment where participants can feel understood by others with shared service experiences, which can reduce isolation and facilitate a safe environment in which to express their emotions underlying their physical symptoms.

    Click here to learn more about our EAET group.

  • Individual therapy within our Pain Program is focused on addressing the veteran’s underlying psychodynamic processes of emotional triggers to physical pain. For veterans who are interested in engaging in this approach and for veterans who group therapy is not a good option, we will thoughtfully match the veteran with a clinician for individual therapy.

    Click here to learn more about our individual therapy for pain.

Our Process

Plan with Purpose

The Intake Assessment provides us with the information to help us tailor a treatment plan that works for your individual psychological needs. We will meet you where you are on your pain recovery journey.

Collaboration

We facilitate collaboration between you, your VAC case manager, and your team of clinicians involved throughout the process to more effectively meet your needs within your circle of care.

Progress monitoring

We track your progress throughout your engagement within the Pain Program. Through a combination of completion of measures and check-in meetings with your clinicians, we will keep an eye on your response to treatment to help inform us of your needs.

Outcome focused

Our goal is to team up with you to work on addressing your somatic pain difficulties. We take a feedback-informed approach to help you move towards your target outcome.

Pain Reprocessing Therapy Group

A core option within the program is the Pain Reprocessing Therapy group, a structured psychological approach that helps retrain the brain’s interpretation of pain signals. PRT uses education, attention retraining, gentle somatic awareness, and emotional processing to reduce the pain-fear cycle and support recovery. In a recent pilot study with veterans, group-format telehealth PRT was found to be associated with meaningful pain reduction.

This group format offers veterans a supportive, shared environment where they can learn from both the therapist and one another while practicing new ways of responding to pain. The goal is not simply to cope with pain, but to help shift the nervous system out of persistent alarm and toward greater safety, flexibility, and resilience.

Format:

1) 90 minute free online information session with opportunity for Q & A.

2) Group structure: 8 weeks long, 1 session per week, 2 hours per session, maximum of 8 participants in a group

3) Post-group individual integration session to consolidate learning, review progress, and engage in any further treatment planning.

If you’re interested in joining our group, start the intake process by completing our intake form

Intake form

Research studies:

Our Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT) group is grounded in a growing evidence base showing that chronic pain can sometimes be maintained by the brain’s learned threat response rather than ongoing tissue damage alone. In the original randomized trial of PRT for chronic back pain, many participants improved substantially, and more recent veteran-focused research suggests that group-delivered PRT is feasible, acceptable, and helps reduce pain and disability in veterans with chronic back and neck pain.

  • Ashar, Y. K., Gordon, A., Schubiner, H., Uipi, C., Knight, K., Anderson, Z., Carlisle, J., Polisky, L., Geuter, S., Flood, T. F., Kragel, P. A., Dimidjian, S., Lumley, M. A., & Wager, T. D. (2022). Effect of pain reprocessing therapy vs placebo and usual care for patients with chronic back pain: A randomized clinical trial. JAMA Psychiatry, 79(1), 13–23. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2021.2669

  • Holens, P., et al. (2021). A group-based chronic pain intervention using the Unlearn Your Pain method: A retrospective one-arm cohort study. Journal of Military, Veteran and Family Health. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.3138/jmvfh-2021-0049

  • Wynia, Z., Gasienica, J., Amondson, R., Heil, J., Nolan, C., Cox, L., Truesdell, V., Frank, J. W., & Ashar, Y. K. (2026). Group-format pain reprocessing therapy in veterans with chronic back/neck pain: A pilot study with mixed methods evaluation. The Journal of Pain, 45, Article 106322. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpain.2026.106322

  • Ashar, Y. K., et al. (n.d.). Psychological Options for Wellness and Recovery (POWeR) trial for veterans with chronic back/neck pain (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT07137715). ClinicalTrials.gov. Retrieved September 14, 2026, from https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT07137715

Emotional Awareness and Expression Therapy Group

Another core option within the program is the Emotional Awareness and Expression Therapy group. The group explores how unprocessed emotions and responses of the nervous system related to stress and trauma, and relationship patterns can contribute to and amplify physical pain, while learning skills to recognize, safely express, and respond to emotions. Through guided discussion and evidence-informed exercises, participants build greater emotional awareness, self-compassion, and confidence in managing emotional triggers to pain.

This group format similarly offers veterans a supportive, shared environment where they can feel understood and safe to explore the underlying emotional triggers to their physical pain.

Format:

1) Individual trial session of EAET to explore the modality

2) Group structure: 8 weeks long, 1 session per week, 2 hours per session, maximum of 8 participants in a group

3) Post-group individual integration session to consolidate learning, review progress, and engage in any further treatment planning.

If you’re interested in joining our group, start the intake process by completing our intake form

Intake form

Research studies:

EAET has a growing evidence base for reducing chronic pain, particularly in people whose pain is linked with stress, trauma, emotional conflict, or central sensitization. Randomized trials including group-based studies with older veterans experiencing chronic musculoskeletal pain have found greater reductions in pain severity with EAET than with CBT, alongside improvements in related emotional symptoms for some participants.

  • Lumley, M. A., & Schubiner, H. (2019). Emotional awareness and expression therapy for chronic pain: Rationale, principles and techniques, evidence, and critical review. Current Rheumatology Reports, 21(7), Article 30. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11926-019-0829-6

  • Yarns, B. C., Lumley, M. A., Cassidy, J. T., Kates, J. H., & Schubiner, H. (2020). Emotional awareness and expression therapy achieves greater pain reduction than cognitive behavioral therapy in older adults with chronic musculoskeletal pain: A preliminary randomized comparison trial. Pain Medicine, 21(11), 2811–2822. https://doi.org/10.1093/pm/pnaa145

  • Yarns, B. C., Lumley, M. A., Kates, J. H., Cohen, E. R., & Schubiner, H. (2024). Emotional awareness and expression therapy vs cognitive behavioral therapy for chronic pain in older veterans: A randomized clinical trial. JAMA Network Open, 7(6), e2417071. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.17071

  • Ziadni, M. S., Sturgeon, J. A., & Lumley, M. A. (2022). “Pain, stress, and emotions”: Uncontrolled trial of a single-session, telehealth, emotional awareness and expression therapy class for patients with chronic pain. Frontiers in Pain Research, 3, Article 1028561. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpain.2022.1028561

  • Patient perspectives on the process and outcome of group emotional awareness and expression therapy for chronic pain.(2026). Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10880-026-10125-4

Individual Therapy for pain

Our individual therapy option for veterans offers a focused, depth-oriented approach to work with the emotional and relational factors that can drive both psychological distress and pain. Using a psychodynamic framework, sessions attend closely to the body, emotion, and defenses, helping veterans understand how past experiences, trauma, and patterns of coping may contribute to current symptoms, while building new ways of relating to themselves and others.

Psychodynamic approaches such as Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP) and Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy (AEDP) have growing evidence for reducing chronic pain, trauma-related symptoms, depression, and interpersonal difficulties, and can be especially useful for complex, long-standing problems. In individual therapy, veterans receive tailored support at their own pace, with an emphasis on safety, emotional processing, and lasting change rather than brief symptom management.

ISTDP and psychodynamic therapy for chronic pain – key studies

  • Abbass, A., Town, J., & Kisely, S. (2022). Intensive short-term dynamic psychotherapy for pain. Journal of Anesthesiology and Pain Therapy, 3(2), 4–7. https://www.anesthesioljournal.com/articles/intensive-short-term-dynamic-psychotherapy-for-pain.html

  • Abbass, A., Town, J., Holmes, H., Luyten, P., Cooper, A., Russell, L., Lumley, M. A., Schubiner, H., Allinson, J., Bernier, D., De Meulemeester, C., Kroenke, K., & Kisely, S. (2020). Short-term psychodynamic psychotherapy for functional somatic disorders: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 89(6), 363–370. https://doi.org/10.1159/000507738

  • Chavooshi, B., Saberi, M., Tavallaie, S. A., & Sahraei, H. (2017). Psychotherapy for medically unexplained pain: A randomized clinical trial comparing intensive short-term dynamic psychotherapy and cognitive-behavior therapy. Psychosomatics, 58(5), 506–518. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psym.2017.01.003

  • Karimi, M., Belyad, M., Peymani, J., Soumar, N. H., & Bagheri, M. Z. (2023). Comparing the effectiveness of intensive short-term dynamic psychotherapy and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy on emotional-cognitive regulation in patients with chronic pain. Iranian Evolutionary and Educational Psychology Journal, 5(3), 258–279. https://doi.org/10.22034/5.3.258

  • Lilliengren, P., Cooper, A., Town, J. M., Kisely, S., & Abbass, A. (2020). Clinical- and cost-effectiveness of intensive short-term dynamic psychotherapy for chronic pain in a tertiary psychotherapy service. Australasian Psychiatry, 28(4), 414–417. https://doi.org/10.1177/1039856220901478

  • Nakhaei Moghadam, R., Bahrainian, S. A., & Nasri, M. (2024). Effectiveness of intensive short-term dynamic psychotherapy on attachment styles, somatization, and health anxiety in patients with chronic pain. Journal of Assessment and Research in Applied Counseling, 6(1), 142–149. https://doi.org/10.61838/kman.jarac.6.1.16

  • Ronen-Setter, I. H., & Cohen, E. (2020). Becoming “teletherapeutic”: Harnessing accelerated experiential dynamic psychotherapy for challenges of the COVID-19 era. Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy, 50(4), 265–273. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10879-020-09462-8

  • Yarns, B. C., Lumley, M. A., Kates, J. H., Cohen, E. R., & Schubiner, H. (2024). Emotional awareness and expression therapy vs cognitive behavioral therapy for chronic pain in older veterans: A randomized clinical trial. JAMA Network Open, 7(6), e2417071. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.17071

Let’s work together

If you would like to work with us, complete the intake form. We'll review your message and aim to get back to you within 48 business hours.

We accept third party referrals as well as self-referrals of interested veterans.

Intake form