Skip to main content
OpenTrials
Recruiting

NCT Number: NCT07137715

Psychological Options for Wellness and Recovery (POWeR) Trial for Veterans With Chronic Back/Neck Pain

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn which treatment works better for veterans with chronic neck or back pain. This study is comparing three treatments: Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), and usual care (whatever a person is already doing to cope with their pain).

The main questions the study aims to answer are:

1. Which treatment works better for lowering pain: PRT, CBT, or usual care? 2. How do the effects of PRT compare with CBT and usual care in terms of pain relief and other factors such as emotional functioning, quality of life, anxiety, and pain medication use?

Participants will:

1. Be randomly assigned to receive either PRT, CBT, or usual care. 2. Complete questionnaires about their pain and health. 3. If in the PRT or CBT group, have nine weekly therapy sessions over video calls with a therapist.

Recruiting

Interested in participating?

Request Info

Key information

Conditions

Chronic Pain Back Pain Back Pain Lower Back Chronic Neck Pain Neurologic Manifestations Pain Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms Signs and Symptoms

Age range

18 year and older

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System

Aurora, Colorado, 80045, United States

Location status: Recruiting

Location contact

Charlotte Nolan, MPA

CONTACT

Joseph W. Frank, MD, MPH

PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

About this study

The current leading psychotherapeutic treatment for chronic pain is cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT-CP), which has been found to be safe and modestly efficacious in the treatment of chronic back or neck pain (CBNP). The fundamental goal of CBT-CP is to encourage participants to adopt an active, problem-solving approach to managing the challenges associated with chronic pain. CBT-CP intervention follows a standard structure of 9 sessions with the following objectives: 1) reducing the negative impact of pain on daily life 2) improving physical and emotional functioning 3) increasing effective coping skills for managing pain 4) reducing pain intensity. Recent evidence shows CBT provides a 1-1.5 point reduction in pain intensity on an 11-point pain scale when compared to treatment as usual.

Using advances in neuroscience and psychology, investigators recently developed a novel psychological treatment called Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT). Using a combination of cognitive, exposure-based, and somatic psychotherapy techniques, PRT aims to promote patients' reconceptualization of pain as due to reversible, non-dangerous brain activity rather than peripheral pathology. Critically, PRT aims to reduce or eliminate pain, rather than merely increase functioning.

In the first trial of PRT (N = 151), 66% of patients randomized to PRT were pain-free or nearly pain-free at post-treatment, compared to fewer than 20% of those in the placebo and usual care control groups. PRT has several critical conceptual distinctions from CBT including different approaches to pain subtyping, a different understanding of chronic pain etiology, differing treatment goals (recovery vs. improved functioning), and a different focus on non-pain psychosocial threats. Given the conceptual differences and early existing promising efficacy data of PRT, a critical next step to achieve practical improvements in Veteran health is a comparative effectiveness trial of PRT vs. CBT in a Veteran Affairs (VA) clinic, utilizing VA clinicians, VA treatment infrastructure, and Veteran participants.

Aim 1 of this study is to test the comparative effectiveness of PRT to CBT and usual care on pain severity (primary outcome) for veterans with CBNP at post-treatment (primary endpoint) and one year follow-up.

Aim 2 of this study is to test the comparative effectiveness of PRT to CBT and usual care on secondary patient-reported outcomes measuring core outcome domains, quality of life, and opioid medication use.

Aim 3 of this study is to identify key barriers and facilitators of PRT response in a Veteran population using qualitative methods in a subsample of participants (n = 40) and in clinicians learning PRT.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • Adults (18 and older)
  • Be veterans
  • Have a history of chronic back or neck pain defined as pain at least half the days of the last 6 months.
  • Have moderate or greater pain, defined as pain intensity ≥4 in the past week

Exclusion criteria

Clinical presentation suggestive of back pain that is secondary or peripheral in nature, including self-reported leg pain that is worse than back pain (indicative of radiculopathy or sciatica), spine surgery within the past 6 months, fall, motor vehicle accident or other trauma related to back pain in the past 6 months, back pain due to an inflammatory disorder, infection, or malignant etiology as determined per medical provider review, known sensory abnormality in trunk or legs, recent large (>20 lbs) unexplained weight loss, difficulty controlling bowels (to screen out cauda equina syndrome), and self-reported diagnoses of specific inflammatory disorders (rheumatoid arthritis, polymyalgia rheumatica, scleroderma, Lupus, and polymyositis).

Additionally, patients who meet any of the following criteria are ineligible due to anticipated difficulties complying with study procedures:

  • Moderate or severe cognitive impairment
  • Unstable or severe untreated mental health condition, including active suicidal ideation
  • Unstable or end-stage medical disease including active cancer
  • Back surgery planned within the next 6 months
  • Inability to communicate by telephone or video, including inability due to housing instability
  • Current pain-related litigation outside the VA (service connection-related applications are not excluded)
  • Having engaged in CBT or PRT for chronic pain in the past 6 months
  • Participants may be excluded based on the discretion of PIs Ashar and Frank

Treatment and study plan

Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT)

Behavioral

A promising new psychotherapy for chronic pain

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Chronic Pain (CBT-CP)

Behavioral

A psychotherapy for chronic pain that has 30+ years of research support.

Other names: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

Usual Care

Other

Participants will be asked to continue to do whatever they are currently doing to manage their pain.

Other names: Treatment as usual

Primary outcomes

  1. Pain intensity

    Time frame: Post-treatment (at an average of 10 weeks) and 26, 39, and 52 weeks post-randomization

    Last-week average pain intensity is assessed via the Brief Pain Inventory Short Form (BPI-SF). The BPI-SF assesses pain severity and its impact on functioning. It consists of 9 total items including 4 pain intensity items and 5 pain interference items. The 4 pain intensity items measure pain in the last week on a numerical rating scale of 0 (no pain at all) to 10 (pain as bad as you can imagine).

Secondary outcomes

  1. Pain Interference

    Time frame: Post-treatment (at an average of 10 weeks) and 26, 39, and 52 weeks post-randomization

    Last-week average pain interference is assessed via the Brief Pain Inventory Short Form (BPI-SF). The BPI-SF assesses pain severity and its impact on functioning. It consists of 9 total items including 4 pain intensity items and 5 pain interference items. The 5 pain interference items measure the impact of pain on General Activity, Mood, Walking Ability, Normal Work, Relations with other people, Sleep, and Enjoyment of Life. Each area is rated on a numerical rating scale from 0 (does not interfere) to 10 (completely interferes).

  2. Satisfaction with Life

    Time frame: Post-treatment (at an average of 10 weeks) and 26, 39, and 52 weeks post-randomization

    Satisfaction with Life is assessed via the self-reported 5-Item Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS). The SWLS measures an individual's global life satisfaction. Each item is rated on a 7-point Likert scale (1=Strongly Disagree and 7=Strongly Agree). The ratings are summed to determine an overall score.

  3. Depression

    Time frame: Post-treatment (at an average of 10 weeks) and 26, 39, and 52 weeks post-randomization

    Depression is assessed using the self-reported 4-item Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System Depression Short Form 4a (PROMIS-Depression-SF 4a). The individual items measure negative mood, loss of interest, helplessness, and hopelessness over the past 7 days. Each item is scored 1-5, and raw scores are then converted to a T-score using pre-determined cut-offs.

  4. Anxiety

    Time frame: Post-treatment (at an average of 10 weeks) and 26, 39, and 52 weeks post-randomization

    Anxiety is assessed using the self-reported 4-item Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System Anxiety Short Form 4a (PROMIS-Anxiety-SF 4a). The form's items measure an individual's fear, worry, tension, and difficulty concentrating over the past 7 days. Each item is scored 1-5, and raw scores are then converted to a T-score using pre-determined cut-offs.

  5. Fatigue

    Time frame: Post-treatment (at an average of 10 weeks) and 26, 39, and 52 weeks post-randomization

    Fatigue is assessed using the self-reported 4-item Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System Fatigue Short Form 4a (PROMIS-Fatigue-SF 4a). The form's items measure an individual's fatigue intensity, fatigue frequency, fatigue-related difficulty initiating actions, and feelings of energy depletion. Each item is scored 1-5, and raw scores are then converted to a T-score using pre-determined cut-offs.

  6. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Symptoms

    Time frame: Post-treatment (at an average of 10 weeks) and 26, 39, and 52 weeks post-randomization

    PTSD symptoms are assessed using the self-reported 6-item Primary Care PTSD Screen for DSM-5 (PC-PTSD-5). All items are Yes/No questions. The first item screens whether the respondent has experienced a traumatic event, and the other five items assess how this trauma has affected them over the past month. The score is the number of Yes answers to the last five items. Respondents who answer No to the first item receive a score of 0 and do not answer the remaining items.

  7. Client satisfaction

    Time frame: Post-treatment (at an average of 10 weeks) and 26, 39, and 52 weeks post-randomization

    Client Satisfaction is assessed the Patients' Global Impression of Change (PGIC). The PGIC is a three-item self-report scale that measures a patient's belief about the efficacy of treatment for their physical health, emotional health, and pain severity. Each item is rated on a 7-point scale of 1 (Very much worse) to 7 (Very much improved).

  8. Medication Use

    Time frame: Post-treatment (at an average of 10 weeks) and 26, 39, and 52 weeks post-randomization

    Medication use is assessed in two ways: 1) electronic health record review and 2) patient self-report of past-week frequency of medication, drug, or supplement use to manage pain.

Study contacts

Contact information is provided by the study sponsor or research team.

Jonathan K Ashar, PhD

CONTACT

[email protected]

303.724.2536

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

University of Colorado, Denver

Other

Collaborators

  • United States Department of Defense
  • VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System

Registry information

Official study title

Pain Reprocessing Therapy for Veterans With Chronic Back Pain: Comparative Efficacy and Facilitators and Barriers to Implementation

Acronym: POWeR

Important dates

Study start
2026
Primary completion
2028
Study completion
2028
First posted
Aug 22, 2025
Registry last updated
Mar 31, 2026

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

Related clinical trials

Published trials that share one or more normalized conditions with this study.