Treatment outcomes in group‐based cognitive behavioural therapy for chronic pain: An examination of PTSD symptoms

Abstract

Pain-focused CBT programs yield clinically meaningful improvements in pain and comorbid symptoms of depression and anxiety, but may have little effect on comorbid PTSD. This raises the issue of whether current pain-focused CBT programs can be modified to improve outcomes for comorbid conditions, perhaps by better targeting of psychological flexibility, and/or whether separate treatment of PTSD may be associated with improved pain outcomes.