Writing as medicine: can words soothe chronic pain?
NCT ID NCT07058532
First seen Sep 02, 2026 · Last updated Sep 03, 2026 · Updated 1 time
Summary
This study looks at whether a guided therapeutic writing program can help adult women with chronic pain and co-occurring mental health conditions. Participants will complete writing exercises focused on emotional processing and meaning-making over four weeks, then share their experiences in interviews. Researchers will use qualitative methods to understand how writing may support emotional regulation and well-being during pain rehabilitation. The goal is to see if writing offers a useful, non-drug complement to standard pain care.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- A guided therapeutic writing intervention delivered in two phases over four weeks, designed to support emotional processing and regulation in women with chronic pain and co-occurring mental health conditions.
- What this could lead to
- If writing helps, it could offer a low-risk, non-drug tool to support emotional processing and well-being during pain rehabilitation.
- What could go wrong
- This is a small observational study, so it cannot prove cause and effect. Results may not apply to all people with chronic pain, and writing may not ease pain for everyone.
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Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Not a phased trial
Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.
- Expected to start
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Sep 2025
An estimate. Start dates often move.
- Expected to finish
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Apr 2026
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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18 years and older
- Sex
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Female participants only
- Healthy volunteers
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Not accepted
This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: * Adult women (18 years or older), assigned female at birth and self-identify as women * Diagnosed with or experience of chronic, widespread (non-cancer) pain lasting at least two years * Diagnosed with or living with one or more mild mental health disorders (e.g., anxiety, mild depression), without current or past severe psychiatric conditions * Diagnosed with or experience of nociplastic pain (e.g., fibromyalgia) * Not currently using medications that may impair cognitive functioning (e.g., benzodiazepines, anticholinergics, opioids, antipsychotics) * Able to attend approximately 11 in-person visits over a 3-month period * Willing and able to participate in a structured therapeutic writing intervention * Purposefully selected to reflect a range of lived experiences relevant to the study's aims Exclusion Criteria: * Presence of severe mental health disorders (e.g., schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, severe depression, or other psychotic conditions) * Use of medications known to impair memory, attention, or decision-making (e.g., benzodiazepines, anticholinergics, opioids, antipsychotics) * Participation in other concurrent treatments that may influence study outcomes * Cognitive limitations that would hinder meaningful engagement in the writing intervention * Individuals not assigned female at birth or who do not identify as women
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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Satasairaala Hospital, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation: Pain Clinic
Pori, Satakunta, 28500, Finland
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