Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Chronic Non-Malignant Pain: A Randomized Controlled Trial

This study is evaluating whether Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) helps adults with chronic non-malignant pain (pain lasting 3 months or longer that is not caused by cancer). Sixty adult participants (ages 18-60) were randomly placed into one of three groups: ACT, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), or Treatment as Usual (TAU, standard medical care only). Both ACT and CBT are delivered over 10 weekly sessions by a trained therapist. ACT focuses on helping people accept pain-related thoughts and feelings, become less controlled by unhelpful thinking patterns, and take action toward things that matter to them despite pain. CBT focuses on changing unhelpful thoughts about pain and building coping skills such as pacing and relaxation. The TAU group continues usual medical care without added psychological treatment. Participants complete questionnaires before and after treatment measuring pain intensity, pain acceptance, pain-related disability, psychological flexibility, catastrophic thinking about pain, anxiety, depression, and quality of life. The goal is to find out whether ACT works as well as, or better than, CBT, and whether either treatment works better than standard care alone.