Pain Psychology Center

What Pain Psychology Center does

Pain Psychology Center is a private Benefit Corporation founded in 2013 and headquartered in Beverly Hills, California, that delivers psychotherapy services to individuals suffering from chronic pain conditions, including chronic back and neck pain, fibromyalgia symptoms, headaches, irritable bowel syndrome, chronic fatigue, dizziness, and related psychophysiologic presentations. Its core proprietary offering is Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT), a system of psychological techniques developed by founder Alan Gordon, LCSW, that targets learned neural pathways and aims to deactivate chronic pain signals through somatic tracking, conditioned response retraining, and emotional safety messaging, drawing on the neuroplasticity of the brain. Clinical validation comes from a randomized controlled study conducted with the University of Colorado Boulder (n=100), in which 98% of PRT recipients improved and 66% were pain-free or nearly pain-free at end of treatment, with outcomes largely maintained at one year.

The center's product surface extends beyond PRT to include Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Psychodynamic Therapy, Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP), hypnotherapy and guided meditation, mindfulness training, and a Pain Recovery Coaching service delivered by certified coaches. Sessions are offered virtually and in-office, with a distributed network of licensed, PRT-certified therapists across multiple U.S. cities (Beverly Hills, Portland, Minneapolis, Sacramento) and internationally (Mallorca, Spain). Patient acquisition is sales-led and content-driven: prospective clients book via the website contact form or a phone line, with founder Alan Gordon's work amplified through major earned-media placements and the consumer book 'The Way Out.' The organization also conducts and publishes clinical research, trains clinicians in PRT, and maintains institutional ties with the University of Colorado Boulder, the US Department of Veterans Affairs, UCLA (dental resident teaching), the Psychophysiologic Disorders Association, and the Association for Treatment of Neuroplastic Symptoms.

Revenue is generated on a fee-for-service professional-services model from individual therapy sessions and coaching, with pricing not publicly disclosed and determined on a per-client basis following intake; Good Faith Estimates are provided to uninsured or self-pay clients under applicable healthcare billing regulations. The center is founder-led by Alan Gordon alongside Executive Director Vanessa Blackstone, with a named leadership bench across clinical direction, clinical research and development, intake, and supervision. The company shows no disclosed venture or private-equity funding, no parent company, and no M&A activity, consistent with a founder-controlled, cash-funded specialty practice.

Name

Pain Psychology Center

Legal name

Pain Psychology Center

Website

https://painpsychologycenter.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Pain Psychology Center is a Beverly Hills-based Benefit Corporation that treats chronic pain through psychotherapy, anchored by its proprietary Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT) protocol delivered by a distributed network of licensed clinicians via virtual and in-office sessions.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Chronic Pain Therapy Services

NAICS

Offices of Mental Health Practitioners (except Physicians) (621330)

SIC

Services-Specialty Outpatient Facilities, Nec (8093)

akta.pro primary industry

Pain Management Clinics (Interventional & Medical) (HLAFABAH)

Keywords

• Chronic pain therapy
• Pain reprocessing therapy
• Mind-body treatment
• Neuroplastic pain treatment
• Psychotherapy services

Headquarters

HQ city

Beverly Hills

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Psychotherapy / Therapy Sessions: The Pain Psychology Center generates revenue by providing psychotherapy sessions to chronic pain patients. Sessions are offered both virtually and in-office, and clients can book appointments via a contact form or phone. The center operates on a fee-for-service model for individual therapy sessions, with pricing not publicly disclosed and determined on a per-client basis following intake.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Pain Psychology Center provides individual psychotherapy sessions to chronic pain patients using a proprietary treatment protocol called Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT), which retunes neural pathways in the brain to deactivate learned pain signals. Services are delivered one-on-one both virtually and in-office, and are supported by adjunct modalities (CBT, ISTDP, hypnotherapy, mindfulness) along with a published book, 'The Way Out', that introduces the PRT approach to a consumer audience.

Product overview

Pain Psychology Center is a Benefit Corporation specializing in the treatment of chronic pain through psychotherapy. The company offers a multi-modality therapeutic approach centered on Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT), their proprietary treatment system that rewires neural pathways in the brain to deactivate chronic pain. Their services include individual therapy sessions (both virtual and in-office), pain recovery coaching, and professional training. The therapeutic toolkit includes Pain Reprocessing Therapy (with somatic tracking as a core technique), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Psychodynamic Therapy, ISTDP, Hypnotherapy/Guided Meditation, and Mindfulness Training. They also publish 'The Way Out,' a book by founder Alan Gordon introducing their approach to healing chronic pain.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT) A system of psychological techniques that retrains the brain to respond to body signals properly, deactivating chronic pain by rewiring learned neural pathways; delivered as one-on-one psychotherapy for individuals suffering chronic pain.
• Individual Therapy Sessions (Virtual and In-Office) One-on-one PRT-based therapy sessions delivered either remotely or at the Beverly Hills office, targeting chronic pain, fatigue, dizziness, depression, anxiety, and related mind-body symptoms in adult clients.
• Pain Recovery Coaching One-on-one coaching provided by certified pain recovery coaches (several of whom have personally recovered from chronic pain) to guide clients through PRT-based recovery between or in lieu of clinical sessions.
• The Way Out (Book) Consumer book by Alan Gordon and Alon Ziv that introduces the PRT approach to a general audience, sold through major book retailers as an educational and demand-generation product.

Quantifiable outcome

• 98% of patients improved using Pain Reprocessing Therapy in a randomized controlled study at the University of Colorado Boulder.
• +3 more outcomes

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Psychophysiologic Disorders Association (PPDA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe directors of the Pain Psychology Center developed the existing treatment outline for the Psychophysiologic Disorders Association and provide trainings to psychotherapists across the country. This is a foundational partnership in the development and dissemination of the PRT treatment model.
• University of Colorado BouldercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe center partnered with University of Colorado Boulder to conduct a landmark randomized controlled study validating Pain Reprocessing Therapy as the most effective current treatment for chronic pain. 100 chronic back pain patients participated, with 98% improving and 66% becoming pain-free or nearly pain-free.
• University of Colorado Boulder / US Department of Veterans AffairscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJohn Gasienica, Director of Clinical Research & Development at the center, conducts research utilizing PRT with both the University of Colorado and the US Department of Veterans Affairs, expanding the clinical evidence base for PRT.
• UCLAminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerVanessa Blackstone, Executive Director, currently teaches UCLA dental residents treating orofacial pain, integrating PRT education into medical professional training.
• Association for Treatment of Neuroplastic Symptoms (ATNS)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerVanessa Blackstone serves as a board member of the Association for Treatment of Neuroplastic Symptoms, supporting broader education, advocacy, and access to care for neuroplastic symptoms. This partnership advances industry-wide awareness and adoption of the center's treatment approach.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Curable: Curable is a digital chronic pain program that uses a mind-body, neuroscience-based approach (including pain reprocessing concepts) delivered via an app. It is the closest direct competitor to Pain Psychology Center's PRT methodology, targeting the same chronic pain patient with a self-guided, lower-cost alternative.
• Lin Health: Lin Health is a digital therapeutic platform specifically designed for chronic pain, combining pain neuroscience education with behavioral coaching. It targets the same chronic pain patient segment with a similar mind-body repositioning framework, competing for the same outcome-driven consumer.

Broad incumbents

• Hinge Health: Hinge Health is a large digital musculoskeletal platform serving employers and payers with virtual PT, coaching, and educational programs for back, joint, and chronic pain. It overlaps with Pain Psychology Center in chronic back pain and MSK pain but operates at much greater scale through enterprise channels.
• Sword Health: Sword Health is a virtual MSK care provider combining AI-guided exercise therapy with clinician oversight, sold to employers and health plans. While its primary modality is exercise rather than psychotherapy, it competes for the same chronic pain patient through employer benefits channels.
• BetterHelp: BetterHelp is the largest online therapy platform, connecting consumers with licensed therapists via subscription. It is a broader incumbent in the same psychotherapy delivery category, where chronic pain patients may choose general therapy over a specialty pain-focused practice.
• Lyra Health: Lyra Health is a mental health benefits platform sold to employers, providing access to therapists and coaches. It represents the B2B mental health channel that Pain Psychology Center could pursue but currently lacks infrastructure to access, making it an adjacent incumbent.
• Talkspace: Talkspace is an online therapy platform offering individual and couples therapy via subscription, with B2B employer and payer contracts. It competes for the same virtual therapy consumer and employer-channel relationships as Pain Psychology Center, though without the chronic pain specialization.
• Sondermind: Sondermind operates a national network of in-network therapists and matches patients based on specialty, including chronic conditions. It is a comparable multi-state outpatient mental health provider network model, though not pain-specialized.

Emerging players

• Mahana Therapeutics: Mahana Therapeutics develops FDA-cleared digital therapeutics for conditions with psychophysiologic components, including IBS. Its approach shares conceptual DNA with Pain Psychology Center's targeting of brain-gut and mind-body mechanisms, making it a comparable emerging player in the digital pain/symptom category.

Others

• Cleveland Clinic Pain Management Programs: Cleveland Clinic operates one of the largest academic pain management centers in the US, combining interventional, medical, and behavioral approaches. It represents the established institutional pain management category that Pain Psychology Center's PRT aims to disrupt through a purely behavioral alternative.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks3 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/painpsychologycenter
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/pain-psychology-center

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Pain Psychology Center