Therapeutic Writing for Adults Suffering From Chronic Pain and Comorbid Mental Health Disorders
Key facts
- Who runs it
- Toni Salikka
- Where
- Finland1 site in 1 countryChoose a country to see its sites
- Trial code
- Status
- Withdrawn
- Started
- Sept 2025
- Ended
- Apr 2026
- Type of study
- Interventional
- Treatments tested
- Therapeutic Writing Intervention in Pain Rehabilitation
- Record updated
- 2 September 2026
- Why it stopped
- The collaborator could not proceed with the study due to personnel changes.
Who can take part
- Age
- 18 years and older
- Sex
- Women only
- Healthy volunteers
- Cannot take part
The registry criteria, word for word
Show all 13 criteriaShow less
Who can take part
- 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
Who cannot take part
- 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
- Presence of severe mental health disorders (e.g., schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, severe depression, or other psychotic conditions)
- Cognitive limitations that would hinder meaningful engagement in the writing intervention
- Individuals not assigned female at birth or who do not identify as women
This trial has no sites in United States.
It has sites in one country. Choose a country to see its sites.
About the trial
What the trial wants to find out
The goal of this observational study is to understand the effects and experiences of therapeutic writing interventions in adult women with chronic pain and co-occurring mental health conditions. The main questions it aims to answer are:
Read full original descriptionShow less
Can therapeutic writing help relieve chronic pain and emotional distress?
How does writing support emotional processing, regulation, and meaning-making during rehabilitation?
Participants will take part in a two-part writing intervention involving:
Guided writing exercises that focus on emotional processing, emotion regulation, and creating meaning.
Individual interviews after the writing sessions to explore their experiences.
The study uses qualitative analysis methods-phenomenology and logotherapy-to better understand how these writing interventions may support recovery, improve well-being, and offer non-pharmacological tools for managing chronic pain and mental health challenges.
The group in the trial
- Therapeutic Writing Intervention in Pain RehabilitationTreatment being tested
Participants in this single-arm study will take part in a structured therapeutic writing intervention as part of a multidisciplinary pain rehabilitation program at the Pain Clinic of Satasairaala Hospital. The study spans approximately three months and includes around 11 clinic visits. The intervention is delivered in two phases: first, four consecutive daily writing sessions (20 minutes each), followed by four weekly sessions (30-60 minutes each). Prior to the intervention, participants are assessed for eligibility by the clinic's multidisciplinary team and interviewed by the principal investigator. Post-intervention, participants are interviewed twice to explore their health-related experiences with the writing process.
Data and sources
- Registry record
- Listed on ClinicalTrials.gov.
- Official title
- Therapeutic Writing Intervention in Pain Rehabilitation
- Record updated
- 2 September 2026