Happy despite pain: Pilot study of a positive psychology intervention for patients with chronic pain

The results of this pilot study about the potential effects of a positive psychology intervention for chronic pain patients may be encouraging, warranting a larger randomized controlled study. Future studies may also concentrate on integrating positive psychology techniques into existing treatments, such as composite CBT-programs for chronic pain patients. Our advice is that positive psychology interventions are not to be regarded as stand-alone treatments for this group of patients, but may potentially enhance the effect of other interventions. However, when and for which patients these techniques may be recommended is to be explored in future research.