Group Acceptance and commitment therapy for Crohn’s Disease pain

Summary

Up to 7 in 10 people with Crohn’s disease experience long-standing pain, which greatly reduces their quality of life. Although treatments aim to reduce the severity of pain, it remains present even when their gut symptoms are well controlled. 

Acceptance and commitment therapy  is a form of talking therapy that takes a different approach. Acceptance and commitment therapy starts by accepting that pain will not go away quickly. Acceptance and commitment therapy encourages the person to think more flexibly and focus on positive activities that they value, even when they continue to experience pain. This approach has proven to be effective at improving quality of life in people with long-standing pain in other conditions but has not been tested in people with Crohn’s disease and long-standing pain.  

In this study, we will recruit 48 people with Crohn`s disease also have long-standing abdominal (tummy) pain. All participants will be randomly allocated to the intervention arm, who will begin the group sessions first, and the control arm, who will complete the groups later. Each participant will be given questionnaires to monitor their pain and mood and take part in 8 weeks of Acceptance and commitment therapy – for 90 minutes once per week in a group of 8 patients – led by an experienced psychologist.