​Pain science shows that chronic pain is a functional condition, meaning that pain is caused by changes in the functioning of the brain rather than due to injury or disease affecting the structure of the body. After acute injury, the brain sends alarm signals that there is a threat. This is helpful because it alerts us to tend to the injury. Pain becomes chronic after the acute injury has healed but the brain continues to send alarm signals. The brain becomes more protective and more sensitive to pain. In this case, hurt ≠ harm. This is the not the same thing as saying it's all in your head or that chronic pain is in any way your fault. It is not a matter of "willing yourself" to stop your brain from sending pain signals.

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Pain science shows that pain reprocessing works to reduce chronic pain by teaching the brain that the body is safe and there is no acute injury to attend to. The functional processes within our nervous system become less hypervigilant (i.e., less reactive in terms of assessing for potential threat) to the internal threat of pain. Things that help communicate internal safety (i.e., decouple pain and fear) to the brain include cognitive coping strategies, emotion regulation, physiological regulation (i.e., learning how to monitor and adjust nervous system activity), and engaging in meaningful recreation, hobbies and relationships. ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​