Pain Recovery Program

Overview

Camden Center’s Pain Recovery Program offers a comprehensive approach to the treatment of chronic pain that integrates the highest quality medical, psychotherapeutic, and somatic treatments into personalized treatment plans for each patient.

Patients in our Pain Recovery Program have access to the most up-to-date, evidence-based treatments for chronic pain administered by a diverse team of expert clinicians, and each patient works directly with David Schechter, M.D, an internationally recognized expert in the treatment of complex chronic pain.

Expertise in Pain Medicine

Dr. Schechter is widely recognized as one of the early pioneers of integrative treatments for chronic pain. He has written numerous academic journal articles on chronic pain and is the author of six books for the public on the treatment of chronic pain.

Truly Integrated Treatment

Chronic pain is experienced in the brain in proximity to emotional processing centers. Addressing the psychological and biological components of chronic pain simultaneously is often necessary to achieve recovery. The Camden Pain Recovery Program helps patients return to a state of health and resilience by treating both the biological and emotional components of chronic pain while gradually increasing activity levels.

In addition to Dr. Schechter’s decades of experience treating chronic pain, patients have the benefit of working with a multidisciplinary team of expert clinicians that can include internal medicine physicians, psychiatrists, psychotherapists, body work/massage therapists, yoga or pilates specialists, physical therapists, fitness trainers, and coaches.

Individualized Care

At Camden Center, each patient’s treatment team is created specifically for them. No two patients have the same schedule or treatment plan, and each patient’s treatment is evaluated each week, with changes made in real time based upon feedback and progress.

Like all programs at Camden Center, the Pain Recovery Program is offered at multiple levels of care depending upon each patient's individual needs. Patients may live independently or at Camden Residences while participating in the program.

Terminology and Diagnosis—Neuroplastic Pain

The model used in this program is an updated, evidence-based extension of the work pioneered by John E. Sarno, M.D., at NYU’s Rusk Institute. Dr. Sarno referred to this condition as TMS—Tension Myoneural Syndrome. Dr. Schechter learned this modality directly from Dr. Sarno.

In recent years, newer terminology has emerged. The terms nociplastic pain and neuroplastic pain are now often used to describe this phenomenon. These terms highlight a key shift – moving the focus away from the pain itself and toward its origins in the central nervous system. This newer approach emphasizes the interaction between the cognitive, emotional, and autonomic systems in the generation and experience of pain.

Another concept in modern integrative pain management is neural circuit disorder, emphasizing the brain’s capacity to rewire itself through neuroplasticity. Recovery is based in part on reconceptualizing pain—not as an inevitable consequence of injury or disease, but as a reversible signal generated by neural pathways.

This approach encourages:

Understanding the role of underlying emotions, stress, and trauma.
Viewing pain as a brain-based signal rather than structural damage.
Gradually increasing physical activity to retrain the nervous system.