The Pain Course: Examining a low-intensity Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) program for chronic pain when administered via the internet versus workbook

Participants will be randomly assigned to one of two groups: (1) a group who receive the Pain Course via the internet, and (2) a group who receive the Pain Course via a hardcopy workbook. All participants will meet diagnostic criteria for chronic pain (i.e. pain lasting longer than 6 months). All participants will complete 5 lessons of the Pain Course, which provide information about the management of symptoms of chronic pain and anxiety, depression and disability associated with pain. One lesson will be completed every 7 to 10 days. Each lesson will take about 15 minutes to complete. Participants will also have access to summaries of each lesson, and will read anonymous stories about other people with chronic pain, taking a further 20 minutes per summary. Participants in both groups will have the option of weekly telephone calls or emails from a trained and supervised Psychologist at the eCentreClinic to provide support, encouragement and to answer questions about the content of the Course. The duration of the program is 8 weeks. Study questionnaires will be administered at application, pre-treatment, post-treatment, and at 3 and 12 month follow-up. Some questionnaires will be administered weekly during the Course. The major sets of questionnaires will take about 10 to 15 minutes to complete. The treatment materials are based on previous internet-based programs, which apply cognitive behavioural techniques.