The Language of Pain
Principal Investigator: Dr Rebecca Stancliffe
The Language of Pain is an arts and health research project that ‘voices’ the invisible and often denied experience of chronic pain.
Devised in response to the evaluation findings of Trinity Laban’s Singing for Pain Management programme (2021), the research has three core aims
- Understanding the role of the arts in living well with chronic pain
- Exploring the expression of pain narratives through arts-based methods
- Foregrounding experiential knowledge in research by working towards co-production
Project overview
Pilot study
The Language of Pain used arts-based methods to explore the lived experience of chronic pain. A co-produced pilot study (2022-2023) involved an arts facilitator, occupational therapist, academic, and experts by experience (people living with chronic pain) who collectively set the research agenda, identified research priorities, and co-designed the project.
The Language of Pain features in the National Centre for Creative Health’s Research Round-Up 2025
Phase 2: Working group
The Language of Pain Collective formed in 2023 to explore the themes arising from the pilot study through discussion, somatic practice, movement exploration, creative writing, and visual art. The collective is a group of nine creative individuals united by lived experience of ill-health, a belief in the power of creative practice, and the wish to express that which often remains invisible: the experience of pain and how it defines the body. Drawing from expertise as movement practitioners, writers, crafts professionals, media artists, and lived experience, together we explore the intersection of art and health.
Phase 3: Multimedia film
Since September 2025, we have been working on a multimedia film, which aims to increase awareness of what it means to live with chronic illness and pain by expressing experiences and knowledge that are often denied or overlooked, thereby making it accessible to others. The film will be launched in September 2026 to coincide with Pain Awareness Month.
Background for The Language of Pain
Chronic pain is defined as pain persisting longer than three months and is one of the most prominent causes of suffering and disability worldwide. Chronic pain affects a significant minority of the population; approximately ten to twenty percent of the global population and between one-third and one-half of the UK population. These numbers are expected to increase with ageing populations. Yet, despite its prevalence, the diagnosis of chronic is not always straightforward. Some people wait years to find out what is wrong, and even longer to find relief that works for their pain.
In 2021, Trinity Laban delivered Singing for Pain Management as part of Singing for Good Health a community arts programme for people living with long-term health conditions funded by the Greenwich Charitable Trust. Evaluation gathered since September 2019 indicates that singing has a positive impact on happiness and stress levels and improves social interaction. The 2021 evaluation of Singing for Pain Management highlighted several research priorities:
- The need to work with lived experience experts to better tailor creative arts programmes that meets their needs, interest, and priorities
- To work with diverse stakeholders to understand the benefit and impact of the arts on health and wellbeing
- A greater need to understand what it means to live well with chronic pain to challenge deficit models of ill-health
These priorities formed the basis for The Language of Pain pilot study.