The Language of Pain
Principal Investigator: Dr Rebecca Stancliffe
The Language of Pain is an arts and health research project that gives ‘voice’ to the invisible and often denied experience of chronic illness and pain. Devised in response to the evaluation findings of Trinity Laban’s Singing for Pain Management programme (2021), the practice-led research started with a co-designed pilot study (2023). A working group was then formed. From September 2023 to June 2025, The Language of Pain Collective explored themes and ideas arising from the pilot study through discussion, somatic- informed creative practice, as well as reviewing literature, artwork, and media materials.
In the most recent phase of the project (2025-2026), the collective sought to establish their practice and explore the mediatisation of pain narratives. Through arts-based methods, underpinned by somatic practice, the practice research explores what is means to live well with chronic pain and interrogates understandings and orientations toward chronic pain. By listening to pain rather than seeking to cure it, the project resists the deficit model of ill-health and emphasises chronic illness as a socially situated and embodied phenomenon.
The creative research is co-constructed, centres lived experience and is grounded in shared leadership and collective decision-making. Our creative research takes place solely online to accommodate our health and comfort needs, addressing the need for and importance of remote practice for public engagement. We adopt an ethics of care where the body comes first, we show up as we are, and resist performing wellness.
Join our free online event on Tuesday 15 September 2026 to learn more about the project.
The project report
The Language of Pain features in the National Centre for Creative Health’s Research Round-Up 2025
Further reading and media
Listen to Rebecca Stancliffe, Ruth Barber, and Jo Young talk about The Language of Pain on the ResDance podcast.
Watch Somatic weather: An artistic response to The Language of Pain project by Dominique Rivoal and Peter Nagle
Read or listen to blogs by the project co-researchers:
- We are not silenced by Tim Atkinson
- When we name the pain, we make room for healing by Jo Young
- Do they feel what I feel? Being part of The Language of Pain project by Ruth Barber
- Inner child creativity: Unleashing a less constricted, more open, expressive self by Rob Miller
- Finding a liminal space: A space without borders or judgement by Tefnut Huntress Asante
- A call for a philosophical approach to chronic pain by Mira Hirtz
- The natural world transports me beyond the confines of domestic enclosure by Emma Saunder and Rebecca Stancliffe
- Watch Transcending boundaries and The Language of Pain: “Better Together” conference presentation at NSCD
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.