At Noosa Confidential, we believe true healing starts by addressing the pain beneath the pattern.
For many, the journey into addiction began with one thing: pain. Pain from a physical injury or illness, or pain from emotional trauma or stress—either way, it often leads to seeking relief. Pain medication may offer short-term comfort, but over time, it can pull people into a cycle of dependency that feels impossible to escape.
We see this every day at Noosa Confidential—individuals who were prescribed medication for pain, only to find themselves caught in a loop they never expected. The truth is: you can’t treat addiction without treating the pain that started it.
That’s
why we integrate cutting-edge, evidence-based pain management into every recovery program. Drawing on the latest research in pain neurophysiology, we offer innovative treatments, such as onsite Virtual Reality (VR) therapy, specifically designed to address
the intricate link between chronic pain and addiction. This emerging technology provides a powerful new avenue for long-term relief and sustainable recovery.
Chronic pain—defined as pain lasting longer than three months—extends far beyond the physical timeframe that most tissue takes to heal. It can restrict movement, disturb sleep, fuel anxiety and depression, and chip away at overall quality of life. For many, prescription medication becomes the only source of relief, unknowingly opening the door to increased tolerance, dependence and addiction.
Our brains are actually wired in a way that links pain and pleasure. The parts of the brain that feel pain are closely connected to the parts that feel reward and pleasure. This becomes a problem when strong painkillers, like opioids, are used. These medications not only reduce pain—they also trigger the brain’s reward system, which can make people feel good. Over time, this “feel-good” effect can lead to dependence.
Long-term (chronic) pain doesn’t just affect the body—it reshapes the brain. Neuroimaging studies1 have shown that chronic pain leads to measurable changes in brain regions responsible for both pain perception and reward processing. These changes include a reduction in gray matter in key areas like the prefrontal cortex and thalamus—regions critical for decision-making, emotional regulation, and processing pain. As gray matter decreases, so can the brain’s ability to manage emotions, think clearly, and regulate impulses. This can make it even harder to cope with pain and increases vulnerability to maladaptive coping strategies, including substance use.
Add
to this, we see that chronic pain changes how the brain’s networks can actually talk to each other. The default mode network (DMN)—which is normally active when your mind is at rest or daydreaming—starts to connect more with areas that process pain. This means
that even when you're not doing anything, your brain may stay focused on pain, making it feel more constant and harder to escape2.
These
structural changes help explain why an estimated 21-29% of patients prescribed opioids for chronic pain misuse them, and why conventional treatment approaches often fall short3.
According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, in 2024 opioid use accounted for the largest proportion (28%) of the illicit drug use burden, followed by amphetamine use (25%), cocaine (11%) and cannabis (6.9%) (REF
4).
This is why standard treatments often don’t work—they don’t address how pain and addiction are deeply linked in the brain.
Over time, the central nervous system becomes hypersensitive (in the research this is known as central sensitisation). This leads to the brain producing pain more efficiently and at lower thresholds, which overprotects long after the original injury has healed. This creates a self-perpetuating loop known as the pain cycle—where pain leads to fear, stress, and avoidance, which in turn reinforces behaviours that maintain sensitisation of the central nervous system equalling further pain experiences. This psychological burden can lead to feelings of hopelessness and isolation further drives this cycle of self-medication. This creates what pain specialists now recognize as a "pain-addiction continuum" , where the boundaries between treating pain and feeding addiction become increasingly blurred.
At Noosa Confidential, we look at pain and addiction through a neuroscience lens using the latest pain neuroscience education. We understand that the brain is flexible— and can change— pain education helps individuals start this process by assisting a shift out of chronic pain behaviours and towards exercise and movement, which is vital to retrain the pain system..
Research shows that when you calm the nervous system, rebuild trust with your body, and regain confidence, and grade into movement, the brain starts to reduce the sensitivity of pain pathways, leading to less and less symptoms over time. This is how people break free from the pain-fear-avoidance cycle.
To support this, we’ve added VR therapy into our personalised programs—blending science, technology, and cutting edge real-world recovery in a way that actually works.
When most people hear “VR therapy,” they imagine something futuristic or even a bit gimmicky. But Reality Health isn’t about escaping reality—it’s about reshaping your understanding of what pain is, and how it is a protective emotion that can become overprotective.
Developed in partnership with renowned pain expert Professor Lorimer Moseley, Reality Health is a VR-based program that helps reset the brain’s overprotective alarm system. Rather than simply managing pain, it helps the nervous system unlearn it.
By combining immersive environments with neuroscience, gamified rehab, breathwork, and movement, Reality Health supports long-term changes in how pain is processed in the brain.
Reality Health helps rewire the brain’s pain responses, reduce fear, and restore confidence in the body. The result? People start moving again—not with dread, but with clarity and control.
In the headset, clients are guided through virtual environments that simulate pain-related experiences—like standing near a fire or walking along a cliff edge. Though physically safe, studies show these scenarios trigger the body’s protective systems, offering a real-time understanding of how perception, fear, and belief fuel pain
By showing that pain doesn’t always mean damage, Reality Health helps loosen the brain’s grip on chronic pain patterns.
Many people living with chronic pain start to avoid movement altogether. Reality Health reintroduces movement in gentle, engaging ways—through virtual activities like reaching, balancing, or playing with light.
These VR sessions rebuild confidence in the body, reduce fear-avoidance behaviours, and gradually shift the brain’s threat-response away from pain.
Immersive VR sessions guide users out of the fight-or-flight response and into a calm, healing state—an essential process for both pain relief and addiction recovery.
The platform integrates VR experiences that pair breathing techniques with biofeedback, providing users with real-time data on their respiratory patterns. This feedback enables individuals to adjust their breathing, optimizing it for relaxation and stress reduction. Research has shown that VR-assisted breathing exercises can effectively teach users to control their breathing, leading to improved respiratory health and a significant decrease in stress levels 5,6.
Research shows that attention plays a major role in pain perception. The more we focus on pain, the more intense it feels. VR helps redirect focus to calming, immersive experiences—helping retrain the brain not to prioritize danger signals that lead to a pain experience.
A
2023 study found that participants using immersive VR reported a 40% reduction in pain during sessions—with effects lasting for hours afterward
7.
For
individuals with co-occurring chronic pain and substance use disorders, VR therapy offers a particularly valuable approach. By addressing pain—often the original driver of substance use, VR therapy targets a root cause rather than merely treating the addiction
symptom.
At Noosa Confidential, we offer more than just temporary relief. Our VR-integrated offering is part of a broader individualised, neuroscience-informed approach to addiction and pain recovery.
Whether you’ve been living with chronic pain, struggling with prescription dependence, or simply feel stuck in a loop you can’t escape, there is a way forward.
At Noosa Confidential, we don’t believe in masking pain—we believe in retraining the pain system via contemporary pain science and graded exercise therapy.
Contact
us today to learn how VR therapy and a neuroscience-informed approach to recovery can support your unique healing journey.
1. Joanne C. Lin, Larry F. Chu, Elizabeth Ann Stringer, Katharine S. Baker, Zahra N. Sayyid, John Sun, Kelsey A. Campbell, Jarred W. Younger, One Month of Oral Morphine Decreases Gray Matter Volume in the Right Amygdala of Individuals with Low Back Pain: Confirmation of Previously Reported Magnetic Resonance Imaging Results, Pain Medicine, Volume 17, Issue 8, August 2016, Pages 1497–1504
2. Martucci
KT, Mackey SC. Neuroimaging of Pain: Human Evidence and Clinical Relevance of Central Nervous System Processes and Modulation. Anesthesiology. 2018 Jun;128(6):1241-1254. doi: 10.1097/ALN.0000000000002137. PMID: 29494401; PMCID: PMC5953782.
3. Vowles
KE, McEntee ML, Julnes PS, Frohe T, Ney JP, van der Goes DN. Rates of opioid misuse, abuse, and addiction in chronic pain: a systematic review and data synthesis. Pain. 2015 Apr;156(4):569-576. doi: 10.1097/01.j.pain.0000460357.01998.f1. PMID: 25785523.
4. Australian
Institute of Health and Welfare (2025) Alcohol,
tobacco & other drugs in Australia,
AIHW, Australian Government, accessed 14 April 2025.
5. Teh
JJ, Pascoe DJ, Hafeji S, Parchure R, Koczoski A, Rimmer MP, Khan KS, Al Wattar BH. Efficacy of virtual reality for pain relief in medical procedures: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Med. 2024 Feb 14;22(1):64. doi: 10.1186/s12916-024-03266-6. PMID:
38355563; PMCID: PMC10865524
6. Ma,
J., Li, H., Liang, C. et
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A brief virtual reality-based mindfulness intervention can improve olfactory perception while reducing depression and anxiety symptoms in university students.
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12, 294 (2025).
7. Hoffman
HG, Chambers GT, Meyer WJ 3rd, Arceneaux LL, Russell WJ, Seibel EJ, Richards TL, Sharar SR, Patterson DR. Virtual reality as an adjunctive non-pharmacologic analgesic for acute burn pain during medical procedures. Ann Behav Med. 2011 Apr;41(2):183-91. doi:
10.1007/s12160-010-9248-7. PMID: 21264690; PMCID: PMC4465767.
Keesom, E., Lidström-Holmqvist, K., Ortiz-Catalan, M., Pilch, M., Lendaro, E., Hermansson, L., & van der Sluis, C. K. (2024). Reducing phantom limb pain using phantom motor execution enabled by augmented and virtual reality: participants’ perspectives on an innovative treatment. Disability and Rehabilitation, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1080/09638288.2024.2413179
