The authors believe many of those with chronic pain have become "stuck" in their pain and stress symptoms and may never return to a normal life. Many chronic pain sufferers have encountered losses of their family and jobs, rejection by their health insurance providers, and insensitivity from health care professionals. The authors offer an alternative in the idea that all physical symptoms are amenable to the principles of learning, and that the probability of developing a chronic disability is not determined by the actual symptoms but on conditioning or context. They offer acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), describing the social and systems context of pain, its relation to disability, valuing, the therapeutic relationship in ACT, values assessment, performing functional analyses to identify components of an ACT model, ACT interventions, ACT for therapists and staff, and brief interventions. Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)