Abstract The psychology of pain control has grown greatly in the past 25 years. Many psychololgical techniques have been applied successfully to the regulation of both acute and chronic pain. Many of these techniques rely upon anxiety reduction and/or the installation of perceived control. The connection between pain perception and anxiety and perceived control is, however, not yet fully understood. The two major approaches to the treatment of chronic pain are the behavioral and cognitive-behavioral. Each approach has been shown to be effective in the treatment of chronic pain. However, which are the critical ingredients and what are the psychological limits of pain control via these and other approaches are still to be determined. What is lacking more than anything else is a comprehensive psychological theory of pain perception and control.