The experience of pain is essentially an individual, internal experience, known only to the person with the pain. We who try to help them come to it very much from the outside. What we know of it is what we can learn from that person. This knoeledge can, of course, add up to a lot of general insights into pain, but each person’s experience is defferent, and personal. The purpose of this book then is try to demonstrate that ‘inside story’ of pain. The machanisms and processes, at physiological/biochemical, emotional/motivational, cognitive/evaluative and social/cultural levels will be considered to present a holistic view. It is hoped that those caring for people in pain be able to gain insight into the individual’s own experience and to develop a plan of care that meets those individual needs.