SUMMARY In contemporary psychological interventions for chronic pain, cognitive-behavioral therapy takes a central role, covering a broad range of techniques and aims. To improve the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral therapy and to refine its components, new theoretical approaches may help understand and arrange the mechanisms underlying pain perception, behavior and suffering. This article reviews processes of change in cognitive-behavioral therapies for chronic pain within the context of goal pursuit. Treatments are viewed from the perspective of the action phase model of goal attainment. With this model in mind, a distinction is made between goal 'intentions' and their 'realization'. In addition, recent research findings on goal pursuit in the context of (chronic) pain are reviewed, with a special emphasis on their implications for clinical practice.