While evidence for the overall effectiveness of intensive interdisciplinary pain treatment (IIPT) abounds, adopting a self-management approach to pain and focusing on functional restoration vs. pain elimination (key components of IIPT) can represent a substantial shift from the way youth and families have previously approached chronic pain management. Indeed, youth/caregiver readiness to change at IIPT admission has been found to be a robust predictor of IIPT response, which in turn may impact IIPT admission length and financial burden. Therefore, we developed a telehealth, motivational interviewing intervention designed to prepare youth with chronic pain and their caregivers for optimized participation in IIPT, implemented by a pediatric pain psychologist with IIPT experience. After establishing the feasibility and acceptability of the intervention in a pilot study, the effectiveness of the pre-habilitation intervention was examined in a randomized controlled trial, comparing the new intervention to a treatment-as-usual control group, across four time-points. In this presentation, we will discuss findings related to youth/caregiver readiness to change prior to initiating IIPT, length of youth IIPT admission, and youth functional disability and pain scores at IIPT discharge and short-term follow-up. Implications of these findings will also be discussed.