Neuroplasticity Part 2: Fixing Physical Pain with Treatment of the Mind with Dr. Dave Clarke

Neuroplasticity Part 2: Fixing Physical Pain with Treatment of the Mind with Dr. Dave Clarke

From Ditch The Labcoat by Dr. Mark Bonta

April 22, 2026 · 51 min · Episode 103

About this episode

Dr. Dave Clarke discusses how neuroplasticity can help treat chronic pain by addressing underlying mental and emotional issues.

Dr. Dave Clarke returns to Ditch the Labcoat to dig deeper into something medicine still doesn't talk about enough: what happens when your body creates real, debilitating symptoms but there's nothing structurally wrong. This isn't about imaginary illness or psychosomatic complaints. This is about the brain physically changing in response to stress, trauma, and unresolved emotional burdens, and manifesting those changes as chronic pain, migraines, irritable bowel syndrome, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, and dozens of other conditions that standard medical tests can't explain. Dr. Clarke walks through what neuroplastic treatment actually looks like. How he identifies patients whose symptoms stem from adverse childhood experiences, current stressors, or past traumas they've buried so deep they don't even recognize the connection. How he helps them see that their bodies are okay, their brains have just learned to create symptoms as a warning signal. And how, once that fear is removed and the real stressors are addressed, symptoms that have plagued people for years can resolve. Sometimes dramatically, sometimes over time with therapy. The conversation challenges everything medicine…

People in this episode

Host: Dr. Mark Bonta

Guest: Dr. Dave Clarke

Topics covered

  • neuroplasticity
  • chronic pain
  • mental health
  • stress and trauma
  • treatment methods

Keywords

  • neuroplasticity
  • chronic pain
  • psychosomatic
  • stress
  • trauma
  • fibromyalgia
  • treatment
  • emotional burdens

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