Dr. Clarke is a gastroenterologist (GI) who spent his career at Oregon Health Science University, then in 2010 was one of the founders and President of The PsychoPhysiologic Disorders Association (PPDA), a nonprofit corporation for treating Stress related disorders.  The name was changed to The  a description of the resources provided by the PPDA to healthcare workers and patients related to stress illness.  The ATNS provides a continuously expanding list of resources, but the remainder of the original interview does not accurately describe the current association offerings, so is not included in this 2025 curation of the original interview video.  

Dr. Clarke answers the 12 questions (shown in the Key Ideas and Transcription) about his career and what he calls the Blind Spot of diagnosis and treatment between the medical and mental health communities.  One reason his interview was chosen for the PSLS archive, is that it addresses that aspect but also because it provides a broader perspective on how recognition and treatment of neuroplastic symptoms has evolved in recent decades based on new neuroscience findings.

His awareness of stress illness began related to his gastroenterology graduate training in southern California which involved diagnosis of a chronic intestinal ailment that hospitalized a woman multiple times a year.  They anticipated their unique diagnostic test would reveal the cause and lead to successful treatment.  They didn’t find anything wrong, so could offer no treatment!  He was assigned the discharge interview with the woman and following a best practice before providing their conclusion, he asked her what was happening in her life.  Her answer was a surprise, so he referred her to a psychiatrist he understood was interested in similar cases. 

About a month later he inquired with that doctor about the woman’s progress and was shocked to learn she was cured of her stress illness.  Realizing he might encounter a few similar situations in his practice, he learned from the psychiatrist the essence of asking a patient questions about the experiences in their life.   It took him many years to fully develop his ability to diagnose and treat stress illness.  By the end of his multidecade career in gastroenterology he had diagnosed and treated about 7000 patients with stress illness, nominally one-third of all patients initially referred for gastrointestinal aliments. 

In 2007 he published a book titled: ‘They Can’t Find Anything Wrong’, which includes many excerpts from cases he has treated, and offers ‘7Keys to Understanding , Treating, and Healing Stress IIlness’. 

A major motivation for his continued effort is to move the healthcare world toward a system that serves those with stress illness in the Blind Spot between the mental and medical healthcare worlds.   “A human being , who is suffering , should be able to get appropriate diagnosis and relief for their symptoms, if it’s possible from the healthcare system, not matter what is causing their illness.”

Almost everyone has experienced a stress related symptom, like blushing or a knot in their abdomen in a tense situation, and undesired stress-symptoms afflict one in six adults.  Chronic pain is common symptom.  One patient had 27 symptoms that were ultimately relieved.  Many patients had been ill for 10 or more years. 

There is a wide range of speed with which people recover, which depends on the particular stress experienced by the individual and their ability to be in touch with their emotions.  Sometimes that road is long but sometimes a one-hour conversation finds the problem.

The patient’s ability to fully embrace the understanding that their illness is caused by stress, (meaning, the belief that the issue is in the Mind-Body/Neuroplastic realm) and not by disease or structure abnormality, can have an influence on their progress toward recovery.    The more stubborn cases may require a therapist with experience in Mind-Body realm.  https://www.symptomatic.me/ is a first source for locating a capable therapist.

Insight to the cause of symptoms in the Blind Spot are not generally within the training of most healthcare professionals.   So, your doctor may not be prepared understand the Blind Spot or treat the cause of stress illness. 

Scientific studies have demonstrated that ‘Pain Reprocessing Therapy’ and ‘Emotional Awareness and Expression Therapy’ have the capability to change the physiologic underpinning of the brain wiring and treat illnesses in the Blind Spot.  

Therapies for neuroplastic symptoms search for the underlying cause of the symptom rather than temporarily reducing the symptom.  Many times, the cause will be stressful events in the recent past or frequently from childhood.  There isn’t any magic in the treatment.  Rather the task is to find the stress or stresses your brain has repressed and get them relieved. 

Terminology in every technical discipline changes as the discipline develops and ‘neuroplastic’ is currently the most useful label for the underlying concepts in stress illnesses.