In this episode of Ditch the Labcoat, Dr. Mark Bonta does something different. For the first time on the podcast, he speaks with a former patient.

Nora Rabah Rodden joins the show not as a clinician, but as someone who lived for years with debilitating symptoms that medicine couldn't explain or fix. Despite normal tests and repeated reassurance, her pain, GI symptoms, fatigue, and nervous system distress persisted. What she encountered instead was a gap in care. Not a lack of effort, but a lack of framework.

Nora shares how learning about neuroplasticity and nervous system patterning finally gave her symptoms context. Not imagined. Not psychological. Learned, reinforced, and reversible. That experience became the foundation for why she later co-founded Nervana.

Together, they explore why so many patients are dismissed once serious disease is ruled out, how threat signaling and conditioned responses can keep the body stuck in symptoms, and why telling patients “nothing is wrong” is often the most harmful message of all. The conversation breaks down the science of neuroplastic recovery in plain language, while staying honest about its limits and responsibilities.

This episode is about what happens when medicine runs out of explanations, and what becomes possible when we stop treating unexplained symptoms as a dead end and start treating the nervous system as something that can learn, adapt, and heal.

Nora's Link : https://www.trynervana.com/

1. Patient Experience Matters: Normal tests do not equal normal lives. Symptoms can persist even when disease is ruled out.
2. Neuroplastic Symptoms Are Real: Learned nervous system patterns can drive pain, GI distress, fatigue, and insomnia without structural damage.
3. “Nothing Is Wrong” Is Harmful: Reassurance without explanation often deepens fear, confusion, and isolation.
4. Symptoms Can Be Learned and Unlearned: The brain adapts quickly, for better or worse, and those patterns are reversible.
5. This Is Not Psychosomatic: Neuroplastic recovery is grounded in neuroscience, not imagination or positive thinking.
6. Awareness Changes Identity: When patients stop identifying with symptoms, recovery often begins.
7. Recovery Is Gradual, Not Dramatic: Progress usually looks subtle, steady, and cumulative rather than sudden.
8. Lived Experience Can Build Better Care: Nora’s recovery is why Nervana exists, to close the gap medicine often leaves behind.

04:18 – Why This Episode Is Different: The First Patient Voice
08:36 – When Tests Are Normal but Symptoms Are Not
13:09 – The Gap Between Disease and Dysfunction
18:52 – Neuroplasticity Explained Without the Jargon
24:35 – Why “Nothing Is Wrong” Can Be Harmful
30:13 – How the Nervous System Learns Symptoms
36:56 – What Recovery Actually Looks Like in Practice
43:14 – Turning Lived Experience Into a Care Framework

Leah introduces practical indicators that boundaries are slipping, including resentment and repetitive conversations where nothing changes. She breaks down what serial fixing looks like in real time, how quickly we jump into problem solving to relieve our own discomfort, and why validation is the missing skill that keeps ownership where it belongs.

She also explains her framework of support not solve, a mindset that helps clinicians, caregivers, and families shift away from codependency and toward healthier relational dynamics. Through relatable examples, Leah teaches how to use I statements, strengthen self trust, and approach hard conversations with clarity rather than guilt.

This episode gives listeners concrete tools to stop taking responsibility for what is not theirs, communicate boundaries with confidence, and build more sustainable, compassionate relationships in their personal lives and in healthcare.

Leah C Marone, LCSW Website : https://www.serial-fixer.com/

TedTalk : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVBjI4tNv3s

1. Self Care Is Not a Spa Day- Real self care is a series of small resets throughout the day that regulate your nervous system.
2. Fixing Others Creates More Chaos- Trying to solve someone’s problems for them often fuels dependency and resentment.
3. Resentment Signals a Boundary Problem- When irritation grows, it usually means you have taken on work that is not yours.
4. Validation Beats Problem Solving- People calm down when they feel understood, not when they receive rapid fire solutions.
5. I Statements Keep Conversations Safe- Replacing “you always” with “I feel” prevents defensiveness and keeps dialogue open.
6. Urgency Is Often Self Imposed- Feeling responsible for everyone’s comfort pushes you into overfunctioning and emotional burnout.
7. Self Trust Requires Reps- Boundaries get easier through practice, not perfection, and discomfort is part of the growth curve.
8. Micro Transitions Change Your Day- Short pauses between tasks help reset your focus and reduce the compounding stress that builds across a busy day.

03:58 – Meeting the Inner Critic: Why We Judge Ourselves So Harshly
05:16 – Realizing People Are Not Thinking About You as Much as You Think
24:18 – Why Fixing Others Fails and How to Shift the Pattern
25:50 – Boundaries Require Reps: Getting Comfortable With Discomfort
28:28 – The Danger of “You” Statements and How They Trigger Defensiveness
32:19 – The Hidden Crisis in Medicine: Shell Culture and Silent Burnout
33:23 – What Self Care Really Means: Internal Conflict and Rigid Beliefs
35:40 – Micro Transitions: How Small Daily Moments Can Reset Your Nervous System

In this episode he explains how the brain generates real physical symptoms under stress, trauma, and emotional overload. He walks through clinical red flags that differentiate structural disease from functional conditions. He shares stories of patients who suffered for years before receiving the right diagnosis. Dr. Bonta and Dr. Clarke explore why invisible illnesses are often missed in rushed systems. They dig into tools clinicians can use to validate symptoms without over pathologizing them. They highlight communication strategies that restore trust. They also discuss prevention, early detection, and the growing evidence supporting mind-body approaches.

The conversation is practical. Evidence based. Deeply human. Dr. Clarke shows how clinicians can uncover hidden drivers of symptoms and give patients a path to recovery even when imaging and lab work are normal. This episode is designed for anyone who wants to understand the science and psychology behind medically unexplained symptoms and how to improve care for this underserved population.

David Clarke, MD's Website : https://www.symptomatic.me/

1. Neuroplastic Symptoms: Real physical sensations created by the brain that can improve with the right approach.
2. Invisible Illnesses: Often missed because standard training focuses on structural disease, not functional mechanisms.
3. Brain Body Pathways: Stress and trauma can activate neural circuits that generate chronic pain and gut symptoms.
4. Diagnostic Clarity: Red flags help distinguish functional illness from conditions that need imaging or procedures.
5. Validation Matters: Patients recover faster when clinicians acknowledge symptoms without dismissing them.
6. Communication Skills: Asking the right questions uncovers hidden emotional drivers behind persistent symptoms.
7. Prevention Tools: Early recognition of neuroplastic patterns reduces unnecessary testing and specialist referrals.
8. Hope in Recovery: Most patients improve once they learn how the nervous system produces their symptoms.

02:46 – Why invisible illnesses elude standard medical training
06:13 – How the nervous system produces real physical symptoms
10:34 – Red flags that separate structural disease from functional illness
14:51 – Communication strategies that validate patient symptoms
19:30 – Trauma, stress and the hidden drivers of chronic symptoms
24:42 – Clinical cases that shifted Dr. Clarke’s diagnostic approach
30:04 – Tools clinicians can use to reduce unnecessary testing
35:57 – Preventing invisible illness through early recognition and education