IIRC one of Sarno's central ideas is that, sometimes, when a person is undergoing an intensely painful psychological experience, the brain creates some physical

IIRC one of Sarno's central ideas is that, sometimes, when a person is undergoing an intensely painful psychological experience, the brain creates some physical pain in order to distract the person from that, original, intense psychological pain. i.e. the chronic physical pain is manufactured by the brain as a means to cope with (avoid awareness of) another type of pain. so, if the person (somehow) becomes consciously aware of that original psychological pain, the brain stops creating the physical pain. the physical pain no longer serves a purpose at that point.