Ever curious but often distracted is how Clayton Powers would describe himself—and he’ll tell you he never cared much for school. 

Growing up in Midland, Texas, what you could do on the field under the Friday night lights is what caught most people’s attention. But Clayton wasn’t a football player, and he sometimes felt out of place. In 7th grade, however, one subject grabbed his attention. He vividly remembers sitting in anatomy class thinking, “Hey, this isn’t so bad. I actually like this.”  

Clayton wandered his way through business school, considering medicine briefly, but anatomy always lay buried in the back of his mind. Becoming a doctor wasn’t the route for him, though. He craved deeper patient connection than what quick 30-minute visits allowed. That’s when he found physical therapy, which gave him more one-on-one time with patients.

Like most physical therapists, Clayton began his career treating orthopedic conditions, like lower back and neck pain. He became drawn toward a greater understanding of concussions, vertigo, and dizziness—an area that was largely unexplored in the world of physical therapy.

Life for people experiencing these kinds of symptoms can be completely debilitating. The world can spin around them, making it difficult to stand, work, drive, even brush their teeth. Clayton found his patients experienced heavy brain fog and extreme energy crashes that could leave them bedridden for days. But until more recently, modern medicine didn’t have many solutions. 

“Patients with dizziness would go through the health care system and see a lot of different doctors and would be frustrated because nobody could give them answers,” Clayton explains. “They just felt like they weren't listened to or understood.”

Determined to help, he dedicated his free time studying conditions like Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS) and Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS), which causes extreme fatigue, muscle weakness, and brain fog—often linked to long COVID. After a global pandemic, some COVID survivors were affected long-term, potentially forever, with new symptoms of dizziness and unrelenting fatigue. Clayton quickly realized that traditional treatment methods—like exercise—were not working for his patients. Instead, he changed his approach to focus on personalized treatment plans that focus on pacing energy, calming the nervous system, and improving blood flow.

“He really is the only one in our facility, as well as throughout the entire health system, that does what he does,” says Jason Miller, DPT, a therapy supervisor at South Jordan Health Center. “He’s constantly researching and innovating.”

These new insights into personalized PT treatments led Clayton to educate physical therapists worldwide and partner with the Bateman Horne Center, a Salt Lake City research and clinical care facility that focuses on patients with multi-symptom chronic complex diseases. Together, they’ve created informational YouTube videos that explain the impacts of long COVID, how to best treat symptoms, and setting realistic expectations for long-term management. Not only have these videos helped colleagues, but it has given many patients overdue validation.

“When you don’t have any answers, you start thinking, ‘Is this all in my head?’,” says Jill, one of Clayton’s patients who struggled for months with lingering COVID-19 symptoms. The virus hit her so hard that she once slept for 40 hours straight. It wasn’t the acute illness that impacted her most, it was what came afterward–extreme fatigue, dizziness and unrelenting brain fog. She underwent all kinds of tests and saw several specialists before meeting Clayton. 

“That was the first time in five months that I had a medical provider be able to say, ‘Here's how we can help you,’” Jill says. “It was really pivotal. I consider it very life-changing in my recovery.” 

Clayton works tirelessly, and often on his own time, to help patients better understand their symptoms and to find solutions. He’s gone as far as getting licensed in other states to providing teletherapy to patients outside Utah. His work has also captured quite the audience, with patients traveling from across the United States—even Scotland—to seek his care. 

“Clayton always goes above and beyond,” says Talia Ruschioni, deputy executive director of the Bateman Horne Center. “He reminds us that the patient comes first.”

Outside of his dedication to physical therapy, Clayton loves spending time with his wife, Emily, and their children. As a family, they enjoy skiing, spending time outdoors, and gardening—an activity Clayton believes instills the values of hard work and dedication. These are important qualities he hopes his kids take notice. But to Clayton, the most important life lesson is to proudly serve others. Every night, as the family sits down for dinner, Clayton asks each one of his sons, “How did you help someone today?”

Service is the core value of Clayton’s life. It’s a love he first discovered as a missionary with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and a commitment he’s carried throughout his life. To serve others with compassion is the most important lesson he hopes to pass on to his children. It’s the sole reason he decided to dedicate his career to physical therapy and why he’s worked so hard to find answers for his patients.

“It just brings so much more happiness than if you're focused on yourself,” he says. 

And when he thinks back to that 7th grader boy sitting in anatomy class, he’s glad he followed his curiosity and nurtured his natural strengths. He says that’s the key to success, and it’s gotten him to where he is today. 

“It's so fulfilling to know I am doing a job that's making a difference.”