Perception is key

Believe it or not, physical therapy is not a hard science. There are differing opinions on the nuts and bolts of how people move. There are systems out there that provide cookbooks on how to treat a patient with a certain diagnosis. Still there are other systems that simply provide principles on how to think about providing interventions. There is no agreed upon means of working with a patient. The positive outcome is unfortunately the target most clinicians are striving for, ignoring the process. As a physical therapist, perception is key. It defines our process and the outcome.

I like to use walking as a point of reference, it is an activity most of us are familiar with, so let’s start there. When we walk our arms swing, in fact, an arm swinging forward corresponds to the opposite leg swinging forward. A question that does not often get asked: Is the arm swinging forward, or is the body moving backward? Pose this question to almost any physical therapist and they will laugh, pointing out that the arm is clearly swinging forward. That is the perceived movement occurring by most movement-based health care providers. I would say that both are occurring, and one is the driving force.

This stance changes everything regarding treating a patient. Not only does it indicate a willingness to consider alternative options, but it allows for the distilling of more data. By considering that the body may also be moving backward, the number of potentially useful interventions just increased. A successful outcome, perceived by both patient and provider, just became more probable.

Austin Ulrich, Physical Therapist