When your body starts to hurt, or stops working the way you want it to, the cascading impact on your emotional and mental health is significant. In a vicious cycle, your body won’t allow you to move, which keeps you from doing things that you want, which leads to isolation and depression, which keeps you from moving your body, which already hurts. In my case, the pain I felt and the subsequent inertia to which I defaulted, made me feel that I was failing at life– failing myself. I could feel myself getting weaker and felt real fear at a future filled with pain and inaction.

 

When I came to Physical Therapy, it was not without apprehension. I had decided that I needed to take action to reverse the downward health spiral I had begun, but I was afraid that it might be too late, or that the remedy might be more physically overwhelming than the daily screaming pain I endured. I think I even missed my first appointment because my subconscious was terrified.

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However, when my PT, Deb, started working with me after the first week or so, she was the physical embodiment of Encouragement. From the first day that she met me until the last day when she cheered me out the door, she exuded such confidence in our ability to defeat my pain and weakness that I had no choice but to believe her. She allowed me to borrow her confidence to try harder things, seamlessly and gently pushing me to push myself to work hard because our shared goal was achievable! Every week she cheered me on, encouraged me when I felt discouraged, and celebrated my successes. She took the time to pay attention to what kind of a person I am and how my brain works, so she could remind me of all the things I can do, and illuminated the path to the things I wanted to do. It is a technical skill to be able to tell people how to work their muscles, but it is an emotional skill to be able to make people excited to do it even though it is intimidating. And Deb’s ability to read people and listen to what is unsaid is a gift.

T.J.