9 Things You Should Consider Before You Choose Your Therapist

Whatever your reason for seeking help, whether it is because you have had a recent or a long term injury, you probably want an immediate reduction. Better yet, you’re looking for a complete elimination of your pain, plus improved flexibility, to give you a much improved quality of life, while allowing you to do the things you enjoy doing, sport or otherwise.

We can help you.

But before you choose us, or anybody else, here are some things we suggest you consider first:

1. Make sure the therapist you see is a specialist in the condition you have. Most therapists will be able to help you up to a point, but if they lack specialist knowledge for treating your problem, there’s a chance that you won’t achieve the level of improvement you could, not only because of the treatment skills they can offer, but also because they may lack the ability to be able to correctly give a provisional diagnosis of the cause of your problem.

2. It’s important also that the therapist you see has sufficient experience to give you the best treatment possible. It’s no fault of the therapist but clearly there is a huge difference between someone who graduated last year and one who has 10 or more years to call on.

3. As in all things in life, not all clinics are created equal. Some are little more than a room and a static couch. If you are in a lot of pain or not very mobile, this is not great for you getting on and off the couch, and not so good for the therapist either if the couch is at the wrong height. Skilled therapists will adjust the couch height depending on the treatment they are giving you and clearly a couch that doesn’t adjust seriously compromises this.

4. Some clinics invest heavily into technology which will assist in providing you with the best treatment possible and treatment that best suits you at a particular point in your recovery. It makes sense that good technology will help the therapist to achieve the best results. Find out if the only thing on offer is a pair of hands.

5. Visiting a clinic is not just about the treatment, it’s also about the professionalism of the contact you get from the moment you make first contact, right through to the follow up after treatment. You need to know there is a friendly voice on the end of the phone who will help you make the appointments that best suit you and who are there to help when you need it.

Ease of treatment starts with ease of access, including a drop of point outside the door for those who need it, plus an ample free car park alongside. After all, who wants the hassle of having to find and pay for a distant car park and then have to walk a long way on dark, wet winter days, especially if you are in pain and not so mobile.

Arriving stress free is an important part of treatment, so make sure your clinic caters for this. A comfortable, relaxing waiting area is just as important or you could end up stressed before you even start treatment.

6. You need to be confident that the therapist you are seeing has the skills and ability you need. Find out what clinics are being talked about in the community and just as important, find out if the clinic is highly regarded in the local medical community. If your GP hasn’t heard of a clinic, there is probably a reason why.

7. Recovery for you will probably not be just a matter of a single type of treatment. As you go along your journey to recovery, you may well need a number of skills to help you. So make sure your therapist works within a clinic which is wholistic, where a broad spread of skills are available to assist in your recovery.

8. You will feel a lot more comfortable building a trusting relationship with your therapist if you can talk privately and this means it will be best for you if you have a private room for your consultation and treatment, rather than a big open plan room, with a curtain providing your only privacy.

9. Last, but not least, ask around about what the clinic or therapist is like. We have all been to places which we don’t like the feel of and don’t feel comfortable in. If you walk into a clinic that is warm, friendly and inviting, your whole frame of mind will be more positively prepared for treatment and you are much more likely to want to trust in a long term relationship. After all, we are all likely to need more than one problem fixed in our lives and we want somewhere we can go back to again and again in confidence.