The Language We Use (Football and Therapy, W-0, L-4)

This post isn’t really about football…How does our choice of language effect our patients?

Another bad week for the home team. Words cannot describe how bad the Buffalo Bills played this past weekend.

I spend a fair amount of time on the internet. I rationalize it by telling myself that it is part of my job; keeping up with myofascial release and the larger field of therapy in
general takes time. As a result, I read a great deal of information
written by physical, occupational, and massage therapists. The one thing
that strikes me is the language that we use.

I know that my vocabulary has become filled with words and phrases that were taught to me in my MFR training. Entire beliefs that were related to me as fact come pouring from my
mouth when speaking to clients or writing on the internet. Occasionally I
try to step back from this and listen to what I am saying. Are the
statements that I make truthful? Can they be supported as fact?

The therapy world is full of ideas as to how the body works, and I am not just speaking about the “alternative” community. Spend a while searching through therapy forum sites and you
will come across all different kinds of language and thought, much of
which is fabrication based on hypotheses. I was fed these hypotheses,
presented as fact. While some of the teachings were current and
scientifically valid, much was taught was based on outdated views and
outdated research. I frequently read the equivalent words and views from
many others.

“What’s the harm”, you might ask? If the therapy I do works, who cares about the validity of what I am saying?

Maybe no harm is done. But, is this how you wish to represent yourself?

The research page of my website has become a labor of love. Through it I’ve found science that both validates my work as well as repudiates it. With the positives, I’ve
found honor in speaking truthfully. With the negatives, I’ve created
correction back to a more honest way of viewing and speaking of my work.

Examples of speaking half truths, or theories reinforced in school/training, are rampant in many of us. Some are so commonly repeated that we have no idea of their invalidity. Most
have become urban legends of the body work community.

How do you view the language that you use? Have you stepped back from it to ask if it is true?

The Bills…there is always next week, though if I am truthful, they are already finished.

Walt Fritz, PT

www.MyofascialResource.com

(Watch for my new website due out in a few days)