Physical therapy can be a long & arduous battle, as physical rehabilitation isn’t always a smooth or linear process. As a result, both you and your physical therapist can collectively put in a lot of time together on the road to recovery. Whether it takes only a couple of sessions or dozens upon dozens, you may find yourself to be very grateful for their services and feel the need to thank them. If so, this article (written by a PT) will show you the best way to do so.
The absolute best way to thank your physical therapist is to genuinely express your thanks, which can be done verbally or written in a card. This is perfectly acceptable, professional, and truly makes their day, as physical therapists care deeply for the wellbeing of their patients.
Now, if that sounds like a completely unoriginal, inadequate or anti-climatic way of thanking your PT, trust me, it isn’t. If you want to know what to say or write and why this is the best way you could personally and professionally thank them, keep on reading!
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• What to say or write as a thank you
• Why a thank you is so meaningful
• What about traditional gifts?
Related article: Pro Advice: Find the Best Physical Therapist for You with These Tips
What to say or write as a thank you
Sometimes expressing a genuine or heartfelt “thank you” is easier said than done; we may not want to get too personal, may feel that we can’t find the right words to communicate our thanks, or even that our gratitude doesn’t come across enough. Not all of us are true masters at articulating our messages in order to get the point across. But that’s ok.
Just relax here. The key is to think about what your therapist has helped you experience (less pain, more movement) or re-gain since the beginning of your treatment. Whether it’s being able to bend over and tie your shoe without raging back pain, or resuming your favorite social or physical activities, letting your PT know the changes you’ve personally experienced will truly make their day.
As physical therapists, we can often see the progress patients are making — which is wonderful — but we want to hear the ways in which this progress has enriched your quality of life.
Let your true self come through in however you feel best to express your thanks. It doesn’t have to be long or detailed. Whether it’s thanking them for their patience, their efforts, or any other aspect of their care, let them know why it’s appreciated and what you’ve experienced first-hand as a result.
If you do this, you will absolutely make your physical therapist’s day.
Pro tip: If your therapist works in an outpatient-based setting, you can let your PT know that you will be referring other individuals to come to them for their services. While your sincere thanks are already sweet-tasting enough, the gift of referring others to us is an extra little cherry on top!
Why a thank you is so meaningful
Ask any physical therapist why they decided to become a physical therapist and they’ll very likely respond with the answer, “because I wanted to help people.” At the end of the day, that’s who we as physical therapists are; we are folks who genuinely care about the wellbeing of others and who want to assist others in returning to a higher level of function and overall quality of life.
As a result, we genuinely care about the wellbeing of those whom we treat. We put in long days and often put a lot of pressure on ourselves to do all we can to help those in our care (I am the poster child for this). We love what we do and are at times guilty of pouring out more energy in a day into others than what we receive in return.
We can sometimes wonder if we’re truly doing enough for those in our care. There’s even evidence within the literature to show that physical therapists can experience higher rates of burnout when patients don’t recover — and this burnout is believed to be due to the physical therapist blaming themselves for their patients’ lack of improvement.1 One study has shown that approximately 53% of physical therapists can experience symptoms of burnout for reasons such as these.1
Related article: Job Satisfaction: Do Physical Therapists Enjoy their Jobs?
So when we get a genuine and heartfelt “thank you,” along with how their quality of life has been positively impacted due to their therapy, it can put a massive amount of wind back into our sails. We LOVE seeing the progress that we’re helping others achieve. Still, we love even more hearing our patients tell us the difference that their rehabilitation is making in their life.
Remember, we spend the entirety of our working days treating those who are in pain, experiencing disability, and otherwise likely having a bad day due to how they’re feeling. As a result, it can take an elevated amount of our personal energy to help encourage these patients in their rehabilitation efforts.
That’s why when we hear you TELL us that you can feel the improvement taking place or tell us how your functional abilities are improving, it reminds us that what we do daily has a profound impact on others and makes a true difference in their lives. It’s the type of news that keeps our passionate fire for helping others continue to burn brightly within us.
What about traditional gifts?
It may seem only natural to want to show your thanks and gratitude through various types of physical gifts, however, this can be a slippery slope, and oftentimes physical therapists aren’t permitted by their governing bodies to accept personal gifts from patients.
The reason being: accepting certain types of gifts from a patient (even one who is being discharged due to full recovery) can be seen as a conflict of interest between the physical therapist and their professional duties.
The last thing you’d want to do is land your physical therapist in an awkward situation in which they can’t accept a truly genuine but lavish gift. This can make things awkward for both parties involved,
The exact details about what is and isn’t acceptable can vary from one jurisdiction to another (i.e. from one state to another, one province to another, etc.), so you may want to check with the respective governing body as to what is and isn’t permissible if you’re not certain of what the exact rules are.
But as a general rule: gifts that do not have a monetary value (such as home-baked goods) that can be shared/enjoyed equally by all clinic staff members are permitted. Gifts that have monetary value (cash, gift cards, etc.) meant exclusively for the physical therapist are against the rules. Are these rules always strictly followed? Not always. But it’s best to be aware of the rules in place.
Final thoughts
Expressing your genuine thanks to your physical therapist either verbally or with a card may seem like an inadequate expression of gratitude after all they’ve helped you with. Still, it’s the right move to make. Not only is this the most meaningful way to show appreciation for your physical therapist, but no conflict of interest can arise this way.
And, of course, if your therapist works in an outpatient-based setting, you can let your PT know within your expression of thanks that you’ll be referring others to them to receive the same great care they provided for you.
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Hi! I’m Jim Wittstrom, PT, DPT, CSCS, Pn1.
I am a physical therapist who is passionate about all things pertaining to strength & conditioning, human movement, injury prevention and rehabilitation. I created StrengthResurgence.com in order to help others become stronger and healthier. I also love helping aspiring students and therapists fulfill their dreams of becoming successful in school and within their clinical PT practice. Thanks for checking out my site!