In this unpleasant episode between the highly esteemed physical therapist and the frightened and accusatory female patient, it’s important to consider: Number one — the work that a physical therapist does, and number two — how it could be misunderstood by a woman who may have had some frightening experiences in her life.
1. A physical therapist finds the places in a person’s body which are unaligned and uses his educated hands to help a re-alignment. Often this requires handling sensitive parts of the body.
2. For a woman who may have experienced unwanted sexual contacts, this could feel threatening.
So let’s not jump to conclusions, destroy a therapist’s career and life, and assume the woman sees it accurately. Both parties deserve the most careful sympathy and attention, rather than snap judgments.
Marianne Preger-Simon, psychotherapist
Whately