Dooley Noted: 3/31/2015
You are a professional therapist.
Hopefully, you took an oath to help people.
When you were labeled an expert, you weren’t granted the free will to make patients feel damaged.
You don’t have the right to tell your patients that they are a mess.
You don’t have the right to let them believe that about themselves, either.
You don’t have the right to diagnose off an MRI.
You don’t have the right to scare your patient with the structural changes seen on imaging.
You don’t have the right to manipulate with your crystal ball theories.
I know because I’m stuck cleaning up the mess you made.
Patients see me last in the therapeutic chain.
I’m the one who tells them of their rights.
The patient has the right to be educated about the exam and imaging findings.
The patient has the right to understand that he or she is not a mess.
The patient has a right to be recognized for currently playing the hand that is dealt.
The patient has a right to know that hand is not set in stone, though.
The patient has the right to appreciate the body’s ability to weave itself around roadblocks.
The patient has the right to understand the capacity for change when catalyzed to do so.
If you’re a professional therapist, please consider how your words affect your patient outcomes.
You don’t have the right to make your patient feel wrong.
As always, it’s your call.
– Dr. Kathy Dooley