For physiotherapy to be effective, it is well researched that the therapist must have a strong therapeutic alliance with their clients.
Therapeutic alliance refers to the relationship between a therapist and a client where the client feels a sense of safety, trust and being understood in the therapy process.
This RCT (Ferreira et al 2013) involved 180 patients with chronic Low Back Pain who received manual therapy and/or stabilization exercises and concluded that irrespective of the actual treatment the therapeutic alliance between a physiotherapist and the patient was consistently a predictor of outcome for all the measures of treatment outcome.
The method used to measure therapeutic alliance was to have both the physiotherapist and the patient complete the Working Alliance Inventory consisting of 36 questions such as:
I am confident in my physiotherapist’s ability to help me.
- Never
- Sometimes
- Very often
- Always
My physiotherapist and I trust one another.
- Never
- Sometimes
- Very often
- Always
I appreciate my physiotherapist as a person .
- Never
- Sometimes
- Very often
- Always
We agree on what is important for me to work on.
- Never
- Sometimes
- Very often
- Always
In a nutshell, do not underestimate the value of building a relationship with your therapists; it often is the quintessential factor in your rehabilitative experience.
For more info, contact Sheddon Physiotherapy and Sports Clinic at 905-849-4576.
We are located less than 10 min from Sheridan College Oakville and 6 min East of Oakville Place.
The Burlington physio clinic is located only 8 min north-east of LaSalle Park and 10 min north of Burlington Golf & Country Club, on Plains Rd East.
