Help! I Feel Like I’m My Therapist’s Therapist
Dear Bintel Brief:
I’ve been seeing my physical therapist for a while now and we’ve grown pretty close. She recently separated from her husband and now, during my appointment, all she talks about are her marital problems and whom she’s dating. Sometimes she’ll get teary eyed while she’s treating me, which makes me feel uncomfortable. She’s very skilled, but now my physical therapy appointments feel more like counseling sessions for her. Should I tell her and, if so, how? Or would it be best to just find someone new?
IN TREATMENT
Mayim Bialik responds:
Dear In Treatment:
This is a touchy issue, no pun intended.
I’m going to make this very simple. There are two kinds of people in the world: those who can take a hint and those who can’t. Let’s see which kind your physical therapist is.
At your next appointment, start off the session by gently saying that you are feeling like you need a quiet session. I do not advocate lying in general, but you can offer that it’s been a rough day, rough week — whatever. Keep it short and sweet. This is not unusual during massage; I don’t know why it would be different for physical therapy.
If she picks up on your hint, you can continue the relationship. However, I have a hunch that she enjoys chatting with you as a method of discourse — and as your mother probably would say: who wouldn’t!? — so this probably will not do the trick. If it doesn’t pick up on the hint, you will need to look elsewhere for physical therapy or tell her you expect a fee reduction since you are providing her free psychotherapy!
I think this is one case where mixing your physical therapy business with her chatty pleasure is not going to work anymore.
Feel better!
Mayim Bialik, who starred in 1990s sitcom “Blossom,” is an actress and a neuroscientist.
If you have a question for the Bintel Brief, email [email protected]. Selected letters will be published anonymously. New installments of the Bintel Brief, featuring Mayim Bialik, will be published Mondays in September at www.forward.com.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30