Getting Personal: Why I Do What I Do as a Physical Therapist (Part 4)

Question 4.

Is there a patient story or moment in your career that’s really stuck with you, one that reminds you why you do what you do?

There are actually two moments that really stand out to me, and both had a big impact on how I work and why I’ve structured my business the way I have.

The first was before I went full-time in my own practice. I was working with a patient who had torn his pec muscle while bench pressing, which was kind of a freak accident. His first goal was to get back to doing push-ups. After achieving that, he told me he wanted to be able to return to bench pressing.

The problem was, the clinic I was at didn’t have a proper setup for barbell bench press. So the plan was for him to gradually return to bench press at his gym. I gave him a detailed plan to follow with instructions on how to modify, what to do if he felt pain, and how to progress if he felt good. But when he came back the next week, he told me he hadn't done it. He had been too afraid to try, and he’d also forgotten what I'd told him. And honestly, I couldn’t blame him. If someone gave me five minutes of verbal instructions to do later, I probably wouldn’t remember everything either.

That moment really stuck with me, because it highlighted how limited traditional physical therapy models can be. We only see patients a couple times a week, maybe even less if they have a high copay. There’s no support in between visits, and people are often left on their own to figure things out.

That was a big “aha” moment for me. It’s one of the key reasons I built my business to include between session support. Whether it's messaging me, video calls, or just having someone to reach out to when things come up, I wanted to create a model where people feel supported in their real life, beyond in-person visits.

Dr. Kelsey observing a CrossFitter perform goblet squats.

The second moment that really reminded me why I do this was when I worked with a 78-year-old amateur ice hockey player. I think he was in one of those non-contact leagues, but it's still something most people don't expect someone his age to be doing. He was having some knee pain and was starting to feel unsure on the ice. I think a lot of providers would have told him to stop playing because of his age. But I saw how much it meant to him to keep playing. To him, this wasn’t just a hobby; it was part of who he was.

By the end of our time working together, he was back to playing hockey pain-free. He even told me that standing back up on the ice after falling was also way easier than it had been before. So he didn’t just return to baseline; he was now stronger and more confident on the ice than he had been even before he started having knee pain. Working with him was also a powerful reminder of why I do what I do—and why I’m building something that supports people who want to stay active, no matter their age or sport.

In the final post, I’m breaking down some of the most common misconceptions about PT, and what it actually takes fully recover from injuries.