Physiotherapy

Domain IX · Biomedical, neuro & digital

What it is

Physiotherapy (US: physical therapy) is a registered health profession, not a psychotherapy. World Physiotherapy defines it as services provided by physiotherapists to develop, maintain and restore movement and function across the lifespan, wherever ageing, injury, pain, disease or environmental…

Format

• Session count and format. No source cited gives a standard number of sessions for physiotherapy in general; it varies by setting and service. Formats include individual and group work in primary, community, inpatient and outpatient care. One BBAT study abstract used twelve sessions delivered live…
• Refer or signpost (via GP, direct access or the team); obtain consent to share information.

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Version followed: physiotherapy as World Physiotherapy describes it in its policy statement Description of physiotherapy (re-approved May 2023), with the mental health specialty as World Physiotherapy's IOPTMH page (checked October 2026) and Probst (2017) describe it, Basic Body Awareness Therapy (BBAT) as Skjærven and Sundal (2016) describe it, Norwegian psychomotor physiotherapy as Bunkan (2001) describes it, pain…
• What it is. Physiotherapy (US: physical therapy) is a registered health profession, not a psychotherapy. World Physiotherapy defines it as services provided by physiotherapists to develop, maintain and restore movement and function across the lifespan, wherever ageing, injury, pain, disease or environmental factors threaten movement. Physiotherapists are autonomous practitioners who can be first-contact…
• Who may practise and who regulates.

Evidence status, as the guide reports it

• Core idea of change (as the profession publishes it). In mental health, physiotherapy aims to improve wellbeing and empower people through functional movement, movement awareness, physical activity and exercise, linking physical and mental health within a biopsychosocial model, delivered…

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Is there physical contact? Was it explained beforehand, and do you feel free to say no or stop at any point?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• Does it involve intense or unusual breathing? Have you been told about the medical conditions for which that is not advised?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• overlapping homework; agree one plan.
• role drift on either side; mixed messages.
• emergence of trauma material; pace and stabilise in therapy.
• missed appointments after a painful session; discuss with consent.
• loss of gains after discharge; low mood returning with inactivity.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.