By Brianne LaBella, PT, DPT, FAFS, Compliance Officer
Brianne LaBella, PT, DPT, FAFS, has spent her career looking out for patients. She started first as a treating physical therapist, then as a clinic director, and now as Spooner’s Compliance Officer. In that role, she oversees safety and compliance standards across all 29 Spooner locations. We asked her to speak directly to the patients who are nervous about coming in. Here’s what she wants you to know.
“I’m too old to go to physical therapy.” “What if I fall?” “How can someone actually hold me and keep me safe?”
These are real concerns we hear from patients before they walk through our clinic doors, and if you’ve felt this way, you are not alone. A lot of people put off coming in because they’re not sure their body will cooperate, or they’re worried a physical or occupational therapist won’t be able to support their mobility limitations. But the truth is, there are so many safety measures put into place to keep patients safe, so I am here today to help share those procedures and debunk the fears and myths.
Myth #1: Your first appointment you’ll jump straight into exercises
The truth: It starts with a conversation!
One of the biggest misconceptions I hear is that you’ll walk in and immediately be put to work. That’s not how it goes, especially if you’re anxious about getting hurt. Your first visit is all about communication!
It will include a lot of talking and learning about your story and concerns. Your physical or occupational therapist wants to hear what fears you have as well as what your future goals are so we can work on getting you there.
For full transparency, your therapist will discuss with you what they assess your current state to be and what your treatment plan will look like, so you know exactly what to expect.
Myth #2: There aren’t many tools to support you.
The truth: Every Spooner clinic is fully equipped with tools to keep you safe.
At Spooner, every clinic is equipped with gait belts, parallel bars, and stable surfaces like the TrueStretch cage, which gives patients multiple places to hold on during standing or balance work. Some Spooner clinics also have specialty equipment like the AlterG anti-gravity treadmill or the Solo Step overhead track system for additional support. Your
Your physical or occupational therapist will let you know what’s available and what makes sense for where you are in your care.
One thing that sets Spooner apart in patient safety is our one-on-one technician model. Many physical therapy clinics assign a single tech to two or three therapists at once. At Spooner, you have a dedicated technician with you: someone who is trained and focused on you specifically.
Myth #3: A smaller therapist can’t keep you safe
The truth: It’s about training, not size!
Something I hear often is: “My therapist is much smaller than me. Can they really hold me up?” It’s a fair concern. But what your physical therapist is trained to do isn’t about matching your size. It’s about reading your body before anything goes wrong.
One of the main tools we use is a gait belt, which is a sturdy strap that fastens around your waist during standing and walking exercises. It gives your therapist a secure point of contact, but more importantly it lets them feel your body’s movement in real time. We can feel your center of mass shifting one way or another and guide you back to balance before things escalate. Think of it less as a safety net and more as an early warning system.
And if something does happen, your therapist is trained to respond. Physical therapists spend years in school, including doctoral level training, learning exactly how to keep you safe. You are never just left to figure it out on your own.
What happens if you’re scared to do something
Being medically ready for an exercise and feeling ready for it are two different things, and your physical or occupational therapist will take that distinction seriously.
I had a patient come to me from another physical therapy clinic who had a neurological condition. She was ready, physically. I could see that. But she was so scared of the exercises she had been asked to do there that she would cry. The other place before kept pushing anyway, telling her she could do it, that she just needed to try. She shared that she left one day in tears and never went back.
When she came to me, I decided to start somewhere different. I wanted to find things she could do that didn’t scare her at all, because if she’s afraid, she’s not going to perform them correctly anyway. We went slow, built some trust, and she started to gain confidence in herself. From there, we were able to progress to the things she couldn’t do before.
If you feel pushed to do something that scares you, say so. There is almost always something we can do. If standing feels too unstable, we might start seated. If a step exercise feels like too much, we can work on weight shifting first. If the speed feels too fast, we slow down. It may feel intimidating to speak up, but that is exactly what we are here for. The more we know about how you are feeling, the better we can make sure you are moving at a pace that feels safe and comfortable for you.
We work toward what matters to you
In that first visit, I want to know this question,
What is it that you want to be able to do that you can’t do right now?
The answer might be getting to your favorite restaurant (there are two steps at the entrance). It might be making it from your car to the cart at the grocery store. It might be getting up off the floor to play with your grandkids.
Whatever it is, my job is to figure out what’s actually standing in the way. Is it balance? Strength? Endurance? Confidence? Once I know the barrier, I can build a plan around it, recreating the real-life situation in the clinic as closely as possible, at a pace that keeps you safe.
There’s a system in place, and people dedicated to it
Safety at Spooner isn’t just a matter of individual therapists doing their best. It’s built into how the company operates and the profession as a whole.
Physical therapists are required to meet ongoing education standards and renew their licensure regularly, ensuring their skills and knowledge stay current. As a company, Spooner operates under strict state and federal healthcare guidelines designed to protect patients at every level of their care.
At Spooner specifically, new team members spend dedicated time on patient safety training before they see their first patient. In my role as Compliance Officer, I conduct in-person assessments at all 29 clinics to make sure standards are consistent no matter which location you walk into. I’m also a direct resource for therapists who have questions, and I can speak to their experience firsthand having spent years in the clinic myself.
When you come in, you don’t have to wonder whether anyone is watching out for you. Someone is.
The most important thing you can do is COMMUNICATE!
We understand that walking through our doors for the first time can feel like a big step, especially if you’ve been putting it off out of fear. That’s completely normal, and you are not alone in feeling that way.
Through all of it, there is one piece of advice that matters most: communicate. Tell your physical therapist what scares you. Tell them when something feels like too much. Tell them what you’re hoping to get back to. There is no wrong thing to say, and nothing you share will be dismissed. The more we know, the more we can do.
Physical therapy is not a one-size-fits-all process, and it doesn’t have to be intimidating. If you’ve been on the fence, the first step is just showing up and having a conversation. We’ll take it from there.
Ready to take the first step? Find a Spooner clinic near you and schedule an appointment today!