Between the Lines
Reflections on practice, power, and partnership in animal rehabilitation
For professionals navigating complexity that isn’t taught in textbooks.
Animal rehabilitation sits at the intersection of two professions—each highly trained, deeply committed, and shaped by very different cultures.
As a physical therapist working in veterinary medicine, I’ve lived inside both worlds. I’ve seen extraordinary collaboration, and I’ve also seen misunderstanding, isolation, and unspoken tension—not because people don’t care, but because they were trained differently, evaluated differently, and taught to survive in different ways.
This section is about exploring and honoring our differences.
Here, I share reflections from my own career—lessons learned through clinical work, teaching, leadership, and collaboration—intended to name what often goes unspoken and offer practical ways forward.
If you’re finding animal rehabilitation more complex than you expected, you’re not alone.
And if you’re committed to doing this work with integrity, clarity, and mutual respect, you’re in the right place.
How to Use This Space
These reflections are not here to convince or instruct—but to name what many professionals quietly carry.
They are reflections drawn from lived experience at the intersection of physical therapy, veterinary medicine, education, and leadership. Each piece stands on its own and can be entered in any order.
Some essays may resonate immediately. Others may feel uncomfortable, unfamiliar, or not relevant right now. That’s expected.
This space exists to pause, consider different professional perspectives, and reflect on how collaboration, communication, and care unfold in real clinical settings—often between the lines of formal training.
There is no expectation to agree.
Only an invitation to understand.
Begin with a reflection that resonates, or read in any order.
Collaboration Changes Everything
Join animal rehabilitation, the intersection of extraordinary skill sets.
Different Training and Responsibility, Same Goals
Why trust takes time
Not Being Allowed to Not Know
The invisible pressure veterinarians carry in Veterinary Medicine
Between the Lines
The invisible pressures physical therapists carry in animal rehabilitation
Boundaries Are Not a Luxury
Why well-intended support can land as pressure — and how to do better
When Both Professions Feel Alone
And What to Do About It
Microaggressions in Professional Spaces
Why small moments matter—and how to protect collaboration in busy clinics
Protecting Scope While Improving Quality of Life
How PT contribute without overstepping—and why understanding matters
These reflections are part of the same care pathway—just spoken in a quieter voice.
They reflect the world we practice in every day, and the professional culture we help create through how we listen, respond, and collaborate.