therapist

noun

ther·a·pist | \ ˈther-ə-pist

Definition of therapist

1 : an individual specializing in the therapeutic medical treatment of impairment, injury, disease, or disorder especially : a health-care professional trained in methods of treatment and rehabilitation other than the use of drugs or surgery These simple range-of-motion exercises are often prescribed by physical, occupational, or hand therapists for people with hand OA [=osteoarthritis]. — Food {amp} Fitness Advisor To help the baby interact with his family, a speech therapist taught everyone—including Justin's twin brother, Jeffery—hand signals and games. — Michele Blecher

2 : a practitioner of psychotherapy : a psychotherapist Again, it is important for the therapist to recognize that regression is normative due to the extreme stress of separation and divorce.— Nathan W. Turner

Examples of therapist in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Cut off from the outside world, Cunningham returned to his long-dormant Catholic faith and started seeing a therapist over Skype and joined a support support group. — Alexander Huls, Popular Mechanics, "The Great Star Wars Heist," 7 Mar. 2019 In 2016, she was placed in the university’s Department of Physical Therapy, despite not being a licensed physical therapist, excluding her from participating in department decisions and curriculum changes. — Ben Guarino, The Verge, "An academic reported sexual harassment. Her university allegedly retaliated," 12 Nov. 2018 Falzoi has since founded Dignity Together, which helps targets, therapists, and employers address workplace bullying — including understanding which behaviors cross the line into abuse. — Jessica Press, Redbook, "Women Need to Know They Don't Have to Take Bullying in the Workplace," 19 Sep. 2018 Just a sample of those titles are respiratory therapist, MRI technologist and CT technologist. — Molly Sullivan, sacbee, "Will I have to reschedule a hospital procedure? Here's what patients need to know about UC Davis strike | The Sacramento Bee," 7 May 2018 Glover was part of a musical trio seeing a therapist (Strong) and a would-be Barbie employee coming up with bleak captions for the doll. — Hal Boedeker, OrlandoSentinel.com, "'SNL': Stormy Daniels warns Trump," 6 May 2018 The 24-year-old had been the athletic therapist for the Humboldt Broncos since 2016. — Nicole Chavez, CNN, "Humboldt Broncos trainer dies days after crash," 12 Apr. 2018 His father works in physiotherapy and his mother is a massage therapist. — Alex Prewitt, SI.com, "For the NHL's Two Sebastian Ahos, the Similarities Run Deeper Than Their Name," 21 Feb. 2018 Russell, a Fort Worth resident, is an award-winning massage therapist, who found cycling as a 20-something and later triathlons. — John Henry, star-telegram, "The Cowtown and The City of Lights both on radar for award-winning massage therapist," 7 Feb. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'therapist.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Keep scrolling for more

Learn More about therapist

Dictionary Entries near therapist

Statistics for therapist

Last Updated

13 Apr 2019

Look-up Popularity

Time Traveler for therapist

The first known use of therapist was in 1880

See more words from the same year

Keep scrolling for more

More Definitions for therapist

therapist

noun

English Language Learners Definition of therapist

: a person trained in methods of treating illnesses especially without the use of drugs or surgery

: a person who helps people deal with mental or emotional problems by talking about those problems : a person trained in psychotherapy

See the full definition for therapist in the English Language Learners Dictionary

therapist

noun

ther·a·pist | \ ˈther-ə-pəst

Kids Definition of therapist

: a person specializing in treating disorders or injuries of the body or mind especially in ways that do not involve drugs and surgery a speech therapist