therapy

USTHER-uh-pee/ˈθɛɹ.ə.pi/

5 meanings of therapy

1
nouncountable or uncountable
Treatment aimed at remedying a health problem after a diagnosis has been made.
Like following a recovery plan drawn up only after the problem has been clearly identified.
Doctors recommended an aggressive therapy once they had confirmed the diagnosis.
The therapy continued for several months before he showed any improvement.
Similartreatment, remedy, regimen
Note
Greek gave the word its double life: θεραπεία meant both "service" and "medical treatment," from a verb meaning "I serve, treat medically." In English it often follows a noun naming the method, as in serum therapy or inclined bed therapy. It counts freely, so one can speak of kinesitherapy "in common with other therapies" as easily as of a single course. In most contexts treatment can replace it.
2
noununcountable
Psychological treatment of mental or emotional problems through conversation with a trained professional.
Like talking a tangled knot loose with someone who knows where the threads run.
He's been in therapy for a year to work through his depression.
Many people find that therapy helps them understand patterns in their relationships.
Similarpsychotherapy, counseling, analysis
Note
This narrower meaning has become the default. Said without a qualifier, therapy now usually means talking treatment rather than medical treatment in general. Being in therapy points to psychotherapy, while a medical kind needs its name in front, as in serum therapy. Schools of practice are framed as approaches to therapy, such as existential or psychodynamic, and their results are measured as outcomes of therapy.
3
noununcountable
The soothing, restorative quality that an activity or experience can have on body or mind.
Like the quiet relief of finally setting down a heavy bag you've carried all day.
Gardening became a kind of therapy for him during his recovery.
There's real therapy in losing yourself in music for an hour.
Similarsolace, comfort, balm, tonic, relief

Less common meanings

4
verbraretransitive
To treat a patient or medical condition by administering a therapy.
Surgeons stabilize the wound before nurses therapy the surrounding tissue.
I was therapying her for some gene-based subroutine screwups that prevented easeful sexuality.
2014, Greg Bear, Queen of Angels
Similartreat
Note
A verb made straight from the noun, and an uncommon one: most writers still say treat or give therapy. It inflects like carry, giving therapies and therapied, but it keeps the y in therapying. Clinical prose uses the past participle as an adjective (the therapied and non-therapied regions). Greg Bear's Queen of Angels (2014) applies it to a person: "I was therapying her."
5
verbrareintransitive
To undergo a course of treatment for a health condition.
Patients who therapy consistently tend to see better outcomes.
Therapy has almost eliminated violence, and people are divided into groups — the "therapied" and the "un-therapied."
1992, Talking Book Topics
Note
Rare like its transitive partner, this use makes undergoing treatment something one simply does. It turns up mostly as an -ing form in a list of activities. Richard Grayson's West Side Summers (2011) has "adjuncting, therapying," and Brynjulf Stige's Culture-centered music therapy (2002) has "musicking, healthing, therapying." The participle can also stand as a noun for people, as in the therapied and the un-therapied.

Practice

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Origin

From New Latin 'therapīa', from Ancient Greek 'therapeía' (service, medical treatment), built on 'therapeúō' (I serve, treat medically) plus the suffix '-ía', which forms abstract nouns.