# therapy

Pronunciation: US say "THER-uh-pee" /ˈθɛɹ.ə.pi/; UK

## Noun

1. Treatment aimed at remedying a health problem after a diagnosis has been made.
   - Simple: Medical care meant to cure or ease an illness after a doctor finds what is wrong.
   - _Doctors recommended an aggressive therapy once they had confirmed the diagnosis._
   - _The therapy continued for several months before he showed any improvement._
2. Psychological treatment of mental or emotional problems through conversation with a trained professional.
   - Simple: Treatment for mental or emotional problems by talking with a trained helper.
   - _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._
3. The soothing, restorative quality that an activity or experience can have on body or mind.
   - Simple: The calming, healing feeling that some activities can give you.
   - _Gardening became a kind of therapy for him during his recovery._
   - _There's real therapy in losing yourself in music for an hour._

## Verb

4. To treat a patient or medical condition by administering a therapy. *(rare)*
   - Simple: To give someone medical treatment for an illness or injury.
   - _Surgeons stabilize the wound before nurses therapy the surrounding tissue._
   - _Modern hospitals therapy chronic conditions with combined drug and lifestyle programs._
5. To undergo a course of treatment for a health condition. *(rare)*
   - Simple: To receive or go through a course of medical treatment.
   - _Patients who therapy consistently tend to see better outcomes._
   - _He had to therapy for months following the transplant._

## 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.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/therapy (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).