03-20-2015

In the movie, Freedom Writers, Ms. G used several strategies in order to cause a change in her students. Many of which have been discussed during the small group discussion after watching the film. So I opt to discuss only a few of these strategies. Instead, I would focus on two things I’ve learned that may be applicable to me as a future Physical Therapist.

It is understandable why the students didn’t like Ms G. at first. She was a pearl-wearing “white” teacher from another city who knows nothing about everyday hardships in Long beach. She was a stranger to them. In the movie, we saw how she tries to understand where they are coming from. She tries to speak their “language”. She empowers them to reflect and share their feelings and experiences in a journal. She shows them, by teaching about the holocaust, that there are other people who have also seen a lot of violence. It can easily be recognized that Ms. G’s commitment to transforming and changing her students’ attitude stems from her genuine interest and concern for them. Slowly, we saw the students change.  As future therapists, it is important to try to understand where our patients are coming to have a more effective therapy. They shouldn’t feel that we merely see them as a source of income or a charity case. We should show them how we are genuinely concerned about their well-being and has their best interest in mind

Lastly, change takes time. We can’t expect our patients to improve immediately. We can’t expect them to trust us right away just because we are “the professional”. Therapy is a long process that requires tons of patience and hard-work from both the therapist and the patient.