Last night I attended a talk on trust between a panel of founders and designers from the startup websites AirBnB, Getaround, Facebook, Lyft and Postmates. Each one of these companies offer a product or service that require a large level of trust from users, like renting your house or car to a stranger online. Needless to say, these companies have spent extensive amounts of time working to gain confidence from their customers, some going as far as working to pass legislation to make their service safer.

Establishing trust from customers is an obstacle in many industries, Physical Therapy included. Attending a therapy session is a fairly intimate act, both physically and mentally for patients. Bedside manner, of course, plays a crucial roll in making a client feel comfortable. However, another important part of the equation is the patient’s trust in a PT’s ability to help heal them.

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