Chris Sebelski may not be someone that a member of the Saint Louis University community really wants to meet, because meeting her normally comes after sustaining an injury. Sebelski is one of the physical therapists at the Student Health and Counseling Center, and she specializes in physical rehabilitations necessary after injuries, as well as preventive therapy.

Although Sebelski is a clinical physical therapist, as well as a physical therapy professor, physical therapy was not what she originally planned on doing with her life.

“I didn’t have a major so I talked to my adviser, who put me in a clinic based on what he knew my interests and skills to be,” Sebelski said.

Sebelski said that she had shown a natural aptitude for physical therapy and enjoyed what she was doing, so she continued to earn her degrees in the field.

Working both in the clinic and in the classroom, Sebelski says that her career is a “daily learning experience.”

“I can take something from class and bring it to my interactions with a patient, or take an experience with a patient and bring it to class,” she said. “It’s very reciprocal, and everyone benefits from it.”

Additionally, she said that she enjoys the relationship that develops between herself and her patients. She becomes an important part of their lives as they become invested in their own care.

A native of St. Louis, Sebelski returned to her hometown after spending many years working and teaching at the University of Southern California. In her free time, she enjoys biking, hiking, running and “anything involving being outdoors, really.” She encourages anyone interested in the field of physical therapy to talk to people within the field and find out if the profession is a good fit.

“Physical therapy is a fun profession and … I’m sure most people say this about the group they work in, but I think physical therapists are a pretty fun group to hang out with,” Sebelski said.

Sebelski says the injuries that affect her the most are those of patients who are at the same phase of life as her. The patient that she said had the greatest emotional effect on her was a firefighter in Los Angeles.

“This woman was only a day younger than me and experienced a spinal-cord injury that left her a paraplegic,” Sebelski said. “It was very impactful to think, ‘That really could be me.'”

Although meeting Sebelski is generally a matter of necessity, she encourages students to come talk to her if they have any questions regarding to physical therapy, be it a problem area of the body or how to prevent an injury.