I get this question a lot, often from people sitting in front of me for the first time, a little unsure how they ended up in a kinesiology session when they thought they needed a physiotherapist. The two professions are genuinely easy to confuse. We overlap in meaningful ways, we often work in the same clinics, and we’re both trying to help you move better and feel better about movement. But the experience of working with each of us is quite different — and understanding that difference can help you get more out of your care.
My path to kinesiology is a bit unconventional. I was born in Spain, grew up on Salt Spring Island, and completed my undergraduate degree in Kinesiology at Western University, where I worked on the sidelines with varsity athletes managing acute injuries. I then returned to Spain for a Master’s degree in Sports Science, where I studied alongside physiotherapy students and gained a close-up view of how both professions approach the body. That experience shapes how I practice now. I have deep respect for physiotherapy — and a clear sense of what kinesiology does that physio doesn’t, and vice versa.
Here’s how I’d explain the difference, not in terms of credentials, but in terms of what your appointment actually looks like.
What Does a Physiotherapy Appointment Feel Like?
When you see a physiotherapist, you’re typically there because something has gone wrong — an injury, surgery, acute pain, or a new symptom that needs to be diagnosed and treated. Physio is the front-line clinical response. Your physio will assess you, identify what’s happening in the tissue or joint, and often use hands-on techniques — manual therapy, joint mobilization, soft tissue work — to help your body start healing. You might do a few exercises at the end of the session, but you’re mostly on the table, or being treated.
Physiotherapy is about reducing pain and restoring function in the acute or subacute phase of an injury. Your physio is also the person who formally assesses and diagnoses the problem. That diagnostic authority matters — it’s why people typically see a physio first after an accident or injury, and why ICBC and most extended health plans require a physiotherapist to initiate your care plan. Research supports this integrated approach: a 2021 meta-analysis found that combining manual therapy with supervised exercise produced greater improvements in pain and function than either intervention alone for patients with musculoskeletal injuries.[1]
What Does a Kinesiology Appointment Feel Like?
A kinesiology session looks almost nothing like that. When you walk into a session with me, we’re not starting on a treatment table — we’re probably starting in a gym space or open area, and we’re moving. My job is to understand how your body moves, where it compensates, what it avoids, and why. From there, I build a progressive exercise program that’s specific to you: your injury, your goals, your life.
The work is active and collaborative. You’re not a passive recipient of treatment — you’re the one doing the work, and I’m the one watching, cueing, adjusting, and progressing you safely. A good kinesiology session should leave you feeling like you’ve accomplished something, with a clearer sense of what your body can do and what it’s working toward.
Kinesiology is where rehabilitation becomes independence. It’s the bridge between “my pain is being managed” and “I’m back to doing what I love.” The evidence backs this up: graded activity programs — the structured, progressive kind of exercise rehabilitation a kinesiologist provides — have been shown to produce significant long-term improvements in disability and function for people with chronic pain.[2]
Where the Two Overlap — and Where They Don’t
Both physiotherapists and kinesiologists care deeply about how your body moves, and both of us use exercise as a key tool. But the emphasis and timing are different.
Physiotherapy tends to focus on the acute phase: diagnosing what’s wrong, reducing pain and inflammation, restoring basic range of motion. Kinesiology tends to take over from there: rebuilding strength, retraining movement patterns, and helping you return to activity safely. In practice, the two often work best in sequence or in parallel — your physio addresses the immediate problem while your kinesiologist builds the capacity that keeps it from coming back.
There are also things a kinesiologist does that go beyond the rehabilitation context. I work with people who aren’t injured at all — people who want to move better, get stronger, or build sustainable exercise habits. Which brings me to a distinction that often surprises people.
A Kinesiologist Is Not a Personal Trainer — Here’s Why That Matters
This comes up constantly, and I think it’s worth being direct about. A personal trainer can be an excellent resource for fitness and motivation. But a registered kinesiologist brings a different lens to exercise — one grounded in anatomy, physiology, biomechanics, and a clinical understanding of how injury and pain affect the way people move.
When I work with a client, I’m not just prescribing exercises I think will be effective. I’m reading how they move — where they compensate, which muscles aren’t firing, how their body has adapted around an old injury or period of inactivity. I’m also in communication with the rest of their care team. If you’re seeing a physiotherapist, chiropractor, or massage therapist at the same clinic, (with consent) I know what they’re working on, and I’m building a program that supports that work rather than inadvertently working against it.
For someone who has been through an injury, lives with chronic pain, or has a condition that affects their movement, that clinical context isn’t a bonus — it’s essential. Even for someone who is healthy and simply wants to exercise more effectively, having a kinesiologist design and supervise your program means you’re building fitness in a way that accounts for your individual movement patterns and reduces your risk of injury down the road. An umbrella review of exercise prescription research in musculoskeletal rehabilitation reinforces how much the specifics of programming matter — the right dose, progression, and load have a meaningful impact on outcomes.[3]
So, Do You Need Both?
Sometimes, yes — and that’s not me trying to sell you two appointments instead of one. It’s genuinely how recovery often works best. If you’ve had an acute injury, you likely need a physiotherapist first. Once your pain is managed and your body is ready to load and strengthen, a kinesiologist helps you get the rest of the way there. If you’re navigating that transition and wondering what to expect, my colleague Makala Mullaly has written a great piece on overcoming setbacks and returning to activity that’s well worth reading.
Other times, one or the other is the right fit from the start. If you’re recovering from a motor vehicle accident, for example, ICBC-covered kinesiology is often a core part of your active rehabilitation plan — and it works best alongside physiotherapy, not instead of it.
If you’re not sure which to start with, the honest answer is: come in and talk to us. At Acacia, our kinesiology and physiotherapy teams work in the same building and talk to each other. We’ll help you figure out where to start.
Working with a Kinesiologist at Acacia Health
I’m Celia Segura, a registered kinesiologist at Acacia Health in Victoria, BC. My background spans kinesiology, varsity-level athletic training, and sports science — and my approach is straightforward: I want to understand how you move and help you move better, whether you’re recovering from an injury, managing a chronic condition, or building strength for the long term.
If you have questions about whether kinesiology is the right fit for you, I’m happy to talk it through. You can learn more about our kinesiology services at Acacia here, or book an initial assessment and we’ll go from there.
- Reza MK, et al. (2021). Efficacy of specified manual therapies in combination with a supervised exercise protocol for managing pain intensity and functional disability in patients with knee osteoarthritis. Journal of Pain Research, 14, 127–138. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33531832/
- Macedo LG, et al. (2010). A systematic review and meta-analysis on the effectiveness of graded activity and graded exposure for chronic nonspecific low back pain. Pain Medicine, 17(1), 172–188. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26235368/
- Arora NK, et al. (2024). The impact of exercise prescription variables on intervention outcomes in musculoskeletal pain: an umbrella review of systematic reviews. Sports Medicine, 54, 909–934. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40279-023-01966-2
