Danielle “Dani” Hardy, DPT
EDUCATION:
Doctorate of Physical Therapy & Bachelor of Science in Health Science with a minor in Business Administration from Lebanon Valley College.
CERTIFICATIONS:
Certified Concussion Specialist
Sacroiliac Joint Specialist
CONTACT:
dhardy@hartzpt.com
717.738.0004
What Makes Dani Special
Dani’s goal as a Physical Therapist is to serve the local community through providing
individualized, patient, and compassionate care to all patients, and also to serve through promoting health and wellness at a community level. She has a special interest in vestibular rehab, concussion rehab, and SI and lumbar regions and works with Dave, Lori and Brooke in our Ephrata office.
Dani is active in her community and has led food drives and back-to-school drives. She is great at building relationship with both staff and her patients and she values those connections.
Her time serving as a youth leader over the last 4 years has also taught her that trusting relationships are built through patience, time, and listening, which has impacted the way she views therapy treatments as well.
Outside of the office she loves spending time with her husband Devin, regularly babysitting her nephews, and volunteering at church. Dani is also an amateur photograph who loves taking landscape photos.
Want to know more? Here’s a little Q & A…
What’s something that has surprised you about your chosen career path?
It surprises me how quickly people can recover! They can come with 5 or more years of chronic pain, and within the first session (or first couple), they’re feeling noticeably better and getting back to the activities they love doing!
It also surprises me how many people check anxiety and/or depression on their medical history intake forms. I’d say nearly half the people do. I think that’s something important to keep in mind.
What’s the one thing you wish you’d known when you began working as a PT/PTA? What advice would you give a newbie?
“You can’t help everyone. And that’s okay.” It’s hard, but it’s true. And it’s humbling. This is something I’m still trying to grasp. We of course don’t want this to be true, but sometimes if people aren’t getting better, it may not have anything to do with you or your treatment interventions. It could be outside factors affecting the patient such as difficult family situations, work stress, poverty, or a patient’s lack of time or desire to exercise or put effort into their recovery. These situations are rare, but exist, and I think it’s important to not take it too personally, and to redirect, refer, or do what’s needed to point the patient in the next right direction!
If you weren’t a PT/PTA what you be doing, especially if salary wasn’t a concern?
Volunteering with a college campus ministry or a ministry based organization that houses low income or at-risk families or single mothers.
Most important advice you give your patients?
Figure out what activities you enjoy doing most to keep active and do those! There’s no one best way to exercise or to keep active – you could garden, do yoga, go for a run or for a leisure nature walk, join a pickleball or volleyball league – whatever you’re passionate about. Research supports that just simply being active and moving is beneficial to reducing pain and keeping function!
What is one thing that instantly makes your day better?
Good food, sunny weather, or being around “my people” (my husband, family, close friends, etc).
What’s the best advice you were ever given? Who was it from?
“Always assume the best of people. Give them the benefit of the doubt in the situation.” -My dad
What are you passionate about?
I’m passionate about talking to people and learning about people – the wider the variety, the better! I’m also passionate about learning from other people, having meaningful conversations, and deep relationships.
What’s your favorite famous or inspirational quote?
“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” -Lamentations 3: 22-23
What are your hobbies?
-Taking landscape photos
-Writing and drawing images/diagrams on new concepts I’m learning (usually relating to Bible scriptures, Philosophy, or Psychology). I learn best with visual representations, so this helps me remember themes and encouragements that I’m “meditating” on.
-Spending time with friends and family
Do you have any pets?
Two cats! I thought I wasn’t a “cat person” until we brought home a stray kitten we named “Bo.” He’s hilarious, super-social, and loves to play hide and seek. Then nine months later we got another rescue kitten named “Noel.” Bo and Noel are best buds! Turns out I really like cats!
What’s the first concert you ever went to? Or what concert would you like to go to?
I’d like to go to an Imagine Dragon’s concert.
How do you like to start or end your day?
With my husband. He’s pretty great!
What makes you laugh?
Friends (the show)
What’s something you’ve done, but you’ll never do again?
Go on a cruise. I get pretty sea sick. We were also supposed to go to Bermuda on the cruise, but there were tropical storms the days preceding the trip, so the night before we left, we found out the ship was redirected to the new, fun, not-so-warm location of… Canada! Bit of a let down, and we had to repack our whole suitcase.
