Therapy
Etymology
From Greek "therapeia" (healing, service, attendance), from "therapeuein" (to attend to, treat, serve). The root sense is closer to caring for or ministering to a person than to fixing a machine — treatment as attentive service.
noun · /THAIR-uh-pee/
Treatment aimed at relieving or curing a disorder of body or mind.
What it names
A broad handle for any deliberate course of treatment — talk, drugs, exercise, radiation — not just the couch-and-counselor sense.
Example
Physical therapy rebuilt the strength in his knee over several months.
Related idea
A therapy treats a condition that already exists, whereas a prophylactic measure like a vaccine prevents one from arising. In everyday speech "therapy" has narrowed toward psychotherapy, but medically it covers everything from chemotherapy to hydrotherapy.