Trauma-Informed Coaching: Program Design (Part 2 of 5)
Welcome to part two in the 5 Relationship Checkpoints for Trauma-Informed Fitness Coaching blog series! If you’ve not read part 1, I encourage you to click the link above and do that now. If you’re ready to dive in, let’s recap the 5 checkpoints:
Initial Consult – Creating a safe and supportive entry point for clients with trauma history
Program Design – Incorporating trauma-informed practices into goal-setting, programming, and client celebrations
Cueing – Empowering clients to set boundaries and communicate their needs
Policies – Crafting policies that set a foundation of trust and transparency
Marketing – Using shame-free marketing messaging to attract and retain the right clients
In this post, we’ll cover step two, program design. In this post, I’ll share how I’ve incorporated trauma-informed practices into goal-setting, programming, and client celebrations.
As a reminder…I want to caveat all of this by saying that I’m not a mental health expert. These are simply things I’ve done in my own teaching practice that have worked over the years. These are things that, as someone with C-PTSD and undiagnosed ADHD, I wish other studios put thought into. Understanding these checkpoints has helped me create really meaningful relationships with clients who keep coming back year-over-year.
Program Design – Incorporating trauma-informed practices into goal-setting, programming, and client celebrations
Trauma-informed fitness programming is often misunderstood as simply being soft or overly gentle with clients. However, trauma-informed coaching is far more nuanced and robust. I recommend, instead, focusing on flexibility, collaboration, and transparency. It’s about creating an environment where individuals feel safe, supported, and empowered. This approach recognizes the complex interplay between mind and body, and the impact that trauma can have on both. By being attuned to these factors, fitness professionals can help clients build resilience and reclaim their physical and emotional well-being.
Flexibility is a cornerstone of trauma-informed coaching. For trauma survivors, rigidity in programming can be a significant barrier to participation and progress. Trauma can affect individuals in unpredictable ways, leading to fluctuating physical and emotional states. A flexible approach allows coaches to adapt workouts to the client’s current needs, ensuring that the program remains supportive and effective. This might mean modifying exercises, adjusting intensity levels, or incorporating more or less rest. By being adaptable, coaches can help reduce feelings of judgment or failure, and help clients become more consistent in their fitness journey.
Flexibility in coaching also means being open to feedback and willing to adjust the plan based on the client's experiences and preferences. Trauma can leave individuals feeling powerless and disconnected from their bodies, so a collaborative approach helps to rebuild trust and autonomy. By actively involving clients in the decision-making process, they’re more likely to feel heard, valued, and in control of their fitness journey.
Transparency also fosters a sense of control for clients. Having clarity around expectations and potential challenges helps to reduce anxiety and uncertainty, which can be heightened in folks with trauma histories. Creating a predictable and secure environment can lead to more effective and meaningful outcomes in their fitness and overall well-being.
So how do you apply these concepts throughout the client journey? In the next sections, we’ll talk about how these play out in goal-setting, programming, and client celebrations.
Goal-Setting
One of the first things we’re taught as fitness coaches is how to help clients set goals, more specifically SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, & time-bound) goals. And it makes sense on the surface. If you know where someone is starting from and where they want to go, you can develop a training plan with clear milestones. In theory, under this system, your clients will see measurable progress and be inclined to continue training with you.
This rigid approach, however, can fall short when supporting people who are neurodivergent or have a history of trauma. It often lacks the flexibility to account for fluctuations in mood and ability, which can leave clients feeling like they’re in a failure hamster wheel.
Coming up with the “right” or “perfect” SMART goal can also be really overwhelming. You and your clients have both probably experienced analysis paralysis or decision fatigue at some point. Society has conditioned us to believe that there’s a “right” way to do everything. So we agonize over decisions to the point of exhaustion or burnout. These feelings can be heightened for people with trauma.
Unless someone has entered into a bodybuilding competition or desperately wants to win the upcoming push-up competition with their coworkers, people generally don’t generally start out with highly specific goals. The majority of the clients I work with have qualitative, not quantitative, goals. They most often want to “reconnect with their body,” “find more community,” or “have a safe space to get stronger where they don’t feel judged.” These goals don’t really fit into the linear SMART goal model. Reducing these aspirations to a goal like “get my first pull-up by my 30th birthday” or “lose 10 lbs by my wedding” would undoubtedly feel forced or inauthentic.
The reality is that most people just need to move more. Want to get stronger? Move more. Want to lose weight? Move more. Want to feel more at peace in your body? Move more. Dan John, world renowned strength coach, has said, “Everything works, but only for so long.” We could agonize over finding the most meaningful goal or most efficient program, but at the end of the day it all works and it’s always inherently changing. Just get people moving.
When the subject of ditching SMART goals comes up, a ton of questions arise.:
“But how do you demonstrate client progress?”
“How do you retain members?”
“What keeps people motivated if they don’t have a smart goal?”
I can see why it’d be nerve-wrecking to abandon the SMART goal security blanket, but consider these two other options:
Take the focus off of the destination, and put it on the journey itself. There are obviously many ways to do this, but I’ve focused on building a shame-free community where we not only get progressively stronger, but we laugh a lot, form genuine friendships, host events, and encourage community care.
Promise progressive skill-building, rather than goal-related outcomes. Skills-based fitness training can be particularly beneficial for clients with a trauma history because it emphasizes the development of practical, functional skills rather than rigid, outcome-focused targets. This approach fosters a sense of empowerment and mastery, while remaining flexible. By focusing on skill acquisition and personal growth, clients can experience a fitness journey that respects their unique needs and builds lasting confidence. Let’s talk about how to create skills-based programming for your clients.
Skills-Based Program Design
Nicholas Soderstrom and Robert Bjork at University of California stated in their literature review about learning vs. performance, “...instruction should endeavor to facilitate learning, which refers to the relatively permanent changes in behavior or knowledge that support longterm retention and transfer. Paradoxically, however, such learning needs to be distinguished from performance, which refers to the temporary fluctuations in behavior or knowledge that can be observed and measured during or immediately after the acquisition process.” In an industry focused on short-term performance, offering your clients opportunities for long-term learning can set you apart from your competitors and help you facilitate lasting impact.
At my studio, we’ve done this with a two part approach to skills-based program design:
Monthly focus areas. Each month, as a community we put emphasis on a specific movement pattern–hinge, squat, push, and pull. For example, in January we focus on the hinge pattern, February is squat month, etc. Each session includes accessory moves for a well-rounded workout, but having a monthly focus gives coaches and clients alike some much-needed direction.
Programming tracks. We currently have seven programming tracks–Kettlebell Foundations, Bend Don’t Break (for folks with hypermobility), Calisthenics, and a few others. These programming tracks determine which progressions clients will be given each week. During squat month, for example, clients in the Bend Don’t Break track may be working on banded tempo squats while those in Kettlebell Foundations are dialing in their goblet squat. The tracks provide a transparent, progressive structure, while remaining flexible to clients’ day-to-day needs.
Regardless of their track, clients of all abilities watch their skills improve over the course of the month and feel accomplished seeing the tangible result at the end. Four months later when we revisit the pattern, there’s almost always notable progress. This creates an ongoing, motivating feedback loop that keeps clients engaged. It gives us a regular and consistent cause for celebration.
Client Celebrations
At the end of each month, we have a benchmark week. I describe benchmarks as a snapshot of where clients are at in a particular moment. It’s not a test, rather an opportunity to document progress. SMART goals create an all-or-nothing dynamic. Did you achieve this thing or…did you fail? Monthly, skills-based fitness benchmarks provide a confidence-building framework for individuals with a trauma history, turning each milestone into a celebration of progress. Each new skill learned or improved becomes an occasion to recognize growth, affirm ability and build self-efficacy.
In addition to enhancing self-efficacy, skills-based benchmarks are inherently flexible. We know that trauma can affect people in unpredictable ways, sometimes causing fluctuations in energy levels, motivation, and emotional well-being. Monthly skills-based benchmarks accommodate these variations. This adaptability ensures that the fitness journey remains supportive and aligned with the client’s well-being, rather than becoming another source of stress. When clients navigate a challenging month, they can still celebrate their resilience and progress, turning potential setbacks into opportunities for reflection and growth.
By focusing on the process of learning and celebrating new skills, clients can cultivate a lasting sense of joy and engagement in their fitness activities. The overall result is a more holistic and empowering fitness experience that supports both physical and emotional healing.
How you guide your clients through their program is where the magic happens! Next up, we’ll talk about one of the biggest parts of a session…cuing. In the next three posts in this series, we’ll discuss:
Cueing – Empowering clients to set boundaries and communicate their needs
Policies – Crafting policies that set a foundation of trust and transparency
Marketing – Using shame-free marketing messaging to attract and retain the right clients
Be sure to follow along onInstagram orTikTok to get updates on these and all future posts!
