This robust program is designed for personal trainers, weight lifting and fitness coaches, physical and health educators, occupational therapists, physical therapists and people actively working with individuals and communities that have experienced trauma, including mental health and other healthcare providers.

About the Program
__________________

Participants will gain a thorough understanding of Complex and Developmental Trauma and PTSD throughout the life cycle.

Participants will learn, through mentorship and in-depth individual exploration, why, how, and when to use TIWL as an adjunctive treatment for Complex and Developmental Trauma and PTSD.

Participants will gain the knowledge and skills necessary to facilitate TIWL sessions (with individuals or small groups) as an adjunctive treatment for complex trauma and PTSD in their communities.

The program is completely online; no in-person attendance is required. It is comprised of live sessions along with self-study over the course of 8 weeks. This is/not a self-paced course.

We are actively seeking CEU credentialing through NASM.

Learning Objectives

______________

• Gain a thorough understanding of Complex Trauma, Developmental Trauma and trauma manifestations throughout the life cycle.
• Learn, through mentorship and in-depth individual exploration, why, how, and when to use TIWL as an adjunctive treatment for trauma.
• Gain the knowledge and skills necessary to facilitate TIWL sessions (with individuals or small groups) as an adjunctive treatment for trauma in their communities.
• Learn about the theory and research behind weight lifting as an adjunctive treatment for trauma survivors
• Learn the neurophysiological, psychological and emotional toll of traumatic experiences and how they may manifest in weight lifting 
• Develop an understanding of specific trauma-informed considerations for building and maintaining safety in fitness/gym spaces
• Learn how personal biases and perspectives may support or hinder a client’s progress
• Review current business practices, marketing, language, and process from a trauma-informed lens
• Examine the influences of systemic trauma, intersectionality, and mainstream fitness culture on the weight lifting community
• Develop harm reduction and accountability strategies to support trauma-informed weight lifting
• Developing trauma-informed strategies, communication, cueing, and processes to support clients/athletes 
• Learn how to center consent within interactions while reinforcing and respecting boundaries.

CANDIDATE ELIGIBILITY

To be eligible for the certification program, applicants must be either:

A certified trainer (ACE, NASM, NSCA, ISSA, Crossfit, etc) 

Best suited candidates who are fitness professionals will have a vibrant intellectual curiosity regarding trauma theory and a solid level of experience engaging in and coaching weight lifting/strength/resistance training. This will provide critical subjective and intuitive insight into the place of weight lifting in a healing milieu. These candidates will learn to bring TIWL into their weight lifting scope of practice.

A licensed mental health care provider (e.g. in the United States, LMHC, RN, MSW, OT, PhD, LMFT, MD. etcetera)

Best suited candidates who are mental health care professionals will be grounded in trauma theory and have experience in their setting working with trauma-impacted clients. These clinicians will have the opportunity to make TIWL an active part of their clinical or direct care practice while honoring their clinical scope of practice.

Have an advanced degree in a clinical field or a Care-giver, healer, or practitioners working to address the presence of trauma with individuals and within communities.

Best suited candidates who are engaged with individuals or communities who have experienced trauma will bring their skills and understanding, a desire to expand their knowledge about trauma theory, and a current application for TIWL in their community. These professionals will develop ways to include TIWL in their work and environments.

At the discretion of the Certification Coordinator, consideration will be given to candidates with an advanced degree in a clinical field or to care-givers currently working to address the presence of trauma with individuals and within communities, e.g. elders and traditional healers in Indigenous communities. International standards vary and we will accept any mental health care provider working within a scope of practice in a given country.

No prior TIWL training is required, but recommended. 

Applicants who have completed prior training with Trauma Informed Weight Lifting foundational course will receive a partial credit towards the certification cost. 

Applications may be submitted prior to completion of the noted training however applications will be held for review until prior training is complete.

We have created this program to be 100% web-based to increase accessibility to participants in any geographical location. 

With the close support of a mentor, participants will gain the insight and understanding required to build, cultivate, and sustain a TIWL program in any setting of their choice.

We offer a limited number of full scholarships as a part of our diversity, equity and inclusion initiative. The purpose of this scholarship is to expand the reach of the TIWL program and to address health disparities by engaging professionals who will commit to providing TIWL services to a range of historically marginalized communities and those contemporarily impacted by oppression-related traumatic stress. As a program, we respect the data that shows individuals seeking care tend to be best served by providers who come from the same or similar community or cultural milieu, especially when considering marginalization, or peoples who have experienced systemic discrimination. We will take this into consideration in our decision-making process.