Transformation

Claire Dorotik-Nana, MA, LMFT

Transformation (Edition 1)
Official course text for: International Sports Sciences Association’s Transformation Specialist Program

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This text is informational only. The data and information contained herein are based upon information from various published and
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The publisher of this text makes no warranties, expressed or implied, regarding the currency, completeness, or scientific accuracy of
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 About the Author | iii

About the Author

Claire Dorotik-Nana, MA, LMFT, is a Licensed Marriage and Family
Therapist who specializes in post-traumatic growth, optimal performance,
and wellness. Earning her BS in Kinesiology from San Diego State Uni-
versity, Claire began her career as a personal trainer and worked for many
years specializing in weight loss, performance enhancement, and marathon
and ultra-marathon training. As a Licensed Marriage and Family Thera-
pist, Claire has worked with the recovery population developing wellness
programs, in residential fitness camps as a clinical therapist, and in private
practice counseling individuals and families – including victims of the Au-
rora Theatre shooting.
As a course developer for International Sports Science Association, Profes-
sional Development Resources, and Zur Institute, Claire has written over
thirty continuing education courses on a variety of topics from Nutrition
and Mental Health, Motivation, Stigma, and her most recent course, Coun-
seling the Victims of Mass Shootings. Additionally, Claire is the author of
Leverage: The Science of Turning Setbacks into Springboards, and pens the
popular blog on Psychcentral, Leveraging Adversity.

Claire is always thinking about ways to improve physical fitness and nutri-
tion as a modality for improving mental health.

International Sports Sciences Association

Contents
Introduction, p1
Why Personal Trainers Need to Know About
Behavioral Change, p2
How This Information Can Help Personal
Trainers, p3
1 Stages of Change, p5
The Stages of Change and How to Identify
Them, p8
Assessing the Client, p9
Applied Skills for Each Stage of Change, p11
Appendix:
The Complete Change Workbook, p282
Self-Motivation Booster: At Home Exercises
to Supercharge Motivation, p285
Get Positive: Positive Psychology Skills to
Create a Winning Mindset, p288
Change Methods That Work: The Complete
Commitment Strategy Guide, p296
Am I Getting Better? How to Use Experience
Sampling to Propel Change, p299

2 Motivational Interviewing, p14

The Motivational Interviewing Model, p15
The New Science of Motivation:
The Latest Research and
Motivation Skills, p28
Using Ambivalence to Motivate Your
Clients, p35
The Motivational Interviewing Coach: How
Empathy Enhances Change, p39

3 The ISSA Drawing-In Process, p47

Modifying Personal Behavior, p48
Modifying Your Client’s Behavior, p55

4 Positive Psychology, p62

The Positive Psychology Model, p63
Positive Psychology Skills for Personal
Trainers, p77

5 Commitment Strategies, p107

Commitment Strategies, p108
Part Two: To Win the Game, You Have to
Know the Rules, p140

6 Flow and Experience Sampling, p193

Flow and Why It Matters, p196
Introduction
2|

Unit Outline

1. Why Personal Trainers Need to Know About Behavioral Change

2. How This Information Can Help Personal Trainers

Why Personal Trainers Need to Know About

Behavioral Change
Personal trainers have every right to expect that
what they learn in certification programs will
fully prepare them to help their clients adopt
healthier behaviors. While new protocols for
exercise specifics may emerge, or new infor-
mation about nutrition may slightly alter our
understanding of how best to lose weight, the
premise is that the core of information available
is enough for personal trainers to sufficiently
(and hopefully excellently) perform their duties.
Also, many personal trainers state they are satis-
fied with the certification training they receive,
especially as new modifications, alternative
forms of exercise, and fitness specializations have
been adopted in such certification programs.
However, many personal trainers report feel-
ing very unsure of how best to create behavior
change within their clients. It is here that we
must also admit that there is—and perhaps
always will be—a disconnection between the
idealistic presentation of academia and certifi-
cations programs and the practical realities of
working in the trenches.
Perhaps a larger reality is that academic
preparation for personal trainers, like any other
helping profession, cannot possibly teach all
of the skills and knowledge to work with the
huge variety of clients who will likely walk
through a personal trainer’s door. Professional
preparation is simply not equipped to teach
personal trainers everything they need to know
and the best solution for every possible case.
What preparation can do though—and what it
does quite well—is to teach personal trainers to
make informed decisions about which exercis-
es to use with which types of clients, how to
prescribe and prepare exercise plans, and how
to minimize the risk of injury.
However, what professional preparation does
not do is teach personal trainers what is now
consistently recognized as the most essential
component of behavioral change—that is, the
relationship they need to develop with their cli-
ents. What I am mean here is all of the relational
and emotional characteristics that teach not just
what to do with clients, but more importantly,
how a trainer should be with clients. This is
important as research in behavioral change now
clearly recognizes that, regardless of the model

Transformation Specialist
 Introduction | 3

of behavioral change used, the relationship with How This Information

the personal trainer (or coach or therapist) is the
strongest predicator of long-lasting behavioral
Can Help Personal
change. It is this human connection that serves Trainers
as the glue that sustains the difficult aspects of
Personal trainers are under more pressure
behavior change. And while there are trans-
than ever before to quickly and swiftly create
formative factors that are needed for change to
change in their clients, to prove the efficacy
occur, without first developing a trusting and
of their methods, and to stand out among the
authentic relationship with a personal trainer,
competition—which comes in many forms as
clients simply will not change.
more clients turn to medication, plastic sur-
Yet it is not only in the field of personal train- gery, Botox, and liposuction to confront their
ing that the cardinal components of behavioral unhealthy compositions.
change are being overlooked; with obesity
And yet, without first understanding the cli-
rates now skyrocketing, and diversifying into
ents, such as what stage of change they may be
younger populations, how to change peoples’
in, their motivations for change, their ambiv-
behavior is something that is missing the mark
alence about change, and any mitigating life
on a national scale. While there is now greater
factors, any personal trainer’s efforts to inspire
access than ever before to information about
behavioral change will be hindered. That is to
healthy nutrition, campaigns to encourage the
say, inspiring change in a client begins with
adoption of healthy behavior, and even incen-
first understanding the client on a fundamen-
tive programs (for instance, many insurance
tal level. From this point, personal trainers
companies offer lower premiums, and many
can then tailor change approaches directly and
states have considered raising taxes on un-
uniquely to that client, avoiding a “one size
healthy foods), the obesity epidemic is showing
fits all” approach that overlooks the client’s
no signs of slowing down.
unique circumstances. Further, a client who
Personal trainers, like national campaigns to feels understood is much more likely not only
fight obesity, have plenty of useful information to return to that personal trainer, but also to
about exercise and nutritional; yet, all of this more fully engage in the process of changing
information is predicated upon not simply their behavior.
eating healthier and exercising, but also upon
Understanding behavior change can help per-
changing a person’s behavior at a fundamental
sonal trainers:
level. What is needed—and what this course
offers—is not more of the same, but rather, • To understand how the stage of change a
an inside look at the most up-to-date, evi- client is in influences the thoughts, feelings,
behaviors, motivations, and challenges of
dence-based, and innovative approaches to
the client.
changing behavior.

International Sports Sciences Association

4|
Self-efficacy: confidence
that allows changes to be
made and sustained across a
variety of situations.
Transformation Specialist
• To develop the skills to identify the stage of change the client is in
and how best to work with the client through the different stages
of change.
• To utilize the pivotal skills of relationship building to develop a
strong rapport with any client.
• To incorporate powerful motivational interviewing techniques to
raise a client’s awareness of the benefits of change and to shift the
client’s decisional balance toward change.
• To harness the three core elements of motivation to ignite the
client’s intrinsic desire for change.
• To incorporate powerful positive psychology skills to raise the cli-
ent’s self-efficacy, to teach the skills of optimistic thinking, and to
restore the client’s confidence in change.
• To teach commanding positive psychology skills to boost the cli-
ent’s mood and to generate greater levels of fulfillment, meaning,
and achievement.
• To utilize innovative commitment strategies to dramatically moti-
vate change, and to maintain it throughout the stages of change.
To incorporate progressive experience sampling methods to help
clients uncover their unique state of flow and to utilize optimal
experience to boost autonomy, mastery, and deeper purpose—the
powerful components of lasting change.
It should be noted that behavior change is not exclusive to weight
loss or improving health. Changing behavior underlies every train-
ing situation a personal trainer may face—from coaching a team
sport to developing a corporate wellness program, to rehabilitating a
shoulder injury. The personal trainer who is equipped with the indis-
pensable skills of behavior change is not only better prepared to face
a variety of clients, but also to inspire powerful change within them.
 UNIT 1

Stages of Change
6 | Unit 1
Unit Outline
1. The Stages of Change and How to Identify
Them
2. Assessing the Client
Stages of change model:
model that describes the
different cognitive processes
that underlie behavior
change.
Stage-matched
interventions:
interventions that are
matched to each individual’s
stage of change.
Decision balance:
an assessment of the
advantages (the “pros”)
of changing against the
disadvantages (the “cons”).
Transformation Specialist
3. Applied Skills for Each Stage of Change
4. Summary
Originally developed by James O. Prochaska and colleagues in the
1970s, the stages of change model grew out of the transtheoretical
model of behavioral change, and was later refined into a set of six dis-
tinctive stages that described the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of
people in the process of making a change. The model later went much
further to clarify the motivational conflicts that people experience
when making a change. For example, in the early stages of behavior
change, people tend to weigh up the benefits and risks of a change be-
fore preparing for action. Additionally, preparation for action—where
discussion revolves around planning the steps to take—precedes any
action steps associated with the change.
The stages of change model also helps describe the different cog-
nitive processes that underlie behavior change. For example, in the
early stages of change, people engage in more evaluative processes,
such as reconsidering their behaviors and raising their consciousness
level about the change they would like to make; whereas in the later
stages, people focus more on their commitment to the change, and
on environmental conditioning and their social support. Research by
Prochaska and colleagues showed that interventions to change behav-
ior are more effective if they are “stage-matched,” that is, “matched to
each individual’s stage of change” (Prochaska & Velicer, 2009). Partic-
ularly in the field of weight loss, the stages of change model has been
shown to be effective, with successful rates of change 10% or more
above control groups, which makes it the most effective model to date
(Johnson, et al., 2008). Much of the reason for this is that the stages
of change model focuses not only on matching the intervention to
the stage of change, but also recognizes that the following factors are
necessary for people to change:
• An increased awareness of the decision balance, i.e., that the
 Stages of Change | 7

advantages (the “pros”) of changing outweigh the disadvantages

(the “cons”).

• Self-efficacy, which is described as the confidence that a person can Consciousness-raising:

make and maintain changes across a variety of situations. increasing awareness of the
benefits of change and the
• Strategies to help make and maintain change—these are called the risks of not changing.
processes of change. Dramatic relief: relief from
aversive feelings about one’s
The stages of change model describes ten processes of change: own behavior, and feelings
of hope when seeing other
1. Consciousness-raising: increasing awareness of the benefits of people in similar change
change and the risks of not changing. situations.
Self-reevaluation: the
2. Dramatic relief: relief from aversive feelings about one’s own recognition that healthy
behavior, and feelings of hope when seeing other people in similar behavior is an important part
change situations. of who we are and who we
want to be.
3. Self-reevaluation: the recognition that healthy behavior is an
Environmental
important part of who we are and who we want to be. reevaluation: the
recognition that unhealthy
4. Environmental reevaluation: the recognition that unhealthy behavior has negative effects
behavior has negative effects on others around us. on others around us.

5. Social liberation: feeling supported socially in making a change. Social liberation: feeling
supported socially in making
6. Self-liberation: feeling confident in one’s ability to change and a change.
“liberated” from the negative effects of not changing. Self-liberation: feeling
confident in one’s ability to
7. Helping relationships: feeling supported by others in making a change and “liberated” from
change. the negative effects of not
changing.
8. Counter-conditioning: conditioning healthy behaviors and
Helping relationships:
replacing unhealthy ones.
feeling supported by others
9. Reinforcement management: associating positive rewards in making a change.
with healthy behaviors and reducing the rewards from unhealthy Counter-conditioning:
behaviors. conditioning healthy
behaviors and replacing
10. Stimulus control: learning to control environmental triggers to unhealthy ones.
promote healthy behavior, and to reduce unhealthy behavior. Reinforcement
management: associating
Particularly for understanding the “decisional balance,” the stages of positive rewards with healthy
behaviors and reducing
change model is helpful for describing how people in the early stages
rewards from unhealthy
of change often see the cons of changing as being greater than the behaviors.
pros, but as this balance shifts (with the pros being considered more Stimulus control: learning
strongly than the cons), a person moves toward more solid steps of to control environmental
triggers to promote healthy
change (Hall & Rossi, 2008). Further, this model also helps describe behavior and reduce
the role that self-efficacy plays in behavior change, namely that, as unhealthy behavior.

International Sports Sciences Association

8 | Unit 1
a person moves through the different stages of
change, their self-efficacy increases, which can
predict a lasting change in behavior (Prochaska
& Velicer, 2009). Let’s now take a look at the five
stages of change.
The Stages of Change
and How to Identify
Them
Stage 1: Precontemplation (Not
Ready)
People at this stage are often either unaware
of the risks of their behavior, or they mentally
minimize the concern of others about the risks.
For this reason, clients will often say things like,
“I don’t see anything wrong with what I do, but
I guess my wife wanted me to come here,” or, “I
think I’m fine, but my doctor said I should see
you.” Statements such as these indicate that the
person is in the precontemplation stage and has
not thought much about making the change,
and does not have any concrete plans to start
a new healthy behavior in the near future (i.e.,
within the next 6 months). Further, those in the
precontemplation stage have a decisional bal-
ance that doesn’t support change (they see more
cons than pros), and may not feel a high sense
of self-efficacy about making a change.
Stage 2: Contemplation
(Getting Ready)
People in the contemplation stage are more
aware of the pros and cons associated with the
change, and at this stage they weigh them up
Transformation Specialist
equally. Because of this, the decisional balance
(where they see the pros as being equal to the
cons) can often cause a stalemate, with change
behavior put off for some time. At this stage, a
person may also have a high degree of ambiv-
alence, while their sense of self-efficacy is not
quite developed. People at this stage will often
say things like, “I know I will feel better if I
lose weight, but I just don’t know if I can”, or,
“I know I will be happier if I start working out,
but I’m not sure I can fit it in.”
Stage 3: Preparation (Ready)
People in the preparation stage see the pros as
being greater than the cons, meaning that the
decisional balance has shifted in favor of change
and they are now ready to take action. In this
stage, people will often begin to plan out and
initiate small steps toward making the change;
however, they will usually still experience some
doubt about their success as their sense of
self-efficacy is still low. For this reason, this stage
is characterized by thinking about and planning
change in preparation for taking action. Here,
people will often say things like, “I am going to
start working out three times a week, starting
from next week, but I’m still not sure how I will
fit everything in,” or, “I am planning to eat low-
carb from here on out, but I don’t know what I
will order when I eat out with friends.”
Stage 4: Action
People in the action stage will have taken mea-
surable steps toward changing their behavior,
within the last six months. In this stage, peo-
ple give more weight to the pros of changing,
and less to the cons, which further shifts the

decisional balance toward change. Also, as a
positive and measurable change has already
been made, their sense of self-efficacy is higher,
and hence people will speak with greater confi-
dence about the change; albeit at the same time,
they may still express some doubt. They may
say things like, “I’m really happy that I’ve been
able to maintain my diet for the past few weeks,
I just hope I can keep it up,” or, “I can see my
body changing, and I like it, but I just hope I
keep on losing weight.”
Stage 5: Maintenance
As people in the maintenance stage have main-
tained their positive changes for more than six
months, they will speak with greater confidence
about themselves, experience higher levels of
self-efficacy, and will consistently rate the pros
of change as being greater than the cons. Now
that their behavior is more stable, they are
much more likely to continue their healthy be-
havior; however, there is still a risk that people
in the maintenance stage may relapse toward
unhealthy behavior when in stressful situations.
They may say things like, “I’m feeling really
confident with my weight now, so I’m won-
dering if I can start eating some of the things
I used to really like,” or, “I thought that maybe
because I’ve been doing so well in my exercise, I
could take a few days off.”
Now that you are familiar with the characteris-
tics of each stage, the language your clients may
use, and the decisional balance and self-efficacy
they may experience, let’s take a look at how to
assess which stage your clients are in.
Stages of Change | 9
Assessing the Client
As you can see, each stage is characterized
by specific motivational conflicts, decisional
balance, and the sense of self-efficacy. Also, the
language people use in speaking about a change
is unique to the particular stage that they are
in. In terms of assessing the stages then, you,
the trainer, can gain a wealth of information
through listening to how your clients speak
about the change, their thoughts about it, their
descriptions of their understanding of the risks
and benefits of the change, and their feelings of
confidence about making changes. The use of
open-ended questions can be very helpful here
in engaging your clients in a conversation about
change, which will help reveal the stage of
change they are in. However, you can also use
the following more specific questions to assess
their stage of change:
• Tell me what your thoughts are about making
this change?
• Is there anything specific that motivated you
to make a change?
• How would you describe the benefits of mak-
ing a change?
• How would you describe the costs of making
the change?
• At this point, do the benefits outweigh the
costs?
• On a scale of 1–10, how confident are you in
your ability to make the change?
• On a scale of 1–10, how strong are the factors
that could derail your change?
• At this point have you made any plans to
change?
International Sports Sciences Association
10 | Unit 1
Precontemplation
stage: characterized by an
unawareness of the risks of a
behavior, or a minimization
of the concern of others
about the risks.
Contemplation stage:
characterized by a high
degree of ambivalence in the
contemplation stage, and
where the decisional balance
is at a deadlock.
Preparation stage:
characterized by a readiness
to take action, and an
understanding of the pros as
being greater than the cons,
meaning that the decisional
balance has shifted in favor
of change.
Action stage: characterized
by measurable steps that
have been taken toward
changing behavior within
the last six months.
Maintenance stage:
characterized by positive
changes that have been
maintained for more than six
months.
Transformation Specialist
• Have you taken any measurable steps toward changing?
• If you haven’t taken any steps toward change, do you plan to do so
in the next six months?
The way in which your clients answer these questions will help you
better understand their thoughts about changing their behavior, and
more importantly help you identify their stage of change. In terms
of knowing just which stage they may be in, here are some import-
ant descriptors:
Precontemplation (Not Ready)
The hallmark of a precontemplator is someone who underestimates
the pros of changing, overestimate the cons, and is often in denial
about this misperception.
Contemplation (Getting Ready)
Someone in the contemplation stage is more aware of the pros of
changing and the risks of not changing; however at this point, the
pros and cons often receive equal weight, which can lead to a high
level of ambivalence about the change.
Preparation (Ready)
The preparation stage is characterized by a person who is ready to
start taking action within the next 30 days. Often, people in this
stage will speak about their plans to change, and tell their friends
and family that they want to change their behavior.
Action
People at this stage have already changed their behavior; however,
because the change has occurred only within the last six months,
they may still experience some urges to return to unhealthy
behavior.
Maintenance
Even though the maintenance stage is defined by changes that have

been made more than six months ago, and
where their new behavior has begun to develop
more consistency, people in this stage may still
continue to experience urges—especially in
stressful situations.
Now that you are familiar with each of the stag-
es and how to identify them, let’s take a look at
how to work with a client in each stage.
Applied Skills for Each
Stage of Change
Stage 1: Precontemplation (Not
Ready)
As people in the precontemplation stage are
either unaware of the benefits and risks (i.e.,
the pros and cons) associated with changing
or may deny them, in order to help them move
toward change, the decisional balance needs to
be moved (to where the benefits outweigh the
cons) in order to support change. To do this,
you can educate your clients about the healthy
behavior they are considering as well as en-
couraging them to educate themselves. It is also
helpful to ask your clients about their percep-
tion of the negative affects their behavior might
be having on their lives, or the lives of others by
asking questions such as, “Describe how your
unhealthy behavior affects you on a daily, week-
ly, and monthly basis? What long-term out-
comes do you think your behavior might lead
to? In what ways might your behavior be affect-
ing those around you?” In terms of raising their
sense of self-efficacy about the change, it is also
helpful to ask clients to rate their confidence
in their ability to change, and ask what steps
Stages of Change | 11
they can take that would raise their confidence.
Also, a discussion about the obstacles to change
can help reduce any self-doubt your clients
may feel about external events that may deter
change. Questions such as, “What might get in
the way of change? What seems to be making
change difficult?” can help your clients reduce
the power these things have over them, and
help them see that change may not be as costly
(or have as many cons) as they initially thought.
Lastly, people at this stage can be helped with
encouragement about their ability to change.
Stage 2: Contemplation
(Getting Ready)
As there is a high degree of ambivalence in
the contemplation stage, and as the decisional
balance is usually at a deadlock in this stage,
efforts toward raising self-efficacy and height-
ening awareness of the benefits of change can
be very helpful. To do this, you can draw your
clients’ attention to some additional benefits
of changing that they might have overlooked.
Questions such as, “In what ways might your
relationships improve if you changed? In what
ways might your work life (or productivity)
improve if you changed? In what ways would
you see yourself differently if you changed?” can
help your client begin to broaden the benefits
of changing to other areas of their lives. Fur-
ther, it can be helpful to tell your client about
others like them who have changed and the
ways in which their lives have improved as a
result. Turning your clients’ attention to previ-
ous challenges in their lives that they have been
able to overcome (or changes they have been
able to make) can help to raise their sense of
International Sports Sciences Association
12 | Unit 1
self-efficacy. You can do this by asking ques-
tions like, “Can you describe a time in the past
when you were able to make a positive change?
Describe other challenges that you have been
able to overcome? How did you manage those
changes?” Lastly, in this stage, it can be helpful
to have your clients make a list of their skills
that will help them make a change.
Stage 3: Preparation (Ready)
Once in the preparation stage, the decisional
balance has shifted toward change, and cli-
ents are ready to start taking action. However,
because their sense of self-efficacy about the
change has not been formulated yet, efforts to
raise their self-efficacy can be especially help-
ful in this stage. In particular, addressing the
fears associated with failing can help mitigate
self-doubt. Questions such as, “What is your
attitude toward failing? Can you learn from
failing? Does failing mean that you cannot try
again? “If your fail one time at making this
change, does that mean you have failed alto-
gether and cannot start again?” can help your
clients begin to reframe any potential failure
as a normal part of the learning process—and
one that they can learn from. Additionally, as
self-efficacy is highly linked to feeling support-
ed and believed in, efforts to help build your cli-
ents’ social support networks can be effective in
raising their confidence levels. To do this, you
can have your clients make a list of their sup-
porters and get your clients to inform them of
their goals and ways in which they can support
them in making changes. Lastly, to overcome
fears about not being able to maintain change,
it can be helpful to address situations where
your clients are likely to give in to impulses,
Transformation Specialist
have trouble maintaining change, or art risk of
relapsing to unhealthy behaviors, and make a
plan for how to navigate these situations.
Stage 4: Action
As the action stage is characterized by change
that is very new (i.e., within the last six
months), people at this stage have increased
levels of self-efficacy, and now see the benefits
of changing as much greater than not changing;
however, in this stage, the novelty of the change
has worn off. For this reason, focusing on
commitment strategies (which we will discuss
in a later section) to maintain the change can
be useful in overcoming the urge to slip back to
unhealthy behavior. To do this, you can teach
your clients techniques that utilize incentives
and penalties to maintain change. Focusing on
strategies like avoiding the unhealthy section
of the grocery store, removing unhealthy food
from the home, using text reminders of the
benefits of an activity while performing it, and
increasing awareness of the positive feelings
associated with exercise will help maintain
your clients motivation toward change. Lastly,
incorporating the three drivers of motivation
(which we will discuss in detail in the section
on motivation), namely autonomy, mastery,
and purpose, into your clients programs can
enhance their motivation. To do this, questions
such as, “In what ways do you feel more confi-
dent now that you have changed? What do you
feel like you are really getting good at? What
steps have you taken on your own (or come
up with) to help keep your change going? Can
you describe any underlying or deeper reason
for this change?” can help increase your clients

awareness of their sense of mastery, autonomy,
and purpose in changing their behavior.
Stage 5: Maintenance
Once in the maintenance stage, there is greater
consistency in behavior as people now feel a
greater level of confidence in their ability, have
overcome some obstacles on the path toward
change, and have also experienced some ben-
efits associated with change. However, in this
stage, stressful situations can pose a risk for
relapse to unhealthy behavior. For this reason,
addressing any stressors (or stressful situa-
tions) can help your clients develop a strategy
for how to manage stress in a positive way.
Questions such as, “Who can you turn to for
support when in a stressful situation? What is
your attitude toward stress? Can stress be used
Summary
While personal trainers are equipped to help
clients in a variety of ways, arguably the most
needed way in which clients can be helped is
through behavioral modification. However,
for most trainers, the information, techniques,
and skills needed to create a lasting behavioral
change are missing. However, when trainers
begin with a solid understanding of behavioral
change, they are equipped to meet clients at the
Stages of Change | 13
in a positive way? What are three things you
can do to respond to stress in a positive way (as
opposed to reacting in a way that might hurt
yourself or others)? What skills do you have
that help you deal with stress? What skills can
you learn to help you better manage stress?” can
help your clients face stressful situations with-
out relapsing to unhealthy behavior. Lastly, in
maintaining change, it can be especially help-
ful to help your clients engage ongoing social
support for making changes. To do this, you
can ask the following questions: “Who most
supports you in your healthy behavior? Who
motivates you to continue being healthy? Who
do you (or can you) share your healthy experi-
ences with? Are there any accomplishments you
would like to take on now that you are healthier
(such as running a marathon, doing a bike ride,
or learning a new sport)?”
different stages of change they are in, utilize ef-
fective techniques to create and sustain motiva-
tion, and can offer powerful strategies to boost
mood, fortify change efforts, and invite optimal
experience. All of this begins with a thorough
understanding of the stages of change model,
and the ability to accurately assess a client’s
stage of change and then utilize strategies that
are specific for that stage.
International Sports Sciences Association