What is a trauma-informed personal trainer?

“Trauma blocks love & connection. Love & Connection heals Trauma.”

"Trauma blocks who we are, it blocks our source energy and it blocks our creative authentic self. Trauma makes us who we aren’t." -Frank Anderson MD

What image comes to mind when you think of trauma? For most of us, a memory resurfaces of something that happened to you, or to someone close to you. If not that, we can all conjure images we’ve seen on the news or in the media. What’s not commonly known is that trauma occurs on a sliding scale. There are several types of trauma and it can be difficult to differentiate between them. The first level of trauma is called Acute Trauma. 

This year, I made the choice to euthanize Petunia, my beloved miniature dachshund. I arranged a home euthanasia, unaware of how much watching her pass would crumble me. The brain does not know the difference between a dog and a child, and to love a living thing for nearly 15 years is no small undertaking. The grief was overwhelming. I was traumatized situationally, emotionally, and physically. Every time I passed where her bed had been, I cried. I could still see her greeting me when I came home every day. I could not go into my kitchen and cook for almost a week, because for 14 years Petunia had been right there under my feet, waiting for food to drop. In an effort to honor her memory, I created an altar for her. But at first, when I lit the tea-light, I would only cry. I felt as though someone had shot a bullet in my heart and my soul left my body. Luckily, I have an incredible support system, and they came together to create a loving and nurturing environment for me as I processed my grief. My husband would go and get any food I felt I could eat and took care of things around the house. I also have a compassionate therapist who listened and helped me find a way forward.

Just two weeks later, I can kiss the small ceramic angel on her altar, come home and see the spot where her bed was, and work out the way I used to - all without crying. There is still an underlying sadness in me, but I know that as time goes on, I’ll be able to grow around that sadness and it will diminish over time.

It’s important to note that trauma is measured not by the initial incident, but in the severity of the physical and emotional response to that incident. A triggering event can occur in a matter of moments, or over a long period of time. So when we work to identify which type of trauma response we’re experiencing, there are general markers that differentiate the types.

If normal memory processing occurs within 30 days, the symptoms of Acute Trauma will stop. You’ll be able to recall the triggering incident from a safe emotional distance without reliving the emotional and/or physical reactions. 

When a loving supportive environment is not created after the triggering incident, or the right amount of intervention is not made available for healing to occur, the symptoms can persist beyond 30 days. This shifts the trauma from Acute Trauma to becoming Chronic PTSD. We are in an unprecedented time, and are collectively suffering from Chronic PTSD because of the pandemic. This abrupt disruption of our daily lives, facing countless unknowns, has gone on for nearly three years and is still ongoing.

Recovering from one traumatic event is difficult enough. We are collectively experiencing several different events. I’m sure you recall the beginning of the pandemic:

1. Everyone Isolate - perhaps by Easter we’ll all be back together again.
2.  Surprise! Now there is a variant - go back inside and stay safe.
3. We’ve created a vaccine - but now there are new variants.

This is an ongoing up and down that has prevented our systems from recovering. Adrenal Fatigue has set in. We are all emotionally drained, wiped out. Our systems can only tolerate so much.

A third type of trauma is Relational Trauma or Complex PTSD. Complex Trauma can be painful to discuss, it often stems from being violated as a child - not just physically, but emotionally due to absentee caregivers or unstable environments. It can also result from adult situations - unsafe and abusive relationships are a common cause of Complex PTSD in adults who may have had a perfectly safe and healthy childhood. 

There are major issues that develop due to cPTSD that are well known - drug abuse, alcoholism, all forms of eating disorders, self-harm, suicidal thoughts, and depression. These are serious issues. 

That being said, there are additional symptoms that often fall off the radar - I have encountered them in my clients and myself.

• Workaholism and Perfectionism - due to a lack of self worth.
• Disordered Eating: Eating healthy during the day and binging at night, poor body image.
• Self-Deprecation, Negative Self-Talk and punishing yourself when you make a mistake.
• Chronic Pain
• Procrastination
• People pleasing

Many people do not even fully comprehend that they’ve experienced any trauma at all, and believe that these symptoms are isolated. Read this blog post from a local therapist: "You would know if you experienced trauma, Right?

What does this all mean for a client who hires a trauma informed personal trainer? How is this different from a regular personal trainer? 

As a trauma survivor myself, I have lived the experience of going to bed, having a ton of grit, readiness and motivation to conquer a workout with a laid-out fines program, but waking up full of chronic pain and missing the motivation to lift a single dumbbell.

I have had to navigate my own ever changing mental, emotional, and physical capabilities. This has granted me the ability to connect with my clients emotionally as well as physically. Perhaps we start a session with a plan to work on a progressive strength training program, but the better way forward is to execute a restorative movement session. 

I do not follow the standardized model of personal training where we push our clients to their limits. I approach each session with calmness, compassion, and connectedness. I listen intentionally for subtle cues. When I ask “How are you feeling today?”, I am not just being polite. If I hear or sense that the client is tired, emotionally drained, or overly submissive: “I’m just really out of it, let’s just do what you have planned.” I always encourage my clients to listen to their bodies and communicate what they’re experiencing internally.

This allows me to modify our plans to fit what my client is feeling and still conduct a productive training session. My training style is centered around providing fitness programs that are tailored to each client’s specific needs - trauma or no trauma I have always trained this way. Even mid-session, a trauma-informed trainer is able to pivot and adjust the session to accommodate those needs.

When it comes to trauma, the environment you create makes all the difference. I strive to make our training sessions a safe and productive space, where my clients feel comfortable and empowered to advocate for themselves without any shame or hesitation.

Within that environment my clients have:

• Safety: I respect my clients privacy and when in their home I stay in the workout area only. 
• Choice: If a client does not feel safe doing an exercise I will not lecture them on how good that exercise is for them and force them to do it. I will offer another exercise that works the same muscle.
• Collaboration: I know my scope of practice and will help them find the appropriate practitioner to help them.
• Trustworthiness: Trust takes time. Through consistency of being on time, staying focused on the clients needs, never overstepping my boundaries, trust will build.

I continue to do work with my own trauma, further my education on how trauma affects the body, our behaviors and learn techniques that can be used within session to empower my  clients to feel their best.

Does this resonate with you? If so, I'd love to hear from you or even work with you. You can contact me here!
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