Counselling Skills and Applying Psychology - Essay Example

Name: Institution: Course: Tutor: Introduction Dynamic Gyms services include identifying fitness goals for clients enrolled in the gym, helping clients establish some of the challenges they are likely to encounter and how to stick to a fitness programme, create an appropriate training programme and let the client understand the programme, and proving support to the client to help them overcome issues and barriers as well as monitor progress of the training program. Personal training involves educating clients concerning healthy habit and effective exercise programs. Verbal and non-verbal communication skills are essential in communicating the message in a straightforward and engaging manner. Additionally, personal training involves enabling change, for instance, dietary and lifestyle changes Fitness instructors are supposed to create many close and personal relationships with clients. The fitness instructor helps the clients on their journey to achieve their fitness goals. It is likely that the instructor will encounter several psychological issues. Adopting a healthy life and fitness program involves several psychological issues such as anxiety, fear, motivation, and goal setting. Basic counselling skills will allow the instructor to overcome these issues. According to NHS.uk (nd), "counselling is a talking therapy that allows a person to talk about their problems and feelings in a confidential and dependable environment." Counsellors gain essential skills such as listening with empathy which helps to tackle negative emotions. Other counselling skills and techniques include listening, observation, asking questions, encouraging, congruence, and unconditional positive regard. Listening skills According to National foundation for credit counselling (2005), "listening is the process that links the sender and the receiver in the communication process. Effective exchange of ideas is possible when both the instructor and trainer listen to each other. In order to work together successfully, effective listening skills are necessary between the client and the instructor. Listening involves more than just hearing the client's words. When listening to a client, the personal trainer is advised to maintain a relaxed, calm and still posture, sit squarely (Drab, nd). Listening implies giving your client full attention by facing the client with an open body posture, leaning towards the client without invading their personal space, maintain eye contact but avoid staring. The personal trainer should give affirmation that they agree with the client's statements, and observe the client's body language for clues (Martin, 2016). Listening skills allow the instructor to attend both verbal and non-verbal signals when discussing client's fitness goals. The instructor is able to interpret the verbal and non-verbal cues transmitted by the client during the conversation. Also, the instructor can identify omission of information or detect pauses during the conversation about key challenges faced by the client (Martin, 2016). Listening skills enable the instructor to remember the message, especially the important details required to creating a training programme for the client. Listening involves giving feedback to the client's message. It indicates that the instructor has received and understood the client's message (Martin, 2016). In personal training, the trainer is required to listen, respond with compassion and empathy. Clients, particularly, new ones may feel anxious, discouraged, or humiliated. For instance, weight issues increase vulnerability to low-self esteem, and low body image. Therefore, the instructor should have the ability to understand the client's feeling during the conversation. Questioning skills The personal trainer can use questions to obtain information regarding a client's challenges, values, and goals in the fitness program. There are two key types of questions that the instructor can use. Primary questions help the instructor to obtain significant information while secondary questions are used to follow-up on vague or incomplete feedback to primary questions (Drab, nd). Client screening is an important process before the client starts the fitness program. Also, client screening can be applied to improve an existing exercise program. Client screening allows the instructor to recommend the most appropriate recommendations and fitness program. The instructor may want to obtain health information about the client. For instance, the client may have blood pressure and diabetes issues, fainting, asthma, emotional disorder, recent illness, and eating habits. A personal fitness trainer is required to determine the client’s stress level. The trainer may need to determine whether the client is easily upset, is the client under stress at work, does the client enjoy a social life. This can help the instructor identify any need for special attention during the fitness program. Counselling helps the personal trainers to understand the different types of questioning methods, including the effective use of the questions and the likely outcome. Asking closed-ended questions allow the instructor to obtain brief, concise response and minimize the amount of irrelevant information given by the client. Asking open-ended questions is an efficient way of obtaining detailed information from the client (Fernando, 2011). Asking hypothetical questions can elicit fear if asked too early during the client screening. Questioning the client can help to open up new areas for discussion regarding fitness program. Also, it can help to clarify information that the client may seem ambiguous to the client. Observation skills Observation allows the trainer to determine inconsistencies and incongruities in the client's communication (Mitchell, 2010). It’s done by observing the body language, tone of voice and facial expressions. Observation skills allow the trainer to identify the reflection of feeling in the client. Identifying emotional words expressed by the client is the initial step in eliciting and reflecting feelings. Observation skills involve accurately observing non-verbal behaviour to evaluate the client. There are numerous non-verbal feelings expressed by a person's statements (Mitchell, 2010). For instance, when the clients enter the fitness room, the trainer can observe if the client is comfortable or feeling awkward. Low confidence can make clients keep their eyes lowered, stay in a closed area, or avoid talking. Body tense, anger, and happiness are some of the feelings that can be expressed by body language (Anshel, 2014). A personal trainer needs to motivate clients to push themselves physically, stick to the training programme and adopt a healthy lifestyle. Observational skills provide the personal trainer with the ability to evaluate the client's personal traits and determine what they respond to so as to motivate them. Personal trainers deal with different personalities and it’s important to create a fitness program that fits the needs of a specific client. Concentration during the training process is among the issues faced by personal trainers. Distractions could be as a result of anxiety and negative thoughts. Personal trainers can help the clients improve their level of concentration by evaluating their strengths and weakness through observation (Mitchell, 2010). Clients, especially fresh starters may lack confidence to start an exercise program. Some may be uncomfortable being around exercise equipment since they lack skills on how to use them. Fear of injury during the physical workouts can influence clients to stop the fitness program (Anshel, 2014). A good relationship with the trainer can help the clients feel relaxed and give their best during the training session. Encouraging skills Most of the clients experiencing excessive weight issues may suffer from low-self esteem. Some clients may perceive that losing weight will make them appreciate their bodies. Basically, they are searching for external things such as body image to obtain an internal feeling of happiness. Such clients may expect to observe drastic changes within a short time. Being encouraging as a personal trainer, is an essential technique that helps in increasing the client's confidence level. The trainer should focus on client's positive training outcomes to help the client get the motivation to pursue the training program (Fernando, 2011). Customers tend to stick to a training program when they observe positive results. During workout sessions, new gymnast may feel exhausted, or experience difficult exercises which can lead to body aches. Such experiences may demoralize clients and quit their fitness program. Also, personal trainers may meet clients who have already trained other means to lose weight without success. During the conversation with the client, the trainer avoids using judgemental words (Fernando, 2011). This will allow the client to feel more comfortable and provide necessary information. Effective motivation involves encouraging clients to pursue their fitness goals. Personal trainers face the challenge of determining what motivates their client and communicating it to them. Congruence According to Drab (nd) congruence involves “giving appropriate praises when the client implements physical fitness program well.” A genuine expression of admiration, appreciation and support can help the client to gain motivation throughout the fitness program (Drab, nd). Self-motivation is an essential factor that influence an individual’s tendency to stick to a training program (Anshel, 2014).Clients who are highly motivated are more likely to adhere to self-monitored fitness programs compared to clients who are demoralized. In general, attitude towards physical workout program, interest in a particular activity, and self-confidence in the ability to stick to a training program are significant factors in promoting permanent involvement. Body weight and shape, fitness levels and injuries tend to influence a person’s adherence to a fitness program. For instance, a fit client is more likely to adhere to a fitness program than the unfit and overweight person (Anshel, 2014) Low confidence is one of the psychological barriers to sticking to a fitness program. Increasing fresh starters confidence level through giving genuine compliments is the initial step in helping them stick to the fitness program (Drab, nd). Understanding the client's goals will allow the trainer to create the easiest workout program to start with to create a sense of success and increase their confidence. Unconditional positive regard This involves the expression of caring, acceptance, and nurturance emotions (Drab, nd). Some clients, especially those facing obese issues may be facing criticism from their friends and relatives. Unconditional positive regard skills allow the trainer to convey warmth to the client. Acceptance entails giving the client feedback both verbal and non-verbal with non-critical and non-judgemental reactions. Recommendations Based on the above evidence regarding the benefits of counselling skills in personal training, I recommend that the Dynamics enrol their personal trainers for a basic counselling skills course. The counselling course will allow the personal trainers to understand what works best for their client. Personal training is not just about pushing clients hard: instead, it involves creating an effective plan to achieve client's goals and objectives. Counselling skills will help in creating a positive relationship between the fitness instructor and the client, which is likely to motivate the client to achieve their goals. Basically, the instructor’s interaction with the client is an effective tool in strengthening the relationship. The training will allow the Gym trainers in determining the fitness goals of the client. Determining the client’s goals facilitate the creation of an efficient training program. Trainers will gain the ability to listening carefully and patiently, resulting in a better understanding of the challenges faced by clients. Additionally, the counselling training will enable the personal trainers to help the clients see things clearly and perhaps from a positive perspective. This will result in an increased number of clients who adhere to the fitness program. Encouraging skills will enable the trainers to motivate clients to adhere to training programs, face fitness challenges, and monitor their progress. These counselling skills will facilitate good communication between the personal trainer and the clients. Clients will gain self-confidence towards performing strenuous physical workouts, developing training goals and sticking to a training program. In essence, the Dynamic Gym will gain more from the counselling training process. References Anshel, M, (2014). Applied Fitness Psychology, Human Kinetics Publishers, ISBN-13: 9781450400626 Drab, K, nd. The top ten basic counselling skills, http://www.people.vcu.edu/~krhall/resources/cnslskills.pdf Fernando, S, (2011). Communication skills and counselling, Sri Lanka Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology 33: 69-71, retrieved 20th April, 2016...listening, questions http://www.slcog.lk/sljog/No.34-2/pages%2069-71.pdf Martin, A, (2016). Active listening skills, retrieved 20th April 2016, . Mitchell, K, (2010). What are observation skills, retrieved 20th April 2016 http://mypages.valdosta.edu/kirmitchell/Whatareobservationskills.pdf. National foundation for credit counselling, (2005). Basic counselling principles, NFCC Counsellor certification NHS, (nd). Counselling, retrieved 20th April, 2016, . Read More

Listening skills allow the instructor to attend both verbal and non-verbal signals when discussing client's fitness goals. The instructor is able to interpret the verbal and non-verbal cues transmitted by the client during the conversation. Also, the instructor can identify omission of information or detect pauses during the conversation about key challenges faced by the client (Martin, 2016). Listening skills enable the instructor to remember the message, especially the important details required to creating a training programme for the client.

Listening involves giving feedback to the client's message. It indicates that the instructor has received and understood the client's message (Martin, 2016). In personal training, the trainer is required to listen, respond with compassion and empathy. Clients, particularly, new ones may feel anxious, discouraged, or humiliated. For instance, weight issues increase vulnerability to low-self esteem, and low body image. Therefore, the instructor should have the ability to understand the client's feeling during the conversation.

Questioning skills The personal trainer can use questions to obtain information regarding a client's challenges, values, and goals in the fitness program. There are two key types of questions that the instructor can use. Primary questions help the instructor to obtain significant information while secondary questions are used to follow-up on vague or incomplete feedback to primary questions (Drab, nd). Client screening is an important process before the client starts the fitness program. Also, client screening can be applied to improve an existing exercise program.

Client screening allows the instructor to recommend the most appropriate recommendations and fitness program. The instructor may want to obtain health information about the client. For instance, the client may have blood pressure and diabetes issues, fainting, asthma, emotional disorder, recent illness, and eating habits. A personal fitness trainer is required to determine the client’s stress level. The trainer may need to determine whether the client is easily upset, is the client under stress at work, does the client enjoy a social life.

This can help the instructor identify any need for special attention during the fitness program. Counselling helps the personal trainers to understand the different types of questioning methods, including the effective use of the questions and the likely outcome. Asking closed-ended questions allow the instructor to obtain brief, concise response and minimize the amount of irrelevant information given by the client. Asking open-ended questions is an efficient way of obtaining detailed information from the client (Fernando, 2011).

Asking hypothetical questions can elicit fear if asked too early during the client screening. Questioning the client can help to open up new areas for discussion regarding fitness program. Also, it can help to clarify information that the client may seem ambiguous to the client. Observation skills Observation allows the trainer to determine inconsistencies and incongruities in the client's communication (Mitchell, 2010). It’s done by observing the body language, tone of voice and facial expressions.

Observation skills allow the trainer to identify the reflection of feeling in the client. Identifying emotional words expressed by the client is the initial step in eliciting and reflecting feelings. Observation skills involve accurately observing non-verbal behaviour to evaluate the client. There are numerous non-verbal feelings expressed by a person's statements (Mitchell, 2010). For instance, when the clients enter the fitness room, the trainer can observe if the client is comfortable or feeling awkward.

Low confidence can make clients keep their eyes lowered, stay in a closed area, or avoid talking. Body tense, anger, and happiness are some of the feelings that can be expressed by body language (Anshel, 2014). A personal trainer needs to motivate clients to push themselves physically, stick to the training programme and adopt a healthy lifestyle.

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