APPLY TODAY

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. We like to think this program is for everyone interested in taking a trauma-informed approach to weight lifting. 

Program At A Glance

Join Co-Directors Mariah Rooney, MSW, LICSW & Candace Liger, NASM - SPS, CE and a host of guest faculty presenters for an 8-week, 60hr Certificate Program.

You will:

• Gain a thorough understanding of Complex Trauma, Developmental Trauma and trauma manifestations throughout the life cycle.
• Specific trauma-informed approaches for building and maintaining safety in fitness/gym spaces and coach/client relationships
• 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. 

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. 

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. 

In the event your application is approved, we will email details to access the course prior to the first live session. 

We offer a limited number of full and partial 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.

You can apply for the scholarship program though July 31st. 

Sustaining Access 

One time = $2000

2 Payments  = $1000 for 2 months

Early Registration Access

*Must register for info session to receive coupon code

One time = $1750

2 Payments = $875 for 2 months

GrandParented Access

*Must have attended & completed a previous TIWL Foundation training

One time = $1500

2 Payments = $750 for 2 months

Discounts are available for individuals who have completed 

Both partial and full sponsorship opportunities are available. 

• The TIWL Certificate Program takes place over an 8-week period, with the first live session taking place August 30th. Participants will be required to participate in all synchronous sessions. Here is an overview of the schedule, which is subject to some minor changes based on the time zones of the participants in the cohort: 

• All live sessions take place every Wednesday @  8:30am - 11:00pm PST / 9:30am - 12:00pm MST / 10:30am - 1:00pm CST / 11:30pm - 2:00pm EST.

  Find your time zone: https://dateful.com/time-zone-converter

• Peer and faculty consultations: schedules for small groups TBD
• Here is an approximate breakdown of our 60+ hour program:
• Self-paced study: 35 hours (this may flex up or down depending on your learning style and needs)
• 2.5 hour weekly live sessions (weeks 1-6): 15 hours
• Peer group consultations: 5 hours
• Leadership consultations: 4 hours
• Final project completion: varying hours

• A Certificate in Trauma Informed Weight Lifting for which you will receive a very official looking certificate
• NASM CEUs = 1.9 
• The opportunity to be listed in the TIWL Provider Directory on our website
• Application/integration for your personal goals (this happens throughout the training as well as through consultation and through your final project)
• Discounts for continued education
• Ongoing opportunities for support, collaboration, consultation, community building and more
• Future consideration for our Train the Trainer program (to be eligible, must be TIWL certified and in good standing)

• Nope! You will only need to complete the scholarship application. 

• Absolutely! Our next certificate training will take place January 2024.

• We do! Stay tuned for announcements regarding future Foundational training dates along with additional training opportunities coming soon. You are always welcome to consider the Certificate Program at a time when it may be better for you.

Applications are now open. We have a limited number of spots available as this is a cohort-based training, which means we want to ensure folks are able to connect with one another and build community throughout our time together. Once you have completed either the regular or scholarship application, hit submit and you will be taken to a confirmation page. 

We will review standard applications on a weekly basis.

If you are accepted, you will be emailed instructions for completing your payment and finalizing your registration.

If you are not accepted, you will be emailed. But don't be discouraged! There are many more opportunities to engage. 

We will review scholarship applications throughout the month but won't make final selections until the end of July.

We've been blown away by the interest in this program which means there will be more dates coming soon. This may also be an opportunity to consider attending one of our foundational trainings as a place to start. 

You may only submit ONE application. This helps us keep track of who is applying and offer a fair chance for everyone.

If you apply for both applications, your app will be automatically be unapproved. We offer a time window between the scholarship application closing and the standard application closing.

In the event your scholarship app isn't approved you may still apply for the standard application is spots aren't already filled.