TheMovement Charity Launches Training for Fitness Professionals in Trauma
One of our member organisations, TheMovement Charity, has sent us the below blog, having developed a new CPD course. EMD UK has previously supported TheMovement Charity with their projects which linked to the Tackling Inequalities Fund (now the Together Fund) objectives, namely the groups that, from Sport England’s insight, were identified as being disproportionately affected by the pandemic, significantly impacting their ability to be physically active.
“What is theMovement Charity?
TheMovement Charity was founded in 2020 and exists to restore every woman’s right to exercise through partnering with different charities to provide trauma informed exercise opportunities for women who have experienced domestic violence, sexual exploitation, homelessness and different disadvantages.
One of our three aims as a charity is to create a more trauma informed fitness industry. Until now, we have been working towards this aim by providing training on ‘A Trauma Informed Approach to Exercise Provision’ training to all new volunteer instructors. Due to the exceptional feedback from this training, and our recognition of the need for a trauma informed fitness industry beyond our charity partners, we have created a CPD for all fitness professionals seeking to become more trauma informed in their practice.
What motivated us to develop a CPD course?
We are all aware of the many benefits of exercise for our physical and mental health. Those who have experienced trauma, however, are less likely to access exercise, and therefore are missing out on these incredible benefits.
With an estimated 1 in 4 women experiencing domestic abuse in their lifetime[1] and 31% of young women aged 18-24 report having experienced sexual abuse in childhood[2], it has been reported that 1 in 3 adults in England report having experienced at least one traumatic event[3]. This is a huge amount of the UK population who are facing more barriers to exercise and movement.
Studies suggest that experiencing trauma is associated with sharper declines in physical activity over time[4], due to a number of reasons including a heightened concern for safety; fear of bodily arousal symptoms; lower motivation; lower social support.
A Trauma Informed Approach considers these factors and breaks down barriers to exercise, so those who have experienced trauma can have access to the many benefits of movement and exercise. By training the fitness professionals to adopt a trauma informed approach, we are creating a safe and welcoming place for those who have experienced trauma to access the incredible and powerful resource of exercise and movement.
How have we found the process of developing and launching a CPD course?
When developing the content for this course, we were fortunate to have a tried and tested volunteer training as a starting point. The volunteer training has been delivered since 2020 and has had exceptional feedback with 100% of attendees stating that they feel better equipped to provide trauma informed exercise opportunities in the future.
We sought advice, feedback and accreditation from experts in both the fitness industry and the trauma education sector, all of which was invaluable to us. There has definitely been a steep learning curve as we sought to develop, accredit, launch and market our CPD course. We have been really grateful for the continued support and advice of EMD UK in this.
What does the training involve?
Trauma impacts our brains and bodies in a number of ways. Our “Trauma Informed Approach to Exercise Provision” course uses the neurobiology of trauma to explore how trauma may be impacting your clients and preventing potential clients from accessing your services. We provide suggestions of how to become more trauma aware and informed within your profession, as well as training on understanding scope of practice, safeguarding and referral options when working with survivors of trauma.
Our course is a one day training event, delivered in person or online and is accredited 5 CIMSPA CPD points. We run training days for individual fitness professionals to join, as well as private group bookings for your team.
As well as equipping you to become more trauma informed, the cost of the CPD funds the continued wider vital work of theMovement Charity to restore every woman’s right to exercise.
How to find out more?
Following our sold out first date, we have recently released two more training days: Sunday 26th Feb 2023 in London and Sunday 14th May 2023 online.
To find out more and book onto one of the training days, please visit www.themovementcharity.com/cpd
If you have any questions or are interested in our private group bookings, please contact info@themovementcharity.com”
[1] https://refuge.org.uk/what-is-domestic-abuse/the-facts/
[2] https://www.endviolenceagainstwomen.org.uk/data-on-violence-against-women-and-girls/
[3] https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/explore-mental-health/publications/impact-traumatic-events-mental-health
[4] Winning et al [2017] Post-traumatic Stress Disorder and 20-Year Physical Activity Trends Among Women
