Behavior Change Plan – Part One

Client: xxxxxxxxxx Student: Parker Denny

A. My client specified that he wants to participate in the SHU Personal Training Program to improve

flexibility, achieve less discomfort, and to lose 10 pounds. The flexibility and less discomfort

goals pertain to his lack of shoulder mobility due to a previous injury, and general upper back

pain. I believe on of my clients underlying motivation to participate in this program is a feeling

of commitment, since this is his third or fourth year of participating in the personal training

program. Additionally, he enjoys the social aspect of having a trainer, and having a structured

program created by someone that is invested in helping him reach his goals.

B. The main intrinsic motivator for my client to participate in exercise is the feeling of

accomplishment, and seeing and feeling improvement. This sense of accomplishment

rationalizes his participation in exercise, since it shows that he is getting a return for his efforts.

Since my client wants to improve his shoulder flexibility I have been utilizing a lot of shoulder

mobility and strengthening exercises. When I retested his back-scratch scores and told him that

he has already improved his score by 4 cm, I could tell that he was proud of the work that he has

put in thus far to reaching his goals.

C.

Reasons to stay the same: Reasons to change:

1. Staying the same takes no additional
effort. Continuing the same habits is
what you’re comfortable with. You
and others have come to expect these
habits out of yourself.
3. Don’t know what needs to be changed
or doesn’t know where to start. May
be worried that you don’t have the
time or energy to change. You enjoy
some of the activities that need to be
changed, and don’t want to lose them.
2. Staying the same is having negative
impacts on your health. You are
conscious of the fact that some of the
things you currently do need to
change.
4. The feeling of accomplishment and
being proud in your ability to make a
change. Changing some aspects of
your life will make your quality of life
better, and will have long term
benefits. If you make a change, it may
encourage others that look up to you to
also change.
D. In the wellness questionnaire that my client filled out prior to beginning this training program, he

listed a few goals, but didn’t list any behaviors that he wants to work towards changing. Over the

past month, I have tried to use MI’ing to try and understand some underlying behaviors that my

client wants to change. There hasn’t been anything specific that my client has expressed

intentions to change, however, I see glimpses of him wanting to change eating habits; in

particular, not eating out as much. I believe that my client would choose a score of 3 on the

confidence ruler. Even though this number is low on the scale, I believe my client consciously

thinks of his eating habits and understands that they need to change, but he hasn’t taken any steps

towards making a sustainable change. I hope to assist my client in getting a higher number on the

confidence ruler by being consistent in my encouragement for him to start making small changes.

I can’t stop by his house to check and see if he is cooking his own meals or going to the grocery

store, but I can talk about this issue and giving him ideas on how to improve his eating habits.

E. My client’s stage of change: Action

a. I believe that my client’s stage of change in the beginning of the semester would be more

accurately described as the “preparation” stage. I believe that he was currently exercising

in the beginning of the semester, and he obviously had the intention of exercising for the

next 6 months since he signed up for this program. The only thing I’m uncertain about is

the regularity of his exercise, based off of the definition given in the wellness

questionnaire.

b. I believe that my client is closer to the action phase at this point in the semester. I have

been encouraging him to exercise one additional time each week outside of our two

sessions. In the past couple weeks, he has missed a session here and there for various

reasons, so he is not consistently participating in regular exercise. Even still, I believe

that he is closer to the action stage right now.

c. Based off of the self-efficacy questions my client answered, I would consider him to have

low to moderate self-efficacy towards exercise. He has expressed a displeasure for

 aerobic activity to me multiple times, but has also said he really enjoys the resistance

training exercises he has been doing. I can help my client improve his self-efficacy for

aerobic exercise by slowly increasing the duration of aerobic activities that I have

prescribed for him, and through talking to him about the importance of cardiorespiratory

exercise and his risk for cardiovascular disease.

d. After going over my client’s decisional balance data, I found it interesting that even

though he considers himself to be 20 or more pounds overweight, he doesn’t seem to

participate in exercise for aesthetic goals. Instead, he sees exercise as a way to improve

his ADL’s and relieve stress.

e. Since my client wants to improve his upper back and shoulder flexibility, we have been

working towards doing additional mobility exercises before work a few days a week. I

have shown him quite a few exercises that he can do on his own in the morning, and

during the past couple sessions he has told me that he has been doing some of his favorite

exercises at home. Based on this, I believe that he is in the preparation stage. Since this

change is recent, I don’t think he has shown the ability to consistently make this behavior

change. My hope is that he will move into the action stage in the next few weeks.

f. My client wants to try and change this behavior because he experiences pain in his upper

back and feels limited by his lack of shoulder mobility in his ADL’s. Making this change

would greatly enhance his day to day activity by relieving pain and making him more

comfortable while at work and playing golf. One thing that may discourage my client

from making this behavior change could be the moderate discomfort of mobility

exercises. Since you have to challenge your ROM to improve the mobility in that area,

some of the exercises don’t feel good while performing the movement, but will make him

feel better in the long run. It will take a conscious effort to make time in the morning to

do his mobility exercises. Even just 10 minutes of mobility 3 times a week will be a
 behavior change that will improve his quality of life. Once he begins to feel the benefits

of increased mobility, I believe he will be even more committed to making this change.

g. I would classify my client’s self-efficacy for this behavior change to be high. Before this

semester, he had never participated in any exercise program similar to what I have

prescribed for him. There have been multiple times in the past month where he has told

me how much better his back and shoulder has been feeling. It is encouraging for me to

know that we are moving in the right direction, and I believe he is encouraged enough to

begin a consistent mobility routine.

h. I will utilize two main coaching skills for helping my client with his behavior changes.

Firstly, I will constantly encourage him to make little changes that will direct him

towards his larger goal. This encouragement is to show him that I care and want to

support his change, and also gets him to be conscious of the decisions he makes.

Secondly, I will keep him up to date on the progress he is making as a way to show him

that he is being rewarded for his work and to keep him motivated to change.