Behavior Change Plan – Part One

Due Date: ____________________ Total Points – 20

Directions: To answer these questions, review the Pre-Participation Screening and Wellness Questionnaires and
use MI through discussions with your client. Type thorough answers for each question. You MUST attach the Pre-
Participation Screening and Wellness Questionnaires to receive credit for this assignment.

A. List the reasons your client is in the SHU Personal Training Program. Based on your motivational
interviews, what are the underlying motivations for his/her participation in the program? (2 pts)

My client wants to lose weight as well as look better. She has anxiety so I believe she wants to increase her
confidence. I think this is some underlying motivations as well as the fact she wants to look better for her
boyfriend (she’s waiting for him to pop the question).
B. What are your client’s intrinsic motivators (doing something for the reward inherit in the activity itself) for
exercise? How are you incorporating these into your client’s program? (2 pts)
I think her biggest intrinsic motivation has to do with her goal of being able to run a 5k. the reward is not
necessarily physical, but she will be rewarded mentally by completing the task.

C. Using the table on page 69 of the Coaching Psychology Manual, state your client’s reasons to stay the same
and reasons to change his/her behaviors. Do not compute composite scores. (2 pts)
Reasons to stay the same Reasons to change
Benefits of staying the same: Easier, No lifestyle Concerns about staying the same: sedentary
change, comfortable lifestyle, potential obesity, Morality, Ease of
every day life, Manage stress
Concerns about change: Overworking herself Benefits of change: Exercise capacity, self
confidence, more appealing, ability to play
friendly sports

D. Using the confidence ruler on page 70 of the Coaching Psychology Manual, provide your client’s
confidence number for a critical behavior he/she wants to change. Why did he/she not pick a lower
number? What would assist your client to get a higher number? (2 pts)
My client chose 1 for her confidence in working out on vacation. She chose this because obviously on
vacation it is hard to find time to put aside between when you’re having fun to workout. To get her to a
higher number I will normalize working out and make it something that is fun for her that way she is
attracted to doing it no matter where she goes.

E. Transtheoretical Model: Stages of Change, Self-Efficacy, Decisional Balance

Review your client’s wellness questionnaire entitled “The Exercise Questionnaire” which contains
information on stage of change, self-efficacy, and decisional balance (last pages). This information can be
used to successfully move your client into the direction of a physically active lifestyle or help him/her
maintain exercise behavior. Use the scoring system below to identify your client’s stage of change at the
beginning of the semester:
If 1-4 = No = Precontemplation
If 1,3,4 = No and 2 = Yes = Contemplation
If 1,2 = Yes and 3 = No = Preparation
If 1,2,3 = Yes and 4 = No = Action
If 1,2,3,4 = Yes = Maintenance
Stage of change: Action
 1. Based on the definition of “regular exercise” in the Exercise Questionnaire, do you agree that this was
the client’s stage of change at the beginning of the semester? If no, which stage do you think your
client is in? Explain (1 pt)
Yes, I believe this is the correct stage to define my client. She worked out pretty consistently even
before I began helping her. 3 times for 30 minutes a week, which is above the listed definitions of
exercise which calls for 3 days of 20 minutes or more.

2. Which stage of change do you think your client is in now? Explain. (1 pt)

I believe my client is still in the same stage. She has begun chipping away at that time frame of 6 months of
consistent exercise but remains in the action phase for now.

3. Briefly summarize what you found from the self-efficacy questions (number 6a-e). Does your client
have a high, moderate or low self-efficacy towards exercise? What can you do to help your client
improve/maintain his/her self-efficacy based on the answers to the questions? (2 pts)

My client has a moderate self efficacy towards exercise. I think to help her improve this I need to give
her options of workouts she can do quickly given her schedule, as well as getting her to a point where
she enjoys working out.

4. Briefly summarize what you found from reviewing the decisional balance data (number 7). (1 pt)
PROS = a, b, d, e, f, h, i, j, l, n
CONS = c, g, k, m, o, p

Pros: The answers she provided based on the questions asked about the “ pros” of regular exercise
led me to believe exercising more regularly would be greatly beneficial to her life as a whole. She agrees that
multiple facets of her life would be better with the benefits of regular exercise.
Cons: From her answers to the cons I simply saw her reiterate how important her time is, she only
marked highly on the ones that had to do with a lack of time.

5. Choose another health/fitness related behavior that your client is working on that is not considered
regular aerobic exercise. State the behavior and determine the stage of change for this specific
behavior. Explain how you came to this conclusion. (2 pts)

My client is working on doing yoga consistently because she enjoys it. She is in the contemplation
stage but this will help her posture and flexibility once she gets into it especially since she has a
sedentary job.

6. Answer the three questions in the box on page 41 in the Coaching Psychology Manual with regard to
this health/fitness related behavior. (2 pts)
1. She wants to change this behavior in order to add a new form of exercise, to help her enjoy
working out, and to give her short workouts that can be completed in a shorter amount of time.
2. The only possible reason to not change the behavior is comfort, or reluctance to change.
3. Consistency will help change the behavior. She already enjoys yoga so its simply a matter of
substituting yoga for one of her aerobic biking days.

7. Comment on your client’s self-efficacy with regard to this health/fitness related behavior. (1 pt)
 My client confidence will be similar for most categories, but I do feel that yoga classes are easier to
access on a vacation potentially so that category may be higher. Otherwise she should be confident in
any instance that she has ample time to complete the yoga itself.

8. List and describe which coaching skills for behavior change you will implement to help your client
with this behavior. (2 pts)

To help my client with this behavior I will simply check in on her and motivate her consistently. Half of the
job is to do so, and I think having those reminders gives structure which many people need to build consistency,
this coupled with encouraging words , and informational conversations will help move her towards consistency.