PT
CLIENT
PT
CLIENT
PT
CLIENT
PT
CLIENT
PT
I’m not surprised! Who has ticker trouble?
[Slowing down, and becoming thoughtful] Well, my dad
had a massive heart attack when I just finished school,
and died. And his dad died young too of a heart attack.
That’s awful. That must have been terrible for you.
Yeah, it wasn’t great.
How old was your dad?
Five years older than me.
No wonder Sarah’s worried.
Yeah…
And are you worried too?
CLIENT
I am, actually. But I don’t talk about it at home because
she gets pretty wound up.
PT
Sounds like she’s got good reason to get wound up. What
does your doctor say?
CLIENT
Well, she’s put me through tests, and everything’s fine.
But she says I need to look after my diet, my stress levels,
and get fit.
PT
CLIENT
PT
Right. Sounds like we’re on a mission then.
Yeah! We are.
OK, let’s get started with the assessment.
In this interaction, the trainer was confident in letting his curiosity
guide him to each question. Keeping the conversation naturally
flowing, he was able to find out:
• that the client loved the gym when he was younger
• there’s a history of heart trouble for men in the family
• the name of the client’s wife
• the client’s concern about his health and the fact that he can’t
talk about it at home
• the client has been checked by his GP.
On top of that, by demonstrating interest in his client’s world and
helping him open up, the PT made his client feel that he really cared.
And just like that – the first steps to engagement have been achieved.
In the next issue we’ll look at how to further develop your
engagement skills.
Kate Swann and Kristina Mamrot are Melbourne-based psychologists
specialising in treating overweight and obese clients. For information on their
books The Ultimate Guide To Training Overweight And Obese Clients, and Do You
Really Want To Lose Weight? visit pscounselling.com.au
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