Rachel: 

Tell us a little about who you are! 

Sophia: 

Okay, so hello, my name is Sophia Pellegrom. I started my career as a personal trainer and then got my masters in sports psychology and counseling; I am currently a PhD candidate at U Mass in counseling psychology. I am very interested in the therapeutic benefits of the combination of exercise and psychology.

Rachel:
And how did you first get involved with, or hear about, Trauma Informed Weight Lifting? 

Sophia:

I first heard about TIWL from a professor at BU because he knew about my interest in exercise psychology and the use of exercise for mental health. He told me about TIWL and I got connected with Mariah and Candace. They were running their very first certification program for TIWL certified personal trainers and I got super interested. So I was part of the first cohort of that training. I absolutely loved it. 

I learned a lot about how to effectively use weightlifting to help who've experienced trauma. Like when it comes to interoceptive awareness, feelings of autonomy, groundedness in the body. It really got my interest and passion more into trauma focused weightlifting and trauma informed weight lifting. Then I was able to become deeply involved in an eight-week study with JRI in the Boston area designed to collect data, establish baselines, and spur innovation. 

Rachel: 

Would you say there is a big difference between Trauma Informed weight lifting and just plain old weight lifting? 

Sophia:  

There are a lot of similarities between regular weightlifting and TIWL. You're not changing anything big. It’s a matter of perspective and emphasis. You have a different perspective and lens.

A lot of training in the fitness industry can be helpful for trauma, but doesn't necessarily address what would be really important for people who are trauma impacted.

So for example, a feeling of autonomy and safety in the gym. What are ways we can adjust the training protocol and also the environment to make it safe enough for folks who are impacted by trauma to engage in weightlifting. It can have a little bit of feelings of danger to it. Some of the more dynamic stuff can feel very activating for some people who have a trauma history.

Learning how to regulate through weightlifting, how to regulate when you're on breaks and that kind of thing can be helpful to think about when you're doing trauma-informed weightlifting. 

Establishing autonomy with the client can be important as well. For example, once they get to a point where they can make more choices for themselves, sometimes with a traditional training relationship, it becomes very prescriptive. This is what you're going to do, and this is how you do it. Whereas with trauma informed weight lifting, you add an element of client choice, which can help them feel more empowered in their bodies and in their training programs. 

The point is that weightlifting that is tailored to people who have experienced trauma can be incredibly effective.

Rachel:

The eight-week program that you implemented was focused on young people. I'd love if you could talk more about the applicability of TIWL to young people, as it's our first youth partnership as well.

Sophia:

I love that TIWL can be implemented with people of all ages. The people specifically at the JRI locations that I've been at so far are typically adolescents through young adults. 

Sometimes young folks aren't as interested or don't get as much out of a traditional talk therapy relationship. And in some ways, having a more embodied practice can be really helpful for young folks when they are trying to learn how to regulate their systems and how to process things. Having an embodied practice can be more interesting in some ways than just talking to a therapist, and can be an alternative way of getting them moving. 

The trauma-aware weightlifting can get them moving, can give them confidence, can make therapy so much more effective.

Rachel:

Speaking of the participants, what are their reactions to TIWL? Have you been told anything, witnessed any really cool stories?

Sophia:

It's been really cool to work with the participants at JRI, at GRIP, at Pelham and see how participants have reacted to TIWL. Some have come in with no weightlifting experience at all. Some come in with some weightlifting experience, but not necessarily done in the same way that we do with TIWL. 

A lot of times people will come in with one goal and leave with another. So often they’re coming in with a goal to lose weight or change their body composition, but leave with a feeling of strength and more functionality and regulation in their body.

We've had one participant who's been very regular at GRIP, and it's been cool to see how this participant has really noticed themselves get very invested in weightlifting, be very regular, even when they're not feeling super comfortable or not super energetic, they'll still show up. Some notice strength gains, some notice feeling more connected to their body.

After the eight-week program that I initially did, some participants reflected that they felt that they could regulate themselves more through their breath. That was huge, and that was super cool.

Someone else even said it's about strength, it's not about size. That was awesome to hear.

A lot of participants really appreciated that strong and safe and collaborative community that you can have when you have multiple participants within a TIWL program.

Rachel:

Since you have also graduated through the TIWL programs yourself, I’d love your thoughts on if the foundations and certificate program are beneficial for people who work in organizations like yourself?

Sophia:

In my mental health training, there is some talk of mind, body, and somatic and mindfulness training, but there isn't really an integration of that in the form of actual physical activity. And then in my physical activity training, there hasn't been a lot of integration at all with any mental health, you know, training or any mental considerations.

So I think this has been a really, really unique experience where they really do talk about the integration of the two and how important and helpful it can be when working with clients who are trauma impacted. 

I really see a future in which these disciplines are more integrated. I think there's a huge future for trauma informed weightlifting. I have gotten so much out of it so far. And I really do see a future for it in the mental health space.

Rachel:

So at this point I like to open it up for folks if there's a fun story or an anecdote that is coming to mind.  

Sophia:

Okay, so I have a couple.

The first one I'm thinking about is within the eight week training. I was working with a small group of six adolescents, either female identifying or non binary, and they created a really cool community even within that period.

We really built up confidence in the body and also in each other by the end of those eight weeks. It was really cool to see how much they were really cheering each other on.

A lot of what we did together was building a foundation of physical strength, and then building on top of that foundation. The foundational weightlifting movements to build that foundational strength, all the different movement groups and then kind of pushing that further, like making it a little bit more unstable doing one sided stuff and adding more weight and kind of pushing the boundaries. 

Once you created that stable foundation physically, we also did that emotionally and socially. 

Our goal was to get everyone to try a barbell deadlift. And I think the kids were super excited about that. I was super excited about that. By the second to last session, we got to a point where everyone was feeling safe and comfortable in their bodies in order to try this big milestone. And every single participant did it. It was such a cool day. They we're all cheering each other on. It was super cool to see them help each other get to this big milestone, even within a shorter period of time. 

Rachel:

Thank you for that. Sometimes you get the coolest stories when you just like, talking off the cuff. You know what I mean? Like tell me something random. 

Sophia:

Yeah. It's cool stuff. It's cool stuff. I've loved working with these guys for the past couple of months.

One of the reasons I went to get my master's in the first place was exercise psychology. I had someone who came in because of body image concerns. And I'm not someone, it's a personal proxy.

I had someone who came in because of body image concerns. And, I'm not someone who's going to discourage certain weight loss goals, I will help you reach those if you want and try to encourage body functionality. As I worked with this client, I noticed how much the goals changed, mostly because of the mental health benefits.  

I have seen first hand how TIWL can be really helpful for specifically trauma-impacted youth, as trauma lives in the body, and can get someone so connected and empowered in their body. You build strength in your body, you have control over that, and you can feel empowered. 

I feel like I'm a kind of a champion for TIWL. I will shout this from the rooftops.