Trauma-Informed Personal Training Certificate Program
The Trauma-Informed Personal Training Certificate Program offers certified personal trainers an opportunity to fine tune their practices to acknowledge underlying trauma that impacts the client’s ability to engage in traditional personal training methods.
Through embodied movement practices and interventions, healing can happen for clients impacted by trauma.
Our training program is grounded in the belief that
if you work with bodies, then you work with trauma.
We aim to provide training on cultivating safety and embracing nervous system co-regulation.
We support body-inclusive programming and embrace a Health At Every Size®(HAES®) approach to healing through movement.
Level One
Participants will:
- Learn and gain new knowledge of trauma related terminology
- Learn the foundations of trauma-informed care
- Learn and understand the difference between embodied movement and traditional exercise
Level Two
Participants will:
- Learn and gain new knowledge about trauma-specific assessment tools
- Practice, through experiential learning, how to assess for trauma in personal training
- Learn how to support embodied movement and enhance client self-awareness.
- Explore the impacts of fitness culture, trauma, and the trainer role in trauma-informed personal training.
Level Three
Participants will:
- Receive advanced instruction on the neurobiology of trauma and the impact on embodied movement
- Learn about the nervous system and how trauma impacts someone’s ability to engage in personal training
- Understand challenges with nutrition and eating behaviors connected to trauma

Meet your Presenter:
Emily Young, LCSW-C, NSCA-CPT
Emily is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW-C) and a Certified Personal Trainer (NSCA-CPT). Emily majored in Public Health at the University of Maryland, College Park and then graduated with her Masters in Social Work from the University of Maryland, Baltimore. Emilly’s career both clinically and within the personal training field has focused on integrating trauma-informed embodied interventions with her clients. Emily is a co-creator and the lead presenter of the Trauma-Informed Personal Training (TI-PT) Certification program through Hope Ignited Training. Hope Ignited is an evidence-supported and trauma specific training company that specializes in connecting providers and businesses to trauma-specific approaches to business administration and service provision. This certification program has been peer-reviewed as an evidence-supported training program and is under review for continued education units.
Emily’s professional career as a Certified Clinical Trauma Professional grounds her from a unique foundational perspective to train other personal trainers to become skilled in assessing trauma and becoming a Trauma-Informed Personal Trainer. Emily currently works for Anchored Hope Therapy, a highly specialized trauma-specific mental health private practice in Annapolis, Maryland. She is the in-house specialist for Grief and Trauma Therapy. She also holds certificates in Complicated Grief Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and Dialectical Behavior Therapy. As a personal trainer, Emily holds certificates in program design through the Brookbush Institute and TRX Functional Training through TRX, and is a Stand Up Paddle Board Instructor. She integrates evidence-supported training methods with her clients with the knowledge and skill-set to also assess how trauma impacts the personal training relationship.
Emily believes cultivating awareness of embodied movement and integrating trauma history assessments within the traditional personal training dynamic is important for quality client care. Emily is passionate about supporting and teaching trainers in understanding the impact of trauma on the body and how the traumatized body moves and engages both in the world and within the personal training relationship. In her career as a Personal Trainer, Emily strives to combine her professional skills and specializes in working with clients who have experienced complex trauma.
Program Cost
Individual Participants
Organizations
Special rates are available for organizations with 10 or more participants.