Become an expert behaviour change practitioner and be that force for change
Maximise results for your clients through effective evidence-based behaviour change strategies.
The leading behaviour change practitioner course.
Become a positive force for change. Help your clients reach their goals and shape their patterns of behaviour.
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Course type:
Online
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Time to complete:
4-6 weeks
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Entry-requirements:
None
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Accreditations:
CIMSPA, YMCA Awards (endorsed)
Course overview: behaviour change practitioner
Learn how to apply behaviour change theory to practice and help lessen the risk of lifestyle-related long-term conditions.
This is one of the most comprehensive evidence-based behaviour-change courses in the active leisure sector. The course is specifically designed for health, fitness and wellbeing professionals working with clients to support them on their behaviour change journey.
Human behaviour is complex. It plays a vital role in the health and wellbeing of people. Poor behaviour patterns can lead to increased risk of lifestyle conditions like cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. It can be challenging to break patterns of behaviour, but with knowledge and strategy, it can be done. This is where you come in.
You’ll learn how to apply behaviour change theory to practice and help your clients implement and maintain health-promoting behaviours.
Our course will teach you how to effectively communicate with clients and recognise psychological barriers to change. This will help you to positively impact your clients’ approach to their lifestyle, including physical activity, diet, and sleep.
You can be a force for change and pave way for healthier lifestyle choices.
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Entry requirements
There are no formal entry requirements for our behaviour change course because it's a CPD course, not a regulated qualification.
That said, having prior knowledge and experience of coaching clients to support their behaviour change will be advantageous. -
Who the course is for
The behaviour change practitioner course is designed for exercise professionals who want to deepen their understanding of science and behaviour change to support clients with their lifestyle choices.
Whether you're a personal trainer looking to develop a greater insight into the field, a nutrition coach trying to improve dietary adherence, or a health and wellbeing practitioner wanting to improve client and patient outcomes, this course is for you.
If you aren't a fitness professional and you're interested in completing this course for your own information, you are welcome to do so. However, without a fitness industry qualification, it wouldn't be appropriate for you to coach others. -
Accreditations
The behaviour change course for health and fitness professionals is fully endorsed by CIMSPA and gives you 10 CPD points on successful completion of the course. It's also endorsed by YMCA Awards, the most trusted awarding organisation to the active leisure sector.
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Career progression
By completing this course, you will be able to provide additional support to your clients to help them with their health and fitness journey.
There are also numerous training courses that you may wish to consider once you have completed the course. These include our Level 4 Health and Wellbeing Coaching programme, Motivational Interviewing for Health, our Solution-Focused Coaching Practioner, and more.
To learn more about our courses, contact our Careers Team on 0800 612 4067.
What you'll learn?
The course is divided into 9 distinct modules, and each module includes a range of learning and assessment resources to maximise your understanding of the topics presented. These modules are as follows:
- Introduction to Behaviour Change
- Professional Practice for Behaviour Change
- Conceptual Models of Behaviour Change
- Understanding Habits and their Formation
- Integrated Habit and Behaviour Change Cycle
- Motivation and Behaviour Change
- Principles of Successful Behaviour Change
- Communicating with Clients for Change
- Effective Goal Setting for Change
All of our modules will educate you to a high standard. Unit 3, Conceptual Models of Behaviour Change, will provide you with key theoretical knowledge, as recognised by CIMSPA.
You’ll learn about the human behaviour and change psychological theories, models and concepts. These include the self-determination theory, theories of reasoned action/planned behaviour, social cognitive theory, the health belief model, the COM-B model, social ecological model, and the transtheoretical model of change (TTM). You’ll be taught how to apply these to practice and will give you knowledge about the optimum conditions for change to take place.
How you'll be assessed
You will be required to complete a workbook per module. Each workbook will assess your knowledge of the core topics covered.
The workbooks are multiple-choice and scenario-based. All questions need to be answered correctly to pass the module. You can re-take the workbooks as many times as you need to pass them.
100%
Knowledge workbooks
- Multi-choice
- Scenario-based
- Unlimited re-sits
One behaviour change course. Unlimited opportunities.
Our graduates have gone on to work with world-leading health, fitness and wellbeing brands.
Frequently asked behaviour change questions
Below are a range of questions that we're frequently asked about our Behaviour Change Practioner course. If you do have any additional questions, please don't hesitate to call our friendly and experienced Careers Team on 0800 612 4067.
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How can behaviour change theory benefit clients?
The way this course benefits clients depends on your discipline area.
If you are a personal trainer or nutrition coach, you’ll be able to support your clients to change behaviours that are preventing them from realising their health, fitness, and wellbeing goals.
If you are a Pilates or yoga teacher, you will be able to provide advice to clients to improve compliance and adherence to their goals outside of your class. You may also decide to use the insights from this course to work with clients on a one-to-one basis. This could include helping them improve their posture, alignment, core stability or low back pain symptoms.
Naturally, you shouldn’t be advertising any behaviour change services that you offer as a counselling or therapy-based intervention because this would be beyond the scope of this programme. The contents of this course are designed to be embedded into other services such as fitness instruction, nutrition coaching, and health and wellbeing coaching.
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How is the course delivered?
This behaviour change practitioner course is delivered in a distance-learning format. It’s entirely self-paced so you can work through the course at your own leisure as long as you complete it withinh 6 months.
Shortly after enrolment, you’ll receive our comprehensive behaviour change practitioner training manual, both in print and digital format. You’ll also have access to a range of online lectures, which can be accessed from with your print training manual by scanning the embedded QR codes.
As you progress through the course and you complete individual units, you need to complete the workbooks associated with that workbook to close that unit.
If, at any point, you need to clarify specific aspects of the course, you’ll be able to reach out to your support tutor for further advice and guidance.
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What equipment will I need to complete this course?
All of the course content and learning materials are provided shortly after enrolment. To access the online resources, you will need a device with an internet connection. We recommend that you use a tablet or laptop, as this will provide a much better user experience than a smart phone, although you can access all the lectures from your training manual using a phone.
You may also want access to a printer if you want to print online presentations so that you can make your notes.
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What makes this course evidence-based?
This programme has been written and reviewed by a team of applied and clinical experts from multiple psychological, social, and health and fitness backgrounds. The course is aligned with and mapped to CIMSPA’s professional standards on behaviour change (a module within the Long-Term Conditions Professional Standard).
Throughout the programme, academic references are provided to support key principles and concepts. This will enable you to undertake further research and reading.
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How long do I get to complete the course?
You will get 6 months to complete your learning and assessment. We do find that most students manage to complete this behaviour change practitioner course in around 4-6 weeks.
If, due to unforeseen circumstances, you need extra time, there are options to extend. In some situations there may be a small charge to cover an extension.
Programmes like this are best approached consistently, with regular and frequent progress. We therefore advise that you allocate sufficient time to study regularly each week.
Stay in touch
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Thank you for signing up. If you want career advice or to learn more about the courses we offer, reach out to our friendly careers team.