Agree The Rules With A Client Before Session One, And Core And Pelvic Floor Shows How Rules Hand Them A Say In Their Own Training

The short version

A rule agreed with a client at the start gives them a say in their own training, and a client with a say turns up more relaxed. The FASTER Core and Pelvic Floor course puts this in a lesson called Environment, Rules and Experience. Its idea: the session your client has is something you build, and rules are one of the best bricks.

Key Takeaways

• The experience a client has is built from environment, rules, rapport, feedback and cues, and programming.
• Rules create autonomy, and autonomy shows the client you are on the same side.
• Small agreements, like a code word or a stop signal, cost nothing to set up.

Environment comes first

The course describes environment as everything about where your sessions happen and how you adjust it for your client. It lists exercise selection, equipment, music, other people in the room and mirrors. You can change each of those, and each one changes how a client feels walking in.

Rules give the client a say

The course says rules are how you create autonomy. Feeling in control is a large part of a client's motivation. It lists the kind of things you can agree:

• Exercises that are off limits.
• A code word the client uses when they need the toilet.
• A clear way to tell you they have had enough of an exercise, or want to end the session early.

Each one takes a minute to agree. Together they tell the client this is a partnership and you both want the same outcome.

Rapport, feedback and cues

Rules sit beside rapport. The course names active listening, mimicry and self-disclosure as ways to build a lasting connection, and points out that your choice of words can lift or lower a client's motivation.

It gives one cue example worth keeping. An external cue such as "push the floor away as you step on to the box" points attention at the task. An internal cue such as "squeeze your glutes as you step up" points it at the body. The course notes that an external focus helps clients who feel unsure about their bodies, because it takes attention away from internal sensations.

Programming finishes the picture

Start with exercises the client already knows and can do. Once they have experienced success, move to a level of challenge that suits them. Success first builds the determination to try the harder movements.

Where PT Manager fits

PT Manager, our free software, keeps your client's notes and agreed terms together, so the rules you set in week one are still there in week twelve. It opens when you sign up with FASTER, and adding real clients unlocks the day you pass a course. Take a look at PT Manager.

The Core and Pelvic Floor course teaches this lesson inside a visual, interactive course, with reading, listening, written answers or dictated answers, whichever suits you.

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