Abstract
Previous research suggests that individuals have revealed moderate to serious personal issues to bar tenders, hairdressers, divorce lawyers and industrial supervisors and that training for these groups may provide a ‘cost-effective’ method of allowing people to access ‘primary care’. Such training already exists for the police, the military and in education settings and has been shown to be effective at imparting knowledge, building skills, and moulding the attitudes of these groups. Current training offered to personal trainers (PTs) relates specifically to clients referred with diagnosed mental health problems, rather than those sharing personal issues for the first time. This study investigates PTs’ experiences of clients sharing personal issues during a PT session. Eleven PTs aged 21 to 34 years (M = 26.3) participated in 26-58 minute semi-structured interviews. Interviews appeared to have reached saturation, and were analysed using Inductive Thematic Analysis. Four main themes were identified, with PTs expressing that “I didn’t think that supporting clients with personal or emotional problems was part of being a PT”. Because PTs felt that “it’s difficult to balance boundaries with building a good rapport”, this meant that they found themselves in situations where “I’m having to deal with clients opening up about a whole range of things on a regular basis” and were consequently left “managing the fallout”. PTs regularly experience clients sharing of personal issues during PT sessions and many wish to receive further education, training and guidance regarding this issue. Key words: Personal trainer, boundaries, experiences, education, training