Overcoming Barriers to Change
Overcoming Barriers to Change tests how you help clients identify obstacles, plan around them, and recover from lapses without taking over the problem.
A practical sequence
- Name the barrier in the client's words.
- Explore what the current behavior does for them.
- Weigh costs and benefits without pushing.
- Brainstorm options, client first; withhold judgment.
- Choose one option and make an if-then plan.
- Rehearse the plan, then review it.
Common barrier types
- Practical: time, cost, transport, childcare.
- Physical: pain, fatigue, injury; refer when outside scope.
- Psychological: low confidence, fear of judgment, all-or-nothing thinking.
- Social and environmental: unsupportive family, food environment, shift work.
Lapse versus relapse
A lapse is a single return to the old behavior; relapse is a return to the previous pattern. Normalize lapses, extract learning, and avoid shame. The abstinence violation effect, where one slip becomes "I've failed," is the trap to defuse.
Scope and referral
Refer for medical, mental health, dietetic, or financial issues beyond coaching competence. Collaboration is not failure.
Worked example
"I miss workouts when I travel." Ask what travel changes: late arrivals, no gym, unfamiliar food. The client proposes 10 minutes of hotel stair intervals. Add: "If I check in after 9 p.m., then I will do 5 minutes of stretching instead." Review after the next trip.
Traps
- Solving the problem for the client.
- Offering a long list of solutions.
- Treating barriers as excuses or moral failings.
- Ignoring the environment and focusing only on willpower.
- Failing to plan for lapses.
- Practicing outside scope.