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RAISE THE BAR

The fitness industry has set the bar too low.

It measures strength in weight lifted. It ignores the weight people carry.

TIWL is changing what the standard looks like — training practitioners to bring trauma awareness, mental health, and the whole human into every session, every space, every rep.

800+

TIWL Certified Practitioners & Coaches

45%

Of Certified Community Received Scholarship Support

22+

U.S. states and 13 countries Represented

 

800+

TIWL Certified Practitioners & Coaches

45%

Of Certified Community Received Scholarship Support

22+

U.S. states and 13 countries Represented

 

What "raising the bar" actually means

It means modeling embodied leadership, integrating safety, nervous system literacy, and equity into every session, and redefining what it means to build strength, for individuals and communities alike.

TIWL positions coaches and clinicians as agents of change, raising both the practice and the culture of weight lifting to new levels of care, skill, and impact. Raise the Bar highlights that trauma informed strength training is relevant across multiple domains, including every sport, physical therapy, occupational therapy, clinical therapy spaces, fitness, rehabilitation, youth programs, and more.

The framework is research-backed, peer-reviewed, and built by people who have done the work — clinically and in the weight room. It is not a trend. It is not AI-generated. It is the product of years of practice, supervision, and iteration.

Photo of notes, weights, and a notebook from the TIWL Residential Youth Facility program in MA.

What your support makes possible

TIWL is a nonprofit operating under the fiscal sponsorship of the Center for Trauma and Embodiment. Every dollar funds training, access, and reach.

Expand the Trauma Informed Strength Training Community

Equip a diverse network of coaches and mental health professionals to integrate trauma-informed weightlifting into their practice through accessible education, certification, and interdisciplinary collaboration pathways.

TIWL is leading a global shift in how strength training is taught and reclaiming weightlifting as a pathway to healing where strength becomes medicine.

Understanding Trauma Through Strength and Embodiment

 Deliver accessible education on how trauma lives in the body and how strength training supports regulation, agency, and recovery, integrating mental health and movement to train the whole self, mind, body, and nervous system.

TIWL disrupts outdated fitness narratives that prioritize aesthetics over embodiment and positions trauma informed strength training as essential to healing centered practice.

Reach Underserved Communities

Increase access to safer, inclusive strength training spaces and programs for trauma impacted individuals in underserved and historically excluded communities through partnerships across fitness, youth, mental health, and community sectors.

TIWL is expanding who strength spaces serve and who they are designed to support.

What your support makes possible

TIWL is a nonprofit operating under the fiscal sponsorship of the Center for Trauma and Embodiment. Every dollar funds training, access, and reach.

Expand the Trauma Informed Strength Training Community

Equip a diverse network of coaches and mental health professionals to integrate trauma-informed weightlifting into their practice through accessible education, certification, and interdisciplinary collaboration pathways.

TIWL is leading a global shift in how strength training is taught and reclaiming weightlifting as a pathway to healing where strength becomes medicine.

Understanding Trauma Through Strength and Embodiment

 Deliver accessible education on how trauma lives in the body and how strength training supports regulation, agency, and recovery, integrating mental health and movement to train the whole self, mind, body, and nervous system.

TIWL disrupts outdated fitness narratives that prioritize aesthetics over embodiment and positions trauma informed strength training as essential to healing centered practice.

Reach Underserved Communities

Increase access to safer, inclusive strength training spaces and programs for trauma impacted individuals in underserved and historically excluded communities through partnerships across fitness, youth, mental health, and community sectors.

TIWL is expanding who strength spaces serve and who they are designed to support.

The Lift — August 28–30, 2026

Experience the standard in person

One Weekend. Thousands of Reps. One Movement. 

The Lift is TIWL's first national community event and fundraiser. Throughout the weekend of August 28–30, TIWL-certified gyms and coaches across the country are hosting a 90-minute Embodied Resistance workout — the same framework that lives at the core of TIWL's certification.

*A portion of every registration goes back to the host gym.

Learn More

FIND A GYM

The people doing this work

TIWL-certified practitioners bring their own lived wisdom, cultural context, and care-forward approach to every space they lead.

Taylor Gonzalez

TIWL Certified · Scholarship Recipient

Somatic alchemist, run coach, weightlifting and yoga facilitator. Taylor is one of hundreds of practitioners who came to TIWL through the scholarship program and now leads the work in their own community.

Brandon Chien

TIWL Certified · Oakland, CA

Personal trainer and strength coach leading TIWL practice labs in The Weight Room. Brandon is what it looks like when the certification meets the weight room floor.

 
 

Together, We Rise

TIWL has certified over 800 practitioners across 22 states and 13 countries. Nearly half of them got here through the scholarship program.

Your contribution keeps that access open — and funds the next phase of reaching communities who need this most.

With your support, TIWL can continue expanding access to meaningful movement, offering education, training, and community partnerships that reach those who need it most.

TIWL operates under the fiscal sponsorship of the Center for Trauma and Embodiment, a registered 501(c)(3). Donations are tax-deductible.

 

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