FIT: An Effective Way to Train Individuals to Achieve Their Goals
'Functional Imagery Training is Health Coaching 2.0...'
Rutger Top, Coach, Trainer, Project Manager, Amsterdam
FIT is strength-based motivational training that effectively boosts motivation and performance across the entire behavioural spectrum.
‘FIT is a tool for life. Truly, the principles of it apply to so many things.'
Doctor Tiffany Keenan, Family Physician & Emergency Room Doctor, Bermuda
FIT is relevant to and useful for all areas of change - from health behaviour and lifestyle change, keeping well and recovering from mental health issues, to addressing a life goal and/or performance goal. It is best thought of, as the currently most effective way of training individuals in using mental imagery to support their motivation and confidence for goal-success and maintenance long-term. FIT is a flexible ‘motivational vehicle’, driving forward any change a person may wish to pursue, creating strong desires to achieve.
FIT takes a very personalised approach to wellbeing and performance. Our research team at the University of Plymouth has found very promising results for FIT in building motivation, grit and resilience in sports and the British Army, as well as boosting growth-mindsets in secondary school education. Devon Mind are successfully using FIT to support mental well-being and weight-loss.
Dr Linda Solbrig (FIT primary developer) continues to work closely with several large companies, training leadership teams, mentors and managers in using and delivering FIT for work-place wellbeing and increased performance.
FIT is not a therapy; FIT is a training that teaches individuals and groups of people to use a new way of thinking, and communicating by drawing on their own cognitive abilities in using mental imagery to compare and contrast, vividly and creatively consider valued goals and to effectively address challenges, as well as to find solutions.
A core part of FIT builds on over two decades of peer-reviewed, published scientific research (see for example Dr Linda Solbrig, Prof Jackie Andrade; Prof David Kavanagh; Prof Emily Holmes) showing that mental imagery is much more strongly emotionally charged than other types of thought and that it is essential in making us work consistently and successfully towards a new goal despite obstacles.
FIT uses a variety of mental imagery exercises to continue building goal, process and success imagery and crucially, it teaches individuals how to do this for themselves, rather than depending on coaching support long-term.
FIT creates cravings for ‘why’ the change is so important which can be drawn on via emergency exercises like the ‘situations buster’ to help people boost will-power and self-regulation in moments of need.
The verbal coaching side of FIT is delivered and/or self-applied via the empathic, widely published (around 1500 trials) and well-established behaviour change intervention style of motivational interviewing by William Miller and Stephen Rollnick to work in partnership with clients, individually and/or in groups- helping them to resolve dilemmas, clearly explore and develop their very own valued incentives for change, to find solutions, and to develop strategies and confidence for achievement.
However, it differs from motivational interviewing, in:
explicitly eliciting vivid personalised mental imagery at each stage, and
teaching people how to apply motivational imagery themselves using behavioural cueing, audios to support imagery practice for building self-regulation/control.
Importantly, it also teaches people new ways of thinking about their very immediate future to help them stay motivated as they work on achieving each small step towards their desired outcomes.
Is Functional Imagery Training effective?
FIT has been used successfully in research to achieve significant weight-loss and to support weight-loss maintenance, to aid recovery from eating disorders, increase physical activity in people with major depression and in the general community, increase grit in professional athletes, increase resilience and support building growth mind-sets, raise the pass-rate of trainee soldiers on their All-Arms Commando Course (AACC) through resilience and grit in the British Army, support diabetic self-management, treat alcohol dependence, manage cannabis use in people with psychosis, to reduce anxiety and manage stress effectively, to reduce self-harm in young adults.
FIT has been used in corporate settings with groups and individuals to enhance effective mentoring, support mental and physical wellbeing, boost resilience and grit, build high performing teams, manage conflict and difficult conversations effectively, mediation, reduce public speaking anxiety, effectively manage time, reduce stress and to boost review and interview performance.
FIT is unique because it aims to replace the need for ongoing support and is wholly designed to equip clients/patients with all the skills they need to quickly become their own coach.
Feedback about FIT training from Dr Linda Solbrig’s clients
“Changing behaviour is one of the hardest challenges people face. FIT is a brilliant new method with proven results. Psychologist Linda Solbrig is a real visionary.” Susan, former editor in chief ‘Oprah Magazine’, editor, author, media trainer.
“When I started working with Linda, I was interested in FIT to increase personal motivation and success with some areas of my life I was struggling with for many years. Linda has proved endlessly patient, kind and encouraging of my endeavours and has always walked the path alongside and never ahead of me.
She has remained open and curious within the work and in doing so has helped me to clarify my desires and hopes for myself, giving pause for a more thoughtful and considered change, firmly imbedded in the real life situations I encounter.
FIT doesn’t sell you a dream, it opens up a means of travel, towards making possibilities within ourselves more substantial realities.” Maresa, Psychotherapist, London and Glasgow
‘FIT has indeed proved to be very effective, and continues to be with my “lifestyle and performance changes”.
Presentations for example have become much less nerve racking and as result much more effective. I enjoy the space I have earned. I had bad public speaking anxiety before with all the physical symptoms of a panic attack.
I have been working hard on delivering with impact now since I can focus on it which is a result of my work with Linda, and that is getting noticed at C level tier of leadership. As a direct result, I have been nominated for the future leaders programme, which is the path way to the next level of management (just one below CEO level).’ Anonymous, 2022, Head of Asset Optimisation and Governance of a sustainable energy company
‘FIT is a miracle which has probably added 10 years to my life, and hopefully unlocked career 2.’ Susanne, 2022, Realtor, Houston, Texas
‘…I asked Linda to demonstrate FIT to me as part of her work with our team on a Channel 4 show I am producing…
Public speaking is becoming more important as part of my role beyond exec producing. I know my stuff, but I get very anxious, with real physical symptoms prior presentations and I usually don’t like my performance compared to other people I watch present before me…
I learned several emergency exercises to help me focus, calm down the physical symptoms and the pre-anxiety before talks that will stay with me…I tap into them all the time now and subsequently my performance has become better, the anxiety is conquered. I even watch others now and realise, they are not that good, don’t know what they are talking about, they are just relaxed and likeable- I can be inspiring when I am on it- when I use the FIT way of thinking…’ C. Smith, 2021
‘Working with Linda, I am motivated by all the possibilities I had not yet considered, especially not since I suffer from depression and I find it hard sometimes to find anything positive in my day.’ Debs, 2020, Plymouth
‘I love working with Linda… the positive reinforcement of the way we use imagery, it really makes me feel good about being in this for the long-haul. I enjoy the path and I am not deprived like when I was on all these diets before…’ Heather, 2021, Plymouth
‘I have really pulled myself out of a really dark place with Linda’s superb help. I use the imagery every morning. It has helped me become a stronger, happier and healthier person.’ Sarah, 2022, Bristol
‘I was off with work-stress and had 6 sessions with Linda because I knew I was due to go back into my old job. The sessions with Linda helped me to eased my worry about the day. I often rehearsed it and it even turned out better than I had imagined.’ Jenny, 2021, Plymouth
‘I have just come out of a very serious health condition and I felt powerless, but with the positivity from the visualisation, I now feel more motivated and my energy is returning.’ Bob, 2022, Plympton
‘I highly recommend working with Linda. I feel able now to tackle anything! I still have a few areas of my life to sort out and I will continue to use visualisation to help me.’ Lars, 2020 Reinbek, Germany
Clinical Psychologist
Doctor (PhD in clinical psychology)
C-Psychol (BPS Chartered Psychologist)
Functional Imagery Training Developer (UK trademark owner)
Linda’s Clinical Publications
Solbrig, L., Jones, R., Kavanagh, D., May, J., Parkin, T., & Andrade, J. (2017). People trying to lose weight dislike calorie counting apps and want motivational support to help them achieve their goals. Internet Interventions, 7, 23-31.
Solbrig, L., Whalley, B., Kavanagh, D., May, J., Parkin, T., Jones, R. & Andrade, J. (2019). Functional Imagery Training versus Motivational Interviewing for weight loss: A randomised controlled trial. International Journal of Obesity, 43(4), 883.
Homer, S., Solbrig, L., Djama, D., Bentley, A., Kearns, S. & May J. (2020) 'The researcher Toolkit: A preventative, peer-support approach to postgraduate research student mental health'. Studies in Graduate and Postdoctoral Education. http://hdl.handle.net/10026.1/16601
Solbrig, L. (2018). Functional Imagery Training, a novel, theory-based motivational intervention for weight-loss (Doctoral dissertation, University of Plymouth). https://pearl.plymouth.ac.uk/handle/10026.1/12300
In Peer Review
Rhodes, J., Solbrig, L. & Grover-Watson, J. (2022) Applied Imagery for Motivation: A Person- centred Model for Psychologists, Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, under review
Submitted
Solbrig, L., Parkin, T., Khalil, M., Kavanagh, D., May, J. & Andrade, J. (2022). Qualitative experiences of two motivational weight loss interventions among individuals enrolled in a randomised controlled weight loss trial.International Journal of Obesity
Solbrig, L., Kavanagh, D., May, J., Parkin, T. & Andrade, J. (2022). Functional Imagery Training versus motivational interviewing: Effects on motivation and self-efficacy to eat healthily and increase physical activity. Applied Psychology: Health and Wellbeing
Linda’s Awards
BABCP Annual Conference Sep 2017: Winner Excellence Award for Functional Imagery Training
NIHR Researcher Awards 2020 Highly commended: Early career researcher award, for execution and reporting a randomised single-blind trial of FIT for weight loss, published in the International Journal of Obesity (DOI: 10.1038/s41366-018-0122-1), which showed that FIT led to a five-fold increase in weight loss compared to Motivational Interviewing (MI) and the potential this research has to transform behaviour change approaches implicated in many aspects of health and mental health.
Winner 'Best wellbeing/mental health postgrad initiative' for the Researcher Toolkit, awarded by Findauniversity.com
UK trademarks for FIT and FIT logo: No. UK00003616076 and UK00003406053.