When the program is right, but something still gets in the way

ADVANCED MENTAL SKILLS TRAINING FOR THE HUMAN SIDE OF PERFORMANCE.

A live, 12-session Level 2 course for personal trainers, sports coaches, strength and conditioning coaches, physios and performance practitioners who want deeper tools for communication, resilience, behaviour change and performance under pressure, through communication skills coaching, emotional intelligence coaching and resilience coaching.

 Mental Skills Training Level 2 explores the beliefs, values, emotional responses and communication habits that shape how clients, athletes and teams respond when the program isn’t the whole answer.

Course Commences

Course intake begins on September 9. Each session runs from 4pm to 6pm AEST

Live Online
Sessions

A structured series of 12 live online sessions. Join from anywhere

Identity Compass
Profile

Included as part of the course.

Co-
Delivered

Led by Jay Hedley and Tarek Michael-Chouja.

Learning and Support

Access pre-recorded sessions, return to the intakes at no extra charge, via the Learning Management System and WhatsApp Group.

Trusted by Leading Coaches and High-Performance Practitioners

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At this level, the coaching question often moves beyond:
“What program does this person need?”

What pattern keeps repeating? 
What belief may be shaping the response? 
What emotional reaction is changing the behaviour? 
What meaning is this person attaching to the moment? 
What does this client, athlete or team need to understand, regulate or reframe?

Mental Skills Training Level 2 is designed for coaches who want a deeper way to understand behaviour and guide the next coaching conversation with more clarity.

Is Level 2 the
Right Next Step?

1 Foundation

LEVEL 1

Level 1 gives coaches practical tools to begin applying mental skills inside real coaching environments.

2 Go Deeper

LEVEL 2

Level 2 takes that foundation further by helping coaches better understand the internal drivers that can influence behaviour, motivation, decision-making and performance.

12 Live Sessions for Advanced Practitioner Development

Across 12 live online sessions, participants explore communication, meaning, personality, emotional intelligence, resilience, values, beliefs, reframing and Identity Compass integration.

Session 1: Communication Model

Explore how the NLP Communication Model can support communication skills coaching and clearer, high performance conversations.

Session 2: Meaning and Performance Model

Explore how vision, values, beliefs, inner imagery, physiology, mindfulness, flow and presence can shape performance access.

Session 3: Habituated Thinking Biases

Examine how thinking patterns influence behaviour, motivation and performance through the Identity Compass framework.

Session 4: Next-Level Listening Skills

Develop deeper listening skills, including sensory acuity, learning styles, representational systems and listening for psychology beneath the words.

Session 5: Rapport, Connection and Accountability

Explore pacing and leading, matching and mismatching, and how communication can support trust, accountability and followership.

Session 6: Meta Model of Language

Develop how to detect communication patterns through precision questioning, language awareness and deeper listening.

Session 7: State Management and Emotional Intelligence

Explore emotional intelligence, resourceful response, anchoring and practical tools for emotional regulation.

Session 8: Perspectives and Integral Quadrants

Understand how different perspectives can shape coaching, communication, behaviour, systems and outcomes.

Session 9: Values and Beliefs

Explore belief change, values, motivation and how coaches can support clients through value conflicts or limiting beliefs.

Session 10: Framing in Communication

Practice how to frame and reframe coaching moments around engagement, injury, recovery, expectation, pressure and performance.

Session 11: Resilience and the Circle of Excellence

Explore tools for building resilience and creating a resourceful response that can be accessed under pressure.

Session 12: Identity Compass Integration

Bring the course together by reviewing Identity Compass results and applying motivation patterns inside coaching conversations.

Why Choose Mental Skills Level 2?

Mental Skills Training Level 2 Is For

Practitioners who want to better understand what influences client and athlete behaviour, while developing deeper tools for communication, resilience, ownership and behaviour change.

Personal
Trainers

Helping clients stay consistent with their fitness routines while building strength, discipline, and long-term healthy habits.

Sports
coaches

Leading teams through performance, communication, and building strong team culture.

Strength and conditioning coaches

Developing physical performance through structured training, resilience, and athlete readiness under pressure.

Physios and allied health professionals

Supporting client consistency, confidence and behaviour change.

Performance practitioners

Working with identity, motivation, emotional response and pressure.

Gym owners and educators

Developing the ability to influence, communicate and lead people more effectively.

Informed by High-Performance Coaching Environments

Mental Skills Training Level 2 is informed by work across elite sport, professional coaching and practitioner development.

Together, Jay and Tarek bring psychological depth, coaching education and practical application into one practitioner pathway.

Tarek Chouja

Tarek Michael-Chouja brings the practical coaching lens through FTI Global, helping coaches connect movement, education, communication and mental skills in real training environments.

Jay hedley

Jay Hedley’s work has included high performance environments across elite sport, professional coaching and leadership development coaching, including Formula 1, professional boxing, and Fiji Rugby 7s — including mental skills, mindset and performance preparation through their Tokyo 2021 Olympic Gold and Paris 2024 Olympic Silver campaigns.

Mental Skills in Practice: Andrew Cipriano

From Course Concepts to Team Language, Culture and Performance Conversations

Andrew Cipriano, founder of Mind Starts Now and a semi-professional basketball coach, completed Mental Skills Training and began applying the concepts inside his own coaching environment.

Rather than keeping the tools as theory, Andrew trialled the concepts week by week, applied them personally, then brought them into the athletes and teams he was coaching.

What Andrew Applied:

Perspective-taking

Stepping back from his own coaching view to better consider the players, referees, opposition and wider performance environment.

Culture and accountability

Creating practical conversations around vulnerability, self-awareness, accountability and team standards.

State management

Helping athletes take greater ownership of how they turned up emotionally, mentally and physically before and during performance.

Coaching Takeaway

Andrew’s story shows how mental skills can be translated into coaching language, athlete ownership, team culture and performance conversations.

Circle of Excellence

Using a shared framework across pre-game, halftime and post-game conversations around attitude, responsibility, presence, perspective and team energy.

This is not presented as a promise of course outcomes. It is an example of how the tools can be applied inside a real coaching environment when a coach practices, reflects and integrates the work.

What Coaches Like You Say About Our Mental Skills Training.

The mental skills training program is highly recommended. Brilliant insights and learning, invaluable for my practice as a coach

We've been fortunate to work with Jay over the past few years across our National Rugby Union teams, including those that competed at the Olympics and Rugby World Cup. His expertise, professionalism, and commitment have had a significant impact, particularly during the Rugby World Cup, where his contribution was invaluable. Highly recommend.

As a trainer of 29 years, you're never old or late to improve your coaching skills. Ever since COVID, I've been on the path of self-improvement and development. For any new inspiring or experience trainer/coach I strongly recommend the High-Performance Mental Skills Program. The use of the models in the program was a game changer for me. I want to thank Jay and Tarek, who are some of best in their field in regard to Human Performance.

Frequently Asked Questions

September 9 intake now open — live online, 4:00–6:00 PM AEST.

Who is Mental Skills Training Level 2 suited to?

Level 2 is suited to coaches and practitioners who are ready to work beyond techniques alone and develop a deeper understanding of the person behind the performance.

It is designed for those who want to work more confidently with patterns, beliefs, values, motivation, communication and emotional responses across coaching conversations and performance environments.

Where does Level 2 fit within the Mental Skills Framework?

The Mental Skills Framework looks at performance through several connected layers, including mental strength, mental conditioning, technical mental skills, tactical mental skills and strategic development.

Mental Skills Training Level 2 focuses on the human drivers beneath those layers, including belief, state, values, motivation, communication and identity. It helps practitioners recognise what may be affecting a client or athlete’s response, then apply mental skills with more clarity in real coaching conversations and performance environments.

Across the framework, Level 2 develops your ability to work with:

Mental Strength

Pressure, emotional response, resilience, ownership and state management.

Mental Conditioning

Mindfulness, intentionality, reflection, imagery and the habits that support consistency over time.

Technical Mental Skills

Communication models, reframing, state management and precision questioning.

Tactical Mental Skills

Perspective, decision-making, awareness and situational thinking to support more effective responses under pressure.

Strategic Mental Skills

Values, beliefs, motivation, identity and leadership in longer-term coaching development.

Do I need to complete Level 1 before Level 2?

Level 1 provides a helpful foundation, but the better starting point depends on your coaching experience and confidence working with clients, athletes or teams.

If you are already seeing repeated patterns around pressure, confidence, motivation, communication or emotional response, Level 2 may be a strong fit.

If you are unsure, email our team via info@functionaltraininginstitute.com and the team can help you decide whether Level 1 or Level 2 is the better starting point.

What is the Identity Compass Profile?

The Identity Compass Profile is a personality and thinking-style tool used to support self-awareness, communication flexibility and a deeper understanding of how people are motivated, make decisions and respond to performance environments.

As part of Level 2, each participant completes the Identity Compass Profile and learns how to use the insights in coaching conversations.

How is the course delivered?

The course is delivered live online across 12 virtual sessions.

Each session runs for 2 hours, from 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM AEST.

Is this therapy training?

Mental Skills Training Level 2 is coaching education rather than therapy training.

It is designed to help coaches improve their communication, listening, framing, resilience, emotional intelligence and behaviour change skills within professional scope.

Where clinical support is needed, this work should sit alongside appropriate referral pathways.

Is there a payment plan?

Instalment options are available for the September intake.

What if I am unsure whether I am ready for Level 2?

If you are already coaching clients, athletes or teams and noticing that performance issues often go beyond programming, cues or motivation, Level 2 may be a strong fit.

If you are unsure, book a call and the team can help you decide whether Level 1 or Level 2 is the better starting point.