About Us - Fitness Integrated Therapy

The Managing Director of theraFIT is Doug Burke who has over 20 years experience as a counsellor, group worker, debriefer and trainer in the field of trauma and critical incident stress management.

He has extensive clinical experience with:

Individuals
Couples and
Groups and
Organisations experiencing crisis and difficult change issues.

Doug Burke's extensive clinical experience with individuals, families and organisations has given him insight into the dynamics of change and the difficulty that people have in overcoming their initial physical responses and subsequent emotional responses when faced with large scale change.

View Doug Burke's Curriculum Vitae

Doug has developed the Fitness Integrated Therapy concept as a way of assisting individuals to overcome their physical reactions which are often another barrier to psychological and emotional change. Improved self esteem and the evidence of positive body change then "kick start" the psychological change process.

The concept for FIT programs derives from the successful application of an initiative Doug developed for Vietnam veterans, most suffering severe trauma reactions; using structured exercise in groups. Feedback and outcome results from these pilot programs have resulted in the Australian Government funding of HeartHealth programs on a national level.

TheraFIT: Fitness Integrated Therapy has developed a range of programs which organisations can utilise for any particular client group. The programs can be delivered by providers who have been trained and accredited by theraFIT, or by staff in your organisation, who can be trained and accredited to deliver these programs.

TheraFIT: Fitness Integrated Therapy (FIT) has been established to provide longer term, (4 - 6 month) treatment programs for individuals with chronic conditions (such as depression, anxiety and trauma reactions). The programs are based on the integration of twice weekly structured exercise programs and weekly group based cognitive change processes.

The FIT program is delivered by an exercise physiologist and a group therapist/counsellor, ensuring that the gains in self esteem, locus of control and health benefits from regular exercise are capitalised upon, through an integrated group based program.

The content of the group based program integrates the personal and emotional growth aspects of the specially designed exercise regime, to address the participants specific problem areas such as depression, anxiety and trauma, etc.

Organisations facing change often find it very difficult to overcome the barrier of negative emotions from their personnel. These negative emotions continue to impede the content and organisational restructuring process.

For both individuals and organisations Doug has developed a range of change strategies, Fitness Integrated Therapy being just one such approach.