Level 1 Certification · 2026 Edition

The practitioner certification in TAIS.

TAIS — the Test of Attentional and Interpersonal Style — measures the cognitive, attentional, and interpersonal traits that shape how a person performs under pressure. This program teaches you to read it, debrief it, and coach from it.

Enroll in Level 1 → Or browse the curriculum
11 sections 30 lessons 8 quizzes 5 supervised debriefs 1 capstone ≈ 7 hours of material + your practice reps

Who it's for

Coaches, consultants, clinicians, and operators who debrief humans for a living.

If part of your work is sitting across from a person and reading them back to themselves — performance coach, executive coach, sport psychologist, organizational consultant, military mentor, founder hiring at scale — TAIS gives you a structured language for what most people only have a felt sense of. Level 1 builds the assessment-reading capacity that makes the rest of your work sharper. No prior assessment experience required.

The theory anchors

Three pillars under every interpretation.

Most people read TAIS scale by scale and miss the architecture. Level 1 teaches the three pillars that organize the entire instrument — so a profile reads as one coherent person, not twenty disconnected numbers.

PILLAR 1

Pressure & Performance

The inverted-U curve, the "I Can't" moment, and what predicts where each person sits on it.

PILLAR 2

Attention

Nideffer's four channels and why elite performance is fluency in channel-shifting, not depth in any one.

PILLAR 3

Confidence

Self-Confidence as the metric of stress tolerance, and Self-Critical as the engine that limits how much pressure a system can absorb.

Curriculum

From "what is TAIS?" to a credentialed delivered debrief in eleven sections.

The first three sections build the foundation — origins, scales, interpretation. Sections 4–6 give you reps with practice cases (valid profiles plus the five validity-check patterns you have to catch). Sections 7–8 teach the debrief conversation and coaching from insight. Sections 9–11 are the supervised arc: rehearsal, ethics, five supervised debriefs, and the capstone written analysis evaluated by a founder.

1Origins & Theoretical Foundation
2The Scales
3Interpretation
4Initial Practice
5Validity & Invalid Profiles
6Mixed Practice
7The Debrief Conversation
8Coaching from Insight
9Simulated Debrief Rehearsal
10Professional Boundaries & Ethics
11Supervised Debriefs + Capstone (5 supervised sessions + written analysis + delivered debrief)

Three programs

Choose the program built for your practice.

Program 1 · Generalist

TAIS Level 1 Certified

The universal foundation. Case pool spans executive, military, medical, and elite athlete contexts. Best for consultants, graduate students, dual-domain practitioners, and career-changers.

Credential: TAIS Level 1 Certified

Program 2 · Sport specialty

TAIS Sport Practitioner

Same foundations, sport-native throughout. Case pool of MLB/NBA/WNBA/NFL/NHL/MLS athletes, coaches, and athletic administrators. Sport-specific ethics (NCAA compliance, dual-role, weight-class disordered eating). Best for sport psychologists, performance coaches, and collegiate/pro athletic staff.

Credential: TAIS Sport Practitioner — Level 1

Program 3 · Leadership specialty

TAIS Leadership Practitioner

Same foundations, leadership-native throughout. Cases built on founders, VPs, first-time managers, and executive-coach clients. Corporate ethics: selection, reporting-line conflicts, data ownership when the organization is the client and the person took the test. Built for executive coaches, organizational consultants, and internal L&D leaders with assessment authority.

Credential: TAIS Leadership Practitioner, Level 1

Enrollment

One-time enrollment. Lifetime access.

Leadership beta cohort — $750

We're onboarding a small cohort of practitioners for the Leadership program at a reduced beta rate of $750 ($2,750 off the $3,500 Leadership program price) in exchange for structured feedback. Register for the Leadership track — beta pricing applies automatically at checkout. Limited to 10 seats; expires 2026-12-31.

$4,000USD · one-time · Leadership beta pricing applies automatically
  • Full Level 1 curriculum — 11 sections, 35 lessons, 8 quizzes
  • AI-graded free-response items with per-criterion rubric feedback
  • Scale Trainer, Practice Cases, Debrief Simulator, and Flashcards tools
  • 5 supervised debrief sessions with a Winning Mind founder
  • Capstone written analysis evaluated by a founder, plus delivered-debrief capstone
  • TAIS Level 1 Certified credential on completion

Beta cohort seats are limited. Future cohorts may be priced higher as the supervised-debrief load scales.

Enroll in Level 1 → Already have an account?

Frequently asked

Answers to the questions we get most.

Do I need prior assessment experience?
No. Level 1 assumes zero prior familiarity with TAIS or any other personality / attentional assessment. Section 1 starts from "what is TAIS, why does it exist," and Section 2 covers all twenty scales from first principles.
How long does the program take?
The didactic content runs roughly seven hours of reading plus quizzes. The practice reps (Practice Cases, Debrief Simulator) and the five supervised debriefs are the longer arc — most candidates complete the full credential in eight to twelve weeks of part-time work. There is no hard deadline; the supervised-debrief slots are scheduled to fit your pace.
What's the difference between Level 1 and Advanced?
Level 1 builds assessment-reading mastery — you finish able to read a profile, debrief it cleanly, and coach a single individual from it. Advanced (in development) extends to team profile dynamics, the canonical ±1 SD interpretive bands, and selection-context interpretation, plus extended supervised practice. Level 1 is a prerequisite for Advanced.
Who supervises the debriefs?
Mark Lowry and Marc Sagal — both Winning Mind founders. Mark has the deepest practitioner history with the instrument; Marc co-built the program. The capstone written analysis is evaluated by Mark.
Can I see the course before I enroll?
A short curriculum preview is available above. If you'd like a deeper look before enrolling, send a note to info@winningmind.com and we'll arrange a preview call with one of the founders.
Is the credential recognized?
TAIS Level 1 Certified is the standard for practitioners of the assessment. It's issued by Winning Mind — Mark Lowry and Marc Sagal — the team responsible for the modern practice of TAIS. Employers, coaching clients, and consulting engagements that already work with TAIS treat Level 1 as the rigorous mastery bar. For clarity: this is a professional credential from the developers of the modern practice, not a state or licensing-board certification. If your work requires a specific regulatory credential (e.g., psychology licensure), Level 1 complements that credential rather than replacing it. Independent recognition from adjacent bodies is in progress.

Ready to start

Enroll, finish, and get certified.

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