Select Your Breakout Session
Below is a list of the breakout sessions at the RLT Conference – Please select your first and second choice for each day. In total we will have 2 breakout session slots during the conference. The final times are being confirmed shortly.
The Relational Life Institute is pleased to offer:
The RLT Annual Conference 2025
Living Love: Transforming Ourselves and Our World
Relational Life Institute (RLI) has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 7495. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Relational Life Institute (RLI)is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.
FORMAT: LIVE in person in Orlando, Florida at the Caribe Royale Resort, 8101 World Center Drive, Orlando, FL 32821
Continuing Ed credits offered: Up to 16 CE hours over 3 days.
Content:
The Relational Life Institute is holding its very first annual conference event in Orlando, Florida. This conference is open to all practitioners, and is a 3 day, live, in-person experience. RLI’s Founder, Terry Real, LICSW, will lead the event with keynote address(s); along with RLI esteemed Faculty members and several guest speakers. Each workshop is thoughtfully designed to integrate Relational Life Therapy (RLT) into various themes, enriching both your professional and personal relationships. Join us to connect with like-minded therapists and practitioners, expand your knowledge, and elevate your practice through this transformative experience.
Learning Objectives: At the completion of this course, participants can expect to:
- Demonstrate speaking up with love and responding non-defensively
- Analyze the impact of one’s inner child work on one’s life
- Describe how RLT is different from other forms of couples therapy
- Demonstrate containing and protecting boundaries
- Respond constructively to inappropriate questions and comments
- Specify how one can hold themselves in warm regard even when they mess up
- Choose to move beyond the victim/perpetrator framework into one that builds hope
- List what ultimately helps hurt partners regain trust
- Distinguish what Relational Life Therapy is and is not
- Utilize the practice of Relational Mindfulness
Course Dates & Hours: Friday, April 25, 2025 from 9:00am to 5:00pm
Saturday, April 26, 2025 from 9:00am to 5:00pm
Sunday, April 27, 2025 from 9:00am to 1:30pm
Target Audience: Social Workers, MFTs, Counselors, Substance Abuse Counselors, Nurses, and LMHCs, LMFT’s, Educators, Chemical Dependency Counselors
Course Content Level: The course content is appropriate for Intermediate level clinicians.
Cost: $695.00
Cancelation Policy: You may request a refund up to 7 days before the start of the conference.
Please contact support@terryreal.com if you wish to cancel your purchase.
Instructors Biographies – (This list may be amended as Speakers are finalized)
Terry Real, LICSW
Terry Real is the bestselling author of I Don’t Want to Talk About It: Overcoming the Secret Legacy of Male Depression, the straight-talking How Can I Get Through to You? Reconnecting Men and Women, The New Rules of Marriage: What You Need to Make Love Work and most recently Us: Getting Past You & Me to Build a More Loving Relationship just debuted in June 2022. Terry founded the Relational Life Institute, offering workshops for couples, individuals, and parents as well as a professional training program for clinicians. Terry’s work, with its rigorous commonsense approach, speaks to both men and women. A proponent of “full-throttle marriage,” Terry has been called “the most innovative voice in thinking about and treating men and their relationships in the world today.”
Belinda Berman-Real, MA, MFT
Belinda is a highly sought after therapist and trainer with specialization in the areas of trauma work, addictions, recovery and intensive counseling for couples and individuals. Notably, Belinda has been married to Terry Real for almost 40 years and she incorporates RLT into her combined talents. In addition to her private practice, she has taught therapists of many disciplines to incorporate her unique therapeutic style into their work. Her blend of these models and techniques combined with her own theories of human development and change produce her unique and deeply powerful transformational process to help her clients with rapid, profound and lasting change.
Deran Young is a licensed therapist, CDWF, CDTL, Co-Author of New York TImes Best Seller, You Are Your Best Thing, retired military officer, and the founder of Black Therapists Rock. Black Therapists Rock is a non-profit organization that mobilizes over 30,000 mental health professionals committed to reducing the psychological impact of systemic oppression and intergenerational trauma. Deran obtained her social work degree from University of Texas, where she studied abroad in Ghana, West Africa for two semesters creating a high school counseling center for under-resourced students. Deran describes herself as someone who loves to learn from various cultures and has visited over 37 different countries and her clinical experience spans across four different continents. Her passion for culture and people has led her to become a highly sought after diversity and inclusion consultant working with companies like BBERG, Facebook, Linked In, Field Trip Health, and YWCA.
Carol Gilligan, Ph.D., of New York, NY has been recognized by many institutions and organizations for her efforts in the area of women’s advancement and moral psychology. She studied literature at Swarthmore College as an undergrad, and she graduated from Radcliffe in 1960 with a master’s in psychology. She continued to Harvard, where she received her PhD in psychology in 1964. Three years later, Gilligan took a teaching position at Harvard where she worked alongside Erik Erikson and Lawrence Kohlberg. While Gilligan worked as a research assistant along Kohlberg, known for his theory of moral development, she began focusing on the moral dilemmas and development of young girls. In addition to the Grawemeyer Award for Education, Gilligan has also received the Heinz Award for Human Condition and was named one of the most influential people of the year by TIME Magazine in 1996. She has also published works of fiction and developed a full-length play based on Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter.
Michelle Esrick is an award-winning filmmaker, poet and social activist. Her most recent film, Cracked Up, The Darrell Hammond Story had its theatrical premiere in September 2019 and was released on Netflix May 1st, 2020. Also, in May 2020 at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, Esrick created a powerful and inspiring virtual series called Cracked Up, The Evolving Conversation which candidly explores through intimate conversations the many different manifestations of childhood trauma and its long term effects such as addictions, suicide, anxiety & depression, etc. as well as how we recover ourselves, help others and change systems to better serve our communities. Featuring leaders in the field of trauma and luminaries such as, Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, Dr. Gabor Maté, Dr. Jacob Ham, Jane Stevens, Lyn Morris, Darrell Hammond, Jane Fonda, V (formerly known as Eve Ensler), and more.
Desirae Ysasi, LPC-S is a Licensed Professional Counselor - Supervisor with nearly two decades of experience, specializing in relationship counseling. Serving the San Antonio community since 2006, she works exclusively with couples in romantic relationships, folks in non-traditional romantic relationship structures (ethical nonmonogamy), and adults seeking to improve family dynamics. Desirae became a Certified Relational Life Therapist in 2018 trained directly by Terry Real, the founder of Relational Life Therapy (RLT). She joined the faculty of the Relational Life Institute in 2022 and now serves as Director of Training & Certification, overseeing the global certification program. She has been the owner of Ysasi Counseling since 2014 and in the fall of 2024, Desirae opened Relational Life Texas, a virtual therapy group practice focused on RLT, providing relationship therapy across Texas.
Kate Harris, PhD, Licensed Clinical Psychologist
Kate is a Clinical Psychologist and a certified Martha Beck, North Star Coach. In 2015, Kate watched Terry Real work live with 5 couples and was instantly committed to becoming an RLT therapist. Kate believes that RLT honors “the worth and dignity of all people” and it aligns clearly with her own personal values. After attending a Relationship Bootcamp workshop, she and her husband learned first-hand the tools Terry reaches and they continue to use them today to deepen their 32-year relationship. Kate became RLT Certified in 2018 and is a valued teacher.
Anna Sterk, LMFT
Anna began training in RLT with Terry Real in 2012 and has been providing therapy, Essential Skills Bootcamps, consultation, and supervision through the RLT model for years; Anna was thrilled to have the opportunity to teach and train practitioners as faculty with the Relational Life Institute (RLI) beginning in 2022. Anna's style as a therapist, teacher, and supervisor is to balance compassion and collaboration with direct feedback. Anna's roots are in systems theory and cultural studies, which was a natural fit for the RLT model, and supports her goal of teaching the skills to navigate long term relationships and support relational living for both clients and students alike. As RLI Faculty, Anna teaches the Practicum courses and Small Group Mentoring for RLT certification students, along with special topic courses.
Bonny Slim, LMFT
Bonny started training in RLT in 2012 and has participated in most of the courses that Terry has offered since then. Through co-facilitating several Relational Bootcamps, she discovered how transformative the group experience can be. Bonny teaches several Practicum Trainings each year and anticipates the impact that the practicum groups have for participants will be enormously valuable. Her favorite aspect of RLT is the awareness that practicing relational skills in our own lives is essential to be able to authentically share/teach these skills to others.
Caron Starobin, LCSW-C and an RLT Trainer, has deepened her RLT work and practice to help others bring their best selves to their relationships. Caron loves bringing that depth to teaching others. In addition, Caron is the Owner and Clinical Director of a thriving group therapy practice and presents her work often on intimacy in neurodiverse relationships to audiences.
Sue Musleh, Registered Clinical Counsellor and RLT Trainer
Sue is an RLT Trainer and is delighted to be part of this skilled and compassionate team of RLT Faculty and Trainers. She has been a Registered Clinical Counsellor since 2006 working with both individuals and couples to strengthen their relationships with self and others. Sue has advanced training in a somatic approach to trauma. In 2022 she began her training with Terry Real and RLI, has combined her RLT work in her somatic therapy with her clients.
Yolanda Harper, LCSW, and RLT Trainer
Yolanda’s journey to Relational Life Therapy started with her work as a trauma therapist and her search to find a couple’s modality that would address the way trauma impacts relationships. After a colleague introduced her to Terry Real and RLT in 2018, that professional search ended but her personal journey began. RLT for Yolanda has been life-changing for her own 30+ year relationship with her partner and her lifelong relationship with herself.
Julie Rudiger, LCSW has been a Licensed Clinical Social Worker for the last 30 years. In 2002, Julie opened her private practice, where she has helped hundreds of individuals and couples over the last two decades. Her professional journey took a transformative turn in 2008 when she began training with Terry Real, the founder of Relational Life Therapy (RLT). Julie has since used RLT to guide clients in discovering self-esteem, healing early wounds, and fostering deeper, more authentic relationships. A faculty member at the Relational Life Institute since 2022, Julie now trains other therapists and leads community workshops, including Men’s Groups and Relationship Skills Bootcamps. Additionally, she is trained in EMDR, ACT, DBT, Gestalt, and the Enneagram.
Lisa Rivers, BSW, MMFT, LMFT, LMFT Supervisor Candidate
Lisa Rivers is a certified Relational Life Therapy practitioner whose extensive education,
training, and experience in social work, marriage and family therapy, and intersectionality deeply informs their inclusive framework for addressing complex relational dynamics. In their work, Lisa integrates systemic and intersectional lenses with Relational Life Therapy principles helping clients navigate complex dynamics while fostering equity and diversity in relationships. Informed by an understanding of how intersecting identities—such as race, gender, sexuality, and socioeconomic status—shape relational experiences, Lisa creates affirming, inclusive spaces, particularly for the LGBTQ+ community. By embracing diversity and equity in their work, Lisa fosters a deeper connection and understanding in every relational context. Lisa considers it a profound honor and privilege to walk alongside both clients and practitioners alike to transform relational patterns and build thriving, connected lives.
Continuing Ed Certificate Details
Certificates will be emailed to the email address you used to register for the course within 15-20 business days after the event.
Please contact our Support team if you have any questions support@terryreal.com
CONFLICT of Interest: There is no known conflict of interest or commercial support for this event.
Grievance Procedure:
If a student believes they have been discriminated against, they can submit a written complaint that includes their name, address, phone number, location, date, and a detailed description of the issue. If a student with a disability disagrees with the accommodation provided or has any other grievances, they can schedule a meeting to discuss and attempt to find a solution together. If the student is still not satisfied with the accommodation after further discussion, they can contact the Operations Director for
the Relational Life Institute (RLI), Lisa Sullivan, via phone, email, or mail. If the grievance cannot be resolved, the complainant will be advised to contact the appropriate Ethics Committee or Licensing Board. The Operations Director will keep all grievances and their resolutions confidential in locked files. A copy of this Grievance Procedure is available upon request.
Contact information: Operations Director for Relational Life Institute (RLI), Lisa Sullivan, is as follows: 291 Nahanton Street, Newton, MA 02459; 617-861-3030 lisa@relationallife.com
Breakout Session Overview
➤ Breakout Session Slot 1
Option 1: The Role of Grief in Love: Exploring Relationship Reckoning by Julie Rudiger
More InformationWhat happens when your clients have done all the relationship work with the wisdom and guidance of Relational Life Therapy, and what lingers is resentment and unhappiness?
In RLT, Relationship Reckoning is the last necessary step in the work. This session will deepen your understanding of this tool, as well as invite exploration of how the Adaptive Child plays a part in this stage. You will be invited to explore your own history of grief and acceptance with an intimate partner, as well as connecting it with your family of origin.
Option 2: No Ordinary Love: Neurodiversity, Intimacy, and Relational Life Therapy by Caron Starobin
More InformationThis presentation will discuss:
- How neurodivergence shows up in intimate relationships and what this means for couples. We'll explore examples of common profiles in terms of the Relationship Grid, Trauma Grid, and Family Roles that tend to show up in neurodiverse couples.
- Define the Double Empathy Problem (Damian Milton) and discuss why this is relevant to understand when providing therapy to neurodiverse couples.
- Applying a neurodiversity-affirming mindset to RLT with couples: Ways to use RLT concepts, strategies, and tools to constructively and compassionately nurture relational living with neurodiverse couples.
There will be some time set aside for group discussion. Language and terms will be defined as needed. This presentation will not specifically focus on diagnosis of autism, ADHD, dyslexia, OCD, etc. However, handouts and references will be provided to support questions and curiosities about diagnosis.
Option 3: Investigating the Principle, Practice, & Promise of Relational Recovery by Zach Brittle
More InformationThe notion of relational recovery is central to RLT work, but what is it? How does it work? And what's it for?
With an inquiry into both personal and professional experience, we'll consider together how recovery contributes to our own and our clients' relationship growth.
You'll explore:
- How to define relational recovery within the context of RLT work.
- Highlight specific clinical practices to enhance recovery work.
- Establish strategies to integrate recovery into personal development.
Option 4: Sex Therapy and RLT: Desire, Pleasure, and Second Consciousness by Anna Sterk
More InformationIn this breakout session, participants will explore how patriarchy, cultural conditioning, and relational dynamics shape our experiences of sex and intimacy. We'll examine the limitations of traditional sex therapy and how RLT provides a more nuanced, whole-person approach to sex, desire, and pleasure.
You'll learn how to apply RLT tools and interventions specifically to sex and desire, uncovering what's blocking fulfilling physical intimacy for your clients. This includes identifying their First Consciousness beliefs and adaptations around desire and pleasure, understanding how these shape the "sexual dance" in their relationships, and guiding them toward Second Consciousness—where they can enjoy sustained sexual connection.
➤ Breakout Session Slot 2
Option 1: Being a Cultural Co-Conspirator as a Relational Life Therapist by Ya'Ron and Stacee Brown
More InformationYou will explore the role of a cultural co-conspirator within the RLT framework. The session emphasizes acknowledging systemic oppression, privilege, power, and cultural context in therapeutic work. Therapists are encouraged to step beyond allyship and take active, courageous steps to dismantle harmful systems while fostering equity and inclusion in their practices.
You'll engage in discussions about self-reflection, cultural humility, and the responsibility of therapists to create safe and affirming spaces for clients from marginalized communities. Through case studies, role-plays, and collaborative exercises, you'll examine how unconscious bias and cultural blind spots may manifest in your work and develop strategies to address them authentically and accountable.
The session highlights the need for therapists to move from performative allyship to active partnership with clients and communities. You'll leave with practical tools to amplify the voices of those who are often silenced, challenge oppressive dynamics in relationships, and build deeper, more equitable connections. The emphasis is on integrating these principles into RLT to ensure therapy is a transformative, culturally responsive experience for all.
Option 2: Three Months of Couple Therapy in Three Days: Using RLT To Work Intensively With Couples by Dr. Priscilla Short
More InformationPriscilla will demonstrate how multi-day intensives enable couples to address deep-seated relational challenges with clarity and purpose.
Drawing on her own case studies, Priscilla will illustrate how the core principles of RLT—such as fostering paradigm shifts, cultivating relational awareness, and promoting new relational behaviours—are especially effective within the intensive format. She will also share her insights into the practicalities of conducting intensives, including selecting suitable couples, tailoring the structure to specific needs, and addressing logistical considerations such as duration and location.
The presentation will highlight key research supporting the efficacy of RLT intensives and provide actionable guidance for therapists interested in adopting this model. An interactive Q&A session will follow, offering attendees the opportunity to engage directly with Priscilla and deepen their understanding of this transformative approach.
Option 3: Embodied Intimacy: Integrating Somatic Practices in RLT by Sue Musleh & Yolanda Harper
More InformationDeepen your practice of RLT by integrating the wisdom that your body holds in order to guide your clients to have a deeper understanding of themselves in their relationships. This workshop is appropriate for new or seasoned practitioners in somatic work.
You'll learn:
- From a neuroscience foundation, awareness of how the Inner Child shows up for both clients and the practitioner and using somatic awareness to help shift into the Wise Adult.
- Using somatic awareness to slow down a session and regulate the room.
- Ways of incorporating somatic awareness into the 3 Phases of RLT.
Option 4: Embracing Diversity: Best Practices for Serving LGBTQ+ Individuals and Couples Using Relational Life Therapy by Lisa Rivers
More InformationIn today's evolving social landscape, therapists must be equipped to address the unique relational dynamics of LGBTQ+ individuals and couples.
This breakout session will explore how the principles and practices of Relational Life Therapy (RLT) can be tailored to meet the specific needs of the LGBTQ+ community. By focusing on inclusivity, cultural competency, and the core tenets of RLT—such as Full Respect Living and boundary setting—participants will gain actionable insights into fostering authentic connection and healing within this diverse population.
