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Enhance Your Expertise and Expand Your Practice with Terry Real (CEs are not offered)
Welcome to Real Life!
As new cases and challenges arise in your practice, navigating them alone is overwhelming. Real Life is a safe place to turn in those moments when you wonder, “What do I do now?” Consider this community your lifeline—an encouraging network to call upon for fresh perspectives and creative solutions.
In our live calls, you’ll come together with senior RLT therapists and educators, like-minded peers, and myself. Each month, we dive deep into a particular aspect of your work with couples—topics from recent months include working with two blatant and protecting yourself from burnout. You’ll also have the opportunity to receive input on your cases from the faculty and me.
Our Real Life community is designed to accelerate your professional growth, helping you strengthen your skills and deliver improved outcomes for your clients.
Not only that, we also recognize the importance of providing you with all the support you need to build a thriving therapy business. This is why we host a monthly business call to help you establish a new practice or grow an existing one.
Real Life is the only place I share my latest thinking on the most effective strategies for transforming relationships. It’s where you can seek my advice and guidance on your specific cases as you grow your skills as a couples therapist or coach.
When you join Real Life, you unlock the supportive connection, continuous learning, and business knowledge you need to build a thriving couples therapy practice.
As a Real Life member, you will grow your skills as a relationship professional, receive input on your difficult cases, and access training on the business side of your practice.
Real Life is the closest access you can get to Terry Real and get his answers to your questions and support on your clinical cases. Via one 90 minute LIVE call each month, you’ll access Terry’s latest thinking on specific aspects of working with couples to enhance your skills and improve client outcomes.
Our community comes together for five live 60-minute calls each month. Four of these calls are where you explore the month’s topic in-depth, centered around a particular aspect or challenge of your work with couples. Each call consists of dedicated teaching time from either Terry or the RLT faculty and also Q&A.
Terry hosts 1 90munite call each month. All members can watch the call live and access the recording; however, questions and case consultations will be exclusively from advanced RLT practitioners (those who have completed RLT Level 3 or are Certified RLT therapists).
Our fifth call provides training on the business side of your practice, delivered by Terry’s wider team.
Search the library of short recorded videos from Terry to receive his advice on pressing and challenging topics outside of your regular calls. You’ll find answers to challenges such as what to do when you take the wrong side or have an overly compliant client.
We currently have 37 videos for you to search and we’re adding more each month—these will include standout responses to questions from the Real Life calls, so a great resource to check if you’re short on time.
A look at what we’ll be exploring together in the coming months.
In this extended 3-hour annual update, Terry and Desirae reflect on key developments in the RLT model over the past year. They’ll also bring clarity to several core areas of the model and share an exciting look ahead to the training and events coming in 2026!
This month, we’ll bring relational wisdom to the very alive wounds from systemic oppression as they show up in our work. We’ll look at how culture and power dynamics shape our clients’ experiences and our own. Along with how to approach these realities with openness and relational skill to support healing and repair, both personally and collectively.
In March, we’ll explore why the idea of “safety” in relationships is a myth – and why being willing to take the risk is essential to intimacy. We’ll look at how to help clients open their hearts to vulnerability and build distress tolerance for relational rupture and disharmony. We’ll also help clients strengthen their psychological boundaries to know where they end and others begin.
In April, we’ll examine how partners’ Core Negative Image (CNI) shapes recurring conflict, and how we can use this awareness as operating instructions for the relationship. We’ll look at how each partner’s CNI represents an exaggerated version of the other at their worst, and how it can also serve as a roadmap for repair. This includes helping clients stop arguing against their partner’s CNI of them and instead learn to acknowledge the grain of truth within it to diffuse conflict.
This month, we’ll focus on how to bring appropriate discrepancy into your work to skillfully discern the gap between where clients are now and where they are being invited to go. Then, to move them toward lasting change, we’ll look at the practice of joining and challenging – and how to know when to do which.
In June, we’ll discuss why moving into healthy intimacy is synonymous with moving beyond patriarchy. We’ll look at the cost of traditional gender roles, how patriarchy is a system that harms everyone, and how RLT offers a roadmap toward ecological wisdom. We’ll also explore how to help clients unlearn dominance and compliance patterns so they can meet each other as same-as, equal partners.
This month, we’ll explore how somatic practices can deepen the work of RLT. Building from a neuroscience foundation, we’ll look at how the inner child shows up for both clients and practitioners, and how to use somatic awareness to help shift into the Wise Adult. We’ll explore how to use somatic practices to slow down a session and regulate the room, as well as ways to incorporate somatic awareness into the three phases of RLT.
Choose the plan that best suits your needs.
A former senior faculty member of the Family Institute of Cambridge in Massachusetts and a retired Clinical Fellow of the Meadows Institute in Arizona, Terry is renowned for his ability to save couples on the brink of divorce using the progressive approach he created, Relational Life Therapy. RLT equips people with the powerful relational skills they need to cultivate meaningful connections—to themselves, each other, and the planet as a whole.
Via his esteemed training school, the Relational Life Institute, Terry has trained thousands of mental health practitioners in his RLT method to date. His original insights on couples therapy, relationships, and men’s issues have been featured in outlets from Oprah and Vogue to The Today Show and CNN. His latest book is the New York Times bestseller, US: Getting Past You and Me to Build a More Loving Relationship.
FORMAT:
Continuing Education credits offered:
Requirements for CE Certificate:
The Relational Life Therapy Level 1 Training
Homestudy Course Continuing Ed Details
Facilitated by Terry Real, LICSW
This home study course is approved for continuing education hours as described below.
NBCC (National Board of Certified Counsellors)
10 CE hours for Beginner Mental Health Professionals
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.
ACEP No. 7495
Target Audience
Social Workers, MFTs, Counselors, Substance Abuse Counselors, Nurses, and LMHCs, LMFTs, Educators, Coaches, Chemical Dependency Counselors
Course Content Level
The course content is appropriate for beginner level clinicians.
Course Description
Terry Real presents RLI’s introductory training course, Relational Life Therapy Level 1.
Over five recorded classes you’ll be introduced to the powerful principals behind Relational Life Therapy (RLT) as taught by Terry Real. RLT Level 1 is designed to give you an in-depth introduction to the theory and practice of the RLT model.
During this course, students will discover the differences between RLT and traditional psychodynamic therapy. Also considered are the stances of “one-down shame” and “one-up grandiosity” in couples; according to RLT, true intimacy can only happen when partners are “same-as” with each other. RLT is about action and lasting results, helping people to make major changes to the negative parts of their character, and the critical role and stance of the therapist is described. Presented also are the concepts of Relational Mindfulness, Joining Through The Truth, and psychological patriarchy.
RLT Level 1 is the first step toward RLT certification and will prepare you for the Level 2 & 3 trainings to deepen your understanding of Relational Life Therapy.
Learning Objectives: At the completion of this course, participants can expect to:
Throughout the course, you’ll gain deeper competency in and be able to:
Continuing Ed Credits Available: 7.5 NBCC credit hours ($40 additional fee)
CE Certificate Requirements:
It is the participant’s responsibility to check if their Board, state, organization is approved for these Continuing Ed credit hours. There is no partial credit. No refunds will be given on CE purchases for failure to check state approval.
Cost
This course is $397.00 for a single payment or three payments of $137.00
Commercial Support Disclaimer
There is no conflict of interest for this program.
Cancellation Policy
You may request a refund up to 2 days after purchase.
Please contact support@terryreal.com if you wish to cancel your purchase.
Accommodations
If you need special accommodations or have questions, please contact us at support@terryreal.com
Instructor’s Bios:
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.”
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.
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, Ph.D.: 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 teaches 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.
BONUS Material Instructors (CE hours not included in bonus content)
Dr. Gabor Maté is a physician who specialized in family practice, palliative care, and addiction medicine. A renowned speaker, physician, and bestselling author, Dr. Gabor Maté is highly sought after for his expertise on a range of topics including addiction, childhood trauma, stress, and mind/body connection. He is called a “people whisperer” for his gift of seeing deep inside anyone. His life’s work is dedicated to liberating people from their childhood trauma so that they can make a choice of how to live in the present moment.
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 Ph.D. 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.
Please Note: Licensing Boards change regulations often and while we attempt to stay abreast of their most recent changes, if you have questions or concerns about this course meeting your specific board’s approval, we recommend you contact your board directly to obtain a ruling.
Contact information: ACEP Administrator & Operations Director for Relational Life Institute (RLI), Lisa Sullivan follows: 291 Nahanton Street, Newton, MA 02459; 617-861-3030 lisa@relationallife.com; www.relationallife.com
AWAITING Conference CE REQUIREMNTS
The Relational Life Institute is pleased to offer:
An Introduction to Relational Life Therapy
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.
ACEP No. 7495
Format: A one-day LIVE training facilitated by Desirae Ysasi, LPC-S, RLI Director of Faculty
Location: Regent’s University London, Inner Cir, London NW1 4NS, United Kingdom
Continuing Education credits offered: 5.5 credit hours.
At the completion of this course, all participants will be invited by email to purchase the 5.5 CE credits for a $40 fee. To receive a certificate, you must attend the full course. There is no partial credit, attendance will be taken.
Content: If you’re new to the Relational Life Therapy (RLT) model – or just want to revisit the foundations ahead of your training with 2-Day Training with Terry Real. Join RLI’s Director of Training Desirae Ysasi for a pre-workshop training the day before Terry Real’s course begin.
You’ll explore the theory behind RLT, along with some of the effective tools and strategies that move couples toward meaningful change.
Learning Objectives: At the completion of this course, participants can expect to:
Target Audience: Social Workers, MFTs, Counselors, Substance Abuse Counselors, Nurses, and LMHCs, LMFT’s, Educators, Coaches, Chemical Dependency Counselors
Course Content Level: The course content is appropriate for Beginner level clinicians.
Cost:
Oct 27th one-day training with Desirae ONLY: £170 early bird until July 1 (then £195)
Oct 28-29th two-day training with Terry ONLY: £375 early bird until July 1 (then £425)
BOTH events (3 full days of training): £545 early bird until July 1 (then £620)
Course Dates & Hours: Monday, October 27, 2025, from 9am to 4pm
TO REGISTER: Please visit: https://relationallife.com/london-2025-trainings
Cancellation Policy:
We know sometimes plans can change so you’re protected by a 100% money-back guarantee until September 26, 2025. Please contact us at support@terryreal.com before September 26, 2025, and we will refund you. Any cancellations after this date will not be eligible for refunds.
If you need special accommodations or have questions, please contact us at support@terryreal.com
Please contact our Support team if you have any questions support@terryreal.com
Instructor’s Bio:
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.
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: ACEP Administrator & Operations Director for Relational Life Institute (RLI), Lisa Sullivan follows: 291 Nahanton Street, Newton, MA 02459; 617-861-3030 lisa@relationallife.com
The Relational Life Institute is pleased to offer:
The RLT Level 1 Training Course
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.
ACEP No. 7495
FORMAT: Five LIVE Online Sessions on Zoom, facilitated by Bonny Slim, LMFT and Terry Real, LICSW
Continuing Education credits offered: 10 credit hours for 5 Classes. Full attendance required.
Requirements for CE Certificate: At the end of this course, you’ll receive an email inviting you to request your Continuing Education certificate.
The certificate is free of charge. To qualify, you must:
Course Content:
Over five live classes you’ll be introduced to the powerful principals behind Relational Life Therapy (RLT). RLT Level 1 is designed to give you an in-depth introduction to the theory and practice of the RLT model.
Discover the differences between RLT and traditional psychodynamic therapy. Also considered are the stances of “one-down shame” and “one-up grandiosity” in couples; according to RLT, true intimacy can only happen when partners are “same-as” with each other. RLT is about action and swift results, helping people to make major changes to the negative parts of their character, and the critical role and stance of the therapist is described. Presented also are the concepts of Relational Mindfulness, Joining Through the Truth, and psychological patriarchy.
RLT Level 1 is the first step toward RLT certification and will prepare you for the Level 2 & 3 trainings.
Learning Objectives: At the completion of this course, participants can expect to:
Throughout the course, you’ll gain deeper competency in and be able to:
Target Audience: Social Workers, MFTs, Counselors, Substance Abuse Counselors, Nurses, and LMHCs, LMFT’s, Educators, Coaches, Chemical Dependency Counselors
Course Content Level: The course content is appropriate for Beginner level clinicians.
Cost: $395 in full; or 3 payments of $137 each
Course Dates & Hours:
Each class will meet from 12pm to 2pm Eastern Time on these dates:
Session 1 – January 22, 2026
Session 2 – January 29, 2026
Session 3 – February 5, 2026
Session 4 – February 12, 2026
Session 5 – February 19, 2026
TO REGISTER: Please visit this site for registration:
https://relationallife.com/level-1-training
Cancellation Policy: You may request a refund up to 2 days after the first live session.
Please contact support@terryreal.com if you wish to cancel your purchase.
If you need special accommodations or have questions, please contact us at support@terryreal.com
Please contact our Support team if you have any questions support@terryreal.com
Instructors’ Bios:
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.”
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.
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: ACEP Administrator & Operations Director for Relational Life Institute (RLI), Lisa Sullivan follows: 291 Nahanton Street, Newton, MA 02459; 617-861-3030 lisa@relationallife.com
You’ve joined the Relational Life community. Expect thoughtful insights on building deeper, more authentic connections.
