— Real Life with Terry Real
Join A Thriving Community of Continued Growth, Learning, and Connection for RLT Practitioners
Connect with Terry Real and your peers in this intimate online community of mental health professionals, all committed to deepening their knowledge, application, and embodiment of the RLT model.

Connection Is Crucial for Our Clients, but It’s Also Crucial for Us as Therapists
The truth is that even the most talented therapists can get stuck and plateau, either because they need to upgrade their approach or, more commonly, they are working in a vacuum alone.
The good news is, there’s a simple solution:
Connection with a community of fellow therapists and a master teacher.
Real Life is a safe place for mental health professionals trained—or training—in Terry’s Relational Life Therapy model to come together and support each other’s growth as RLT practitioners.
This is Terry’s most intimate group of RLT practitioners and the only one he meets with on an ongoing basis. Through LIVE calls and a private membership site, this is a unique opportunity to meet regularly with Terry and your peers to receive support, ask questions, and elevate your RLT skills.
Up to 24 CE credits are available per year through Real Life for a small additional charge. Find more information on CE credits here.
How Does Real Life Work?
Through a mix of live calls, private community hub, and a rich archive of the year’s call recordings, Real Life gives you a space to stay curious, expand your RLT knowledge, and build connections.
On your live calls, Terry will provide real case demonstrations via recordings of his own clinical work, and you will also conduct live work as participants volunteer to reveal themselves in the context of our community. There’s also space for you to ask questions and share your own cases to receive Terry’s input.
Plus, new for 2023: we’re adding an alumni-only call with Terry, giving you 33 percent more time with him than before but for the same price. Exclusively for practitioners who have completed the RLT Certification, these calls are an opportunity to dive deeper into the nuances of RLT and review cases with peers at the same stage of their RLT journey.
What You’ll Learn
Each month a new RLT topic will be discussed in depth.

3 x LIVE CALLS WITH TERRY REAL EACH MONTH
Terry hosts three 60-minute calls:
– One focused on teachings around a specific aspect of the RLT model and short case consultations from participants.
– One focused on demos, case consultations, Q&A, or live work.
– NEW for 2023: One call exclusively for alumni (those who have completed the RLT Certification) to explore RLT at the deepest level. You’ll get 33 percent more time with Terry each month for the same price.

1 x MONTHLY TA CALL
You’ll also have one 60-minute teaching assistant call each month. This is where a member of the RLI faculty—one of our senior RLT therapists and educators—will be on hand to answer your questions and offer advice.

QUARTERLY EXPERT CALLS
Notable experts will join us for live training calls to explore new perspectives each quarter.

CLIENT HANDOUTS
Access handouts to help you with your clients, including RLT Boundary Violations, 6 Ways We Disrupt Healthy Relating, 5 Paths out of Conflict, and the Art of Time Outs.

CALL RECORDINGS FROM THE PREVIOUS 12 MONTHS
From the minute you join, you will always have access to the last 12 months of call recordings from the community, to learn from and refer back to as and when you need.

PRIVATE MEMBERSHIP SITE
Inside the RLT Community Hub, you can connect with your Real Life peers outside of the calls. You’ll be able to post about your challenges, seek advice, share your successes, and build lasting connections.
Be Part of a Community Who Will Support and Empower You as You Integrate RLT Into Your Practice
Your peers are on the same journey as you—some may be further along, others just getting started—but you share the same passion and commitment, not only to RLT, but living relationally as a whole. They’ve experienced the same struggles as you and are on-hand to offer advice and a supportive ear when you need it.
Here’s what your peers have to say about Real Life…

“Being from a state/city that has very limited RLT therapists the consult group has given me the opportunity to talk with others of like experience and views of couples work. For many years being part of a group that speaks the same language has been very, very professionally enriching.”
— Mercy Dennis
“Listening to Terry teach is enlightening and I always gain clarity about concerns that I have about a case that I am working with. I also really like Terry’s uncanny ability to get to the deeper layers of the ‘person of the therapist’ to crystallize my therapeutic approach with clients.”
— Clare Mezes, MSC, RP, RMFT
“As a relative newcomer to RLT, the group has accelerated my understanding, practice and confidence as a therapist. I have gained a huge amount particularly from working with Terry on cases I have presented and from listening to fellow RLT therapists work. I very much enjoy the sense of belonging to a larger community, especially given that I’m in the UK.”
— Victoria Shalet, United Kingdom
“I found the group to be supportive, encouraging and SAFE to be myself.”
— Tracey Navrides
“The truth of the matter is, the words don’t exist that fully describe how it was working with Terry. He is one of the “Greats” who has revolutionized couples therapy. He speaks to and connects with the older, middle-aged therapist just as well as the younger generations of therapists. The experience I had working with Terry was one of the most educational, insightful, grounding and motivating experiences of my entire career.”
— Karen Cunningham

Our Themes for the Next Six Months
Explore what we’ll be discussing in the upcoming months.
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January 2023 - The Art of Soft (Loving) Power
Standing up for yourself and cherishing your partner in the same breath -
February 2023 - Working With Two Blatants
What happens when you don’t have the traditional blatant/latent dynamic? -
March 2023 - The Relational Breakup
How to navigate a couple breaking up or one partner asking for a divorce in the session -
April 2023 - Family Roles
Exploring the different roles we play (scapegoat, hero, or lost child) and how to work with them. -
May 2023 - The Process of Repair
Teaching the skills to shift from disharmony to repair. -
June 2023 - Working with Grandiosity
The theory and tools for clients struggling with issues of grandiosity.
Here’s Everything That’s Waiting for You Inside
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3 x LIVE calls with Terry Real each month:
- One focused on teachings around a specific aspect of the RLT model and short case consultations from participants.
- One focused on demos, case consultations, Q&A, or live work.
- One exclusively for alumni (those who have completed the RLT Certification) to explore RLT at the deepest level and share casework. -
1 x monthly LIVE study call with a senior member of the RLI faculty
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Quarterly calls with experts to expand your learning
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Access to all Real Life call recordings from the previous 12 months
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Private membership site to connect with and seek support from like-minded therapists
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Handouts to support you in using RLT tools with your clients
Plus Receive These Bonuses
Bonus #1: Special Expert Interviews

Ed Tronick, PhD, infant observational researcher
- Mother / Infant Relationships Are Messy – And So Are Yours: What Infant Observational Research Can Teach Couples Therapists
Carol Gilligan, American feminist, ethicist, psychologist, and author
- From Boys to Men – Trauma and the Culture of Masculinity
- Re-Imagining Adam & Eve: New Directions for Intimacy
Dick Schwartz, PhD, founder of Internal Family Systems (IFS)
- Working the Many Parts of Men: From Anger to Self Compassion
Esther Perel, relationship, sex, and intimacy therapist
- Modern Infidelity
How Much Does it Cost?
Choose the plan that best suits you.
About Terry Real
Terry Real, LICSW, is an internationally recognized couples and family therapist, speaker, and New York Times bestselling author. Terry founded the Relational Life Institute (RLI) to provide workshops for couples, individuals, and parents as well as a professional training program for clinicians wanting to learn his Relational Life Therapy (RLT) methodology.
Terry is the author of four books, including the recent New York Times bestseller, Us: Getting Past You & Me to Build a More Loving Relationship. His ideas on men’s issues and couple’s therapy have been celebrated in venues such as Psychology Networker, Psychology Today, Good Morning America, The Today Show, Vogue, Forbes, Oprah, and The New York Times.
A senior faculty member of the Family Institute of Cambridge in Massachusetts and a retired Clinical Fellow of the Meadows Institute in Arizona, Terry has worked with thousands of individuals, couples, and fellow therapists. With 30+ years of clinical experience, Terry knows how to lead couples on a step-by-step journey to greater intimacy and personal fulfillment. Known as “the turnaround guy,” he has a history of transforming relationships that are “on the brink.”
The Relational Life Institute grew out of Terry’s extensive experience and research. He has trained thousands of therapists who have benefited from a whole new perspective on working with couples and individuals. RLT teaches people how to make their relationships work by providing services designed to teach the principles of Relational Life so that everyone can enjoy full respect living and craft a healthy life legacy.
Terry Real, LICSW, is an internationally recognized couples and family therapist, speaker, and New York Times bestselling author. Terry founded the Relational Life Institute (RLI) to provide workshops for couples, individuals, and parents as well as a professional training program for clinicians wanting to learn his Relational Life Therapy (RLT) methodology.
Terry is the author of four books, including the recent New York Times bestseller, Us: Getting Past You & Me to Build a More Loving Relationship. His ideas on men’s issues and couple’s therapy have been celebrated in venues such as Psychology Networker, Psychology Today, Good Morning America, The Today Show, Vogue, Forbes, Oprah, and The New York Times.
A senior faculty member of the Family Institute of Cambridge in Massachusetts and a retired Clinical Fellow of the Meadows Institute in Arizona, Terry has worked with thousands of individuals, couples, and fellow therapists. With 30+ years of clinical experience, Terry knows how to lead couples on a step-by-step journey to greater intimacy and personal fulfillment. Known as “the turnaround guy,” he has a history of transforming relationships that are “on the brink.”
The Relational Life Institute grew out of Terry’s extensive experience and research. He has trained thousands of therapists who have benefited from a whole new perspective on working with couples and individuals. RLT teaches people how to make their relationships work by providing services designed to teach the principles of Relational Life so that everyone can enjoy full respect living and craft a healthy life legacy.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Will I be able to ask questions during the calls?
Absolutely! We encourage you to participate in the calls. We aim to make each call interactive and personal to forge a dynamic, supportive relationship between you, Terry, and the entire group.
All calls will be live, and you’ll have opportunities to ask questions (time permitting). You can also post questions in the RLT Community Hub in advance, and Terry will pick the cases and topics that seem the most relevant to help the entire group.
Q: What if I miss a session or can’t make the time?
We understand there will be times you can’t make it, so we record all calls and you will have access to them for 12 months after the call date. This will also be useful for any sessions you wish to listen to more than once.
Q: How long are the calls?
Real Life is approved for CEs for specific six-month periods. You can find full CE details here.
Q: Is Real Life approved for Continuing Education Credits?
Real Life is approved for CEs for specific six-month periods. You can find full CE details here.
Q: Is the Real Life membership open to people new to Relational Life Therapy (RLT)?
We naturally like to go as deep as possible in our calls, however, we appreciate that some folks might be new to the RLT model and terminology. This is why Terry has handpicked one of our certified trainers to host a live monthly interactive call to clarify any questions regarding the model or teachings of RLT—it’s a bit like having a really knowledgeable TA in a big lecture course. Everyone is invited to these calls. Of course, we hope everyone gets inspired to take the RLT Level 1 training if they haven’t already, but that is optional.
Q: I’m highly experienced in the RLT model, is this relevant to me?
Yes—this community is designed to help you continually grow as a therapist as you develop your RLT skills and knowledge. We appreciate that everyone in the community is at different stages of their journey, so we have one call with Terry each month exclusively for those who have completed the RLT Certification. This will allow you to explore the model in greater depth, reflecting your extensive RLT knowledge.
Q: Is Real Life part of the RLT Certification?
Yes—when you enroll in the RLT Certification (our deepest training in the RLT model), you receive access to Real Life for 24 months. If you’d like to learn more about the RLT Certification, or to apply, please complete this form and a member of our team will reach out to you with more details.
Q: Do you have a refund policy?
We’re confident you’ll get so much out of your Real Life membership. However, if you’re not 100 percent satisfied with your purchase, simply contact us at support@terryreal.com within 48 hours after the first live call and we’ll give you a full refund, no questions asked. You may cancel your subscription at any time.
Here’s Everything That’s Waiting for You Inside
-
3 x LIVE calls with Terry Real each month:
- One focused on teachings around a specific aspect of the RLT model and short case consultations from participants.
- One focused on demos, case consultations, Q&A, or live work.
- One exclusively for alumni (those who have completed the RLT Certification) to explore RLT at the deepest level and share casework. -
1 x monthly LIVE study call with a senior member of the RLI faculty
-
Quarterly calls with experts to expand your learning
-
Access to all Real Life call recordings from the previous 12 months
-
Private membership site to connect with and seek support from like-minded therapists
-
Handouts to support you in using RLT tools with your clients
How Much Does it Cost?
Choose the plan that best suits you.
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2 x LIVE video calls with Terry Real every month:
- One focused on teachings on an aspect of the RLT model and short case consultations from participants
- One focused on demos, case consultations, Q&A, or live work -
1 x LIVE study call with a handpicked, RLT-certified TA
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Call transcripts and recording downloads to listen to at your convenience
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Private Facebook group to connect with and seek support from like-minded therapists
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A library of 40+ hours (and growing) of video content to view at your own pace
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Handouts to support you in using RLT tools with your clients
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FIVE bonus expert interviews with Carol Gilligan, Dick Schwartz, Ed Tronick, and Esther Perel