Take the Next Step in Your RLT Career: Become An RLI Trainer

Take the Next Step in Your RLT Career: Become An RLI Trainer

A unique opportunity to develop your teaching experience and shape the future of the Relational Life Institute.

Apply Now

“My experience as an RLT trainer has deepened my learning, application and RLT skills exponentially.”

— Caron Starobin, RLI Trainer

Train The Next Wave of RLT Practitioners

As RLT’s reach continues to grow, we’re welcoming more professionals to teach elements of the certification program and help us meet the increased demand. It’s an exciting time for our growing community! 

When you become an RLI trainer, it’s more than just teaching skills. We’re looking for relational role models who are passionate about bringing the benefits of RLT to more people.

So if you live and breathe Full Respect Living and ecological wisdom, we invite you to read on… 

What is an RLI Trainer?

RLI Trainers are contractors who work with the RLI Faculty to deliver RLT Certification practicums and/or small group mentoring. The hours and months you will be delivering training are flexible, based your availability and RLI’s training demand.

As an RLI Trainer you will:

  • Deliver training for RLT Certification students (practicums and/or mentoring).
  • Including lectures, role plays, discussion, and personalized feedback.
  • Join monthly department meetings with senior faculty and fellow trainers.
  • Get free access to all RLI online trainings.
  • Free tickets to the RLI Conference and some in-person training events.
  • Help shape the future of RLI’s community and courses.

Who We're Looking For

We’re looking for experienced RLT practitioners who:

  • Have been RLT-certified via the new Certification track for at least 6 months.*
  • Are a licensed therapist in their state or country.
  • Some professional experience in teaching, mentoring, or supervision is preferred.

* You have taken the new certification track if you have attended Practicum 1 and submitted a Case Review.

Apply Now

“I appreciate the opportunity to have a voice, be creative… and contribute ideas for the future offerings of RLI.”

— Sue Musleh, RLI Trainer

How Do I Apply?

Apply Now

Step 1: Application

Tell us a bit about your background, availability, and what’s calling you to this next step. The application takes no more than 10 minutes to complete.

Please note: We will supply details of rates via email should we invite you to interview. 

Step 2: Interview

If your application is successful, you will attend a 60-90 minute conversation with our Director of Training, Desirae Ysasi, and another senior faculty member. 

You’ll also deliver a short teaching segment as part of your interview – we’ll provide everything you need to prepare.  

Step 3: Onboarding

Before you begin your teaching role, you’ll go through a period of onboarding, which takes approx. 40 hours. 

This involves:

  1. Shadowing faculty during live practicums.
  2. Watching pre-recorded training videos.
  3. Attending supervision calls with Desirae and Senior RLI Faculty.

*Please note: This training period is unpaid, but all necessary resources and mentoring are provided at no cost to you.

Step 4: Start Teaching

Once you’ve completed your training, you’ll begin delivering practicums/mentoring yourself.

Enjoy Deeper Professional Development and Rewarding Connections

This isn’t just a teaching role. As an RLI trainer, you can expect to:

  • Work in a fun and relational team of all ages, locations, and backgrounds.
  • Enhance your teaching skills while helping others become excellent RLT practitioners.
  • Sharpen your therapeutic skills with free access to all new RLI courses.
  • Have a say in how we shape future courses and offerings for the RLI community.
  • Join in-person RLI events for free, with opportunities to deliver talks and trainings.
  • Increase your own practice’s visibility, with potential to attract new clients.
Apply Now

What It’s Like To Be An RLI Trainer

Here’s what your colleagues say about being part of the training team.

“I joined the RLI faculty because I love the model, enjoy teaching, and see it as an opportunity to hone my own skills by helping others develop theirs. When I'm teaching, I'm sharper in my own practice both personally and clinically. I also wanted the opportunity to be part of a global community of good humans and skilled clinicians, who want to contribute to a better world through this work, as I do. It is proving to be a wonderful, intellectually and relationally stimulating environment both with students when teaching and with colleagues. I appreciate the opportunity to have a voice, be creative, and pursue additional avenues to do so such as access to all the new training and webinars that are released, speaking at the conference, and being invited to contribute ideas for the future offerings of RLI.”
Sue Musleh, RLI Trainer since July 2024
Sue Musleh, RLI Trainer since July 2024
“My experience as an RLT trainer has deepened my learning, application and RLT skills exponentially. The faculty have offered incredible mentoring and support as I grow into the role while also welcoming me and respecting my contributions to the team. One aspect that I hadn’t anticipated was the relational experiences I’ve had with the marketing, business, and administrative teams. I’ve honestly never worked with such a loving and outstanding group of professionals who encourage me to stretch while offering love and support all at once!”
Caron Starobin, RLI Trainer since March 2024
Caron Starobin, RLI Trainer since March 2024
“I became a trainer because I have been teaching therapists for over 30 years and RLT was the first environment that was in alignment for how I show up for others as a therapist and teacher. To actually live and be what you teach. The therapeutic use of self was in the room. I could feel the genuine love from the trainers for what they teach.  It was a relief to experience this as the student and from the teachers. [Becoming a trainer] was another gift to share this with other students in RLT. To live and breathe this work.”
Jacqueline Rasmussen, RLI Trainer since July 2024
Jacqueline Rasmussen, RLI Trainer since July 2024

Ready To Build Your Teaching Experience, Deepen Your RLT Skills, and Shape the Future of RLI?

Apply Now

Apply To Become an RLI Trainer

Please complete the application form below. It should take no longer than 10 minutes. 

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You must be FULLY licensed, not an associate, to qualify as a trainer.
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Are you fully certified in RLT?
Certification in Relational Life Therapy is required to become a trainer.
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CE REQUIREMENTS:

The Relational Life Institute is pleased to offer:

Healing in Connection: 

The Power of Relational Presence in Trauma Recovery

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 LIVE Online Webinar facilitated by Desirae Ysasi, LPC-S; RLT Director of Training

Continuing Education credits offered: 1.5 credit hours

Course Description:

This free training introduces clinicians to the Relational Life Therapy (RLT) approach to trauma healing within couples therapy. Participants will learn how trauma-driven behaviors emerge in intimate relationships and how to identify and address these patterns in practice.

The session will demonstrate how conducting inner child work in the presence of a partner allows clients to have corrective emotional experiences, rewire trauma-rooted beliefs, and strengthens their relationships. Through lecture, clinical examples, and Q&A, participants will gain actionable insights on how to integrate relational presence and co-regulation into their clinical work.

Learning Objectives: At the completion of this course, participants can expect to be able to:

 

  • Describe how trauma impacts the nervous system and relational behaviors, and explain how RLT frames these adaptations as “Adaptive Child” strategies.
  • Identify three ways that relational connection and co-regulation contribute to healing trauma.
  • Apply core RLT principles – truth-telling, compassionate confrontation, and skill-building – to facilitate relational healing in couples therapy. 

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:   This is a free webinar!

Course Date & Hours:   Monday, September 22, 2025 2:30 – 4:00pm ET

TO REGISTER:  https://relationallife.com/trauma-recovery

Cancellation Policy: You may cancel your registration up until September 22, 2025.

Please contact support@terryreal.com if you wish to cancel. 

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

www.relationallife.com

CE REQUIREMENTS:

The Relational Life Institute is pleased to offer:

Working With Men

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 LIVE Online Course facilitated by Terry Real, LICSW; and Julie Rudiger, LCSW

Continuing Education credits offered: 12  credit hours

There is an additional $40 fee to receive a certificate, and you must attend all 8 classes in their entirety. There is no partial credit, attendance will be taken.

Course Description:

Over eight live online classes, learn the skills to engage, motivate, and create breakthrough change with resistant male clients in this live, practice-focused training led by renowned couples therapist and male-psychology expert Terry Real, alongside RLT Faculty Member Julie Rudiger, LCSW. Grounded in Relational Life Therapy (RLT), the course unpacks how patriarchal conditioning and performance-based self-worth fuel disconnection, defensiveness, and shutdown, then shows you how to build trust with even the most challenging men through clear, compassionate confrontation that preserves the therapeutic alliance. You’ll learn to create effective leverage for transformation without triggering collapse, withdrawal, or escalated resistance; tailor interventions for the three common presentations—“boys, bullies, and avoiders”; and reframe masculinity so emotional expression is aligned with strength, honor, and integrity rather than weakness. Through demonstrations and actionable tools from both instructors, you’ll guide men in trauma healing and relational skill development that supports healthier partnerships and parenting. Leave with a concrete RLT roadmap you can use immediately to help clients move from resistance to responsibility and from disconnection to genuine intimacy.

Learning Objectives: At the completion of this course, participants can expect to be able to:

  • Summarize the cultural shaping of masculinity and its consequences.
  • Recognize shame and grandiosity as dual defenses tied to male self-worth.
  • Develop skills to help men shift from defensiveness to compassion.
  • Identify how shame and performance-based esteem show up in male clients.
  • Discuss culturally sensitive ways to challenge entitlement and grandiosity.
  • Identify and work with three major types of difficult men: boys, bullies, and avoiders.
  • Describe how to use leverage as a tool to create change.
  • Identify patterns of resistance in men and learn how to engage them effectively.
  • Utilize leverage to create internal or external motivation for change.
  • Illustrate empowerment to the partner or family system to create pressure that opens the door to transformation.
  • Compare and differentiate between their wounded child, adaptive child, and functional adult selves.
  • Develop an internal caregiving relationship with their inner children rather than expecting partners to repair old wounds.
  • Demonstrate full relational responsibility as an adult, especially in high-conflict, high-defensiveness relationships.

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:   $497 or three payments of $197 each.

Course Date & Hours:   

90 minutes each class on:

September 10, 17, 24; October 1, 7, 9, 14, 21, 2025 

TO REGISTER: https://relationallife.com/working-with-men

Cancellation Policy: You may cancel your registration up until September 16, 2025

Please contact support@terryreal.com if you wish to cancel.

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:

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.

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