An Optional Add-On Before You Go…

Add RLT Level 1 – The Diagnostic Roadmap Behind Everything You'll See on September 22

RLT Level 1 is the five-week live training that teaches you to clearly diagnose the dysfunctional pattern your clients are stuck in with weekly Q&A with senior RLT faculty, 5 bonuses, and 10 CE credits when you attend live.

📆 5 Fridays · October 16 – November 13 · 12–2 PM ET

Immediate access · 100% money-back guarantee

The Workshop Shows You the Thinking. Level 1 Gives You the Method.

For three hours on September 22, you’ll watch Terry do something most training never shows you: look at relationships as one system, even when there’s only one person sitting in front of you.

RLT Level 1 gives you the roadmap to start putting it into practice.

What if you could reliably…

Cut through the noise. See the painful patterns. And reflect them back to clients in a way that:

Resonates so strongly your clients feel seen in a way they haven't before,

Gives them real hope that change is possible, and

Builds trust that you're the one who can help them achieve it.

That’s what Terry Real has done for more than 40 years – not by waiting for insight to arise, but by utilizing 8 diagnostic lenses that make the core of relationship problems unmistakably clear.

You’ll learn how to use those exact lenses in RLT Level 1 to give you confidence, clarity, and a way to help clients see – often for the first time – how they’re co-creating the disconnection.

How RLT Level 1 LIVE Works

🗓️ Join the October 2026 intake

Each week a new module unlocks with Terry’s core teaching, streamed live with your cohort. It’s followed immediately by a live 60-minute Q&A with Bonny Slim, LMFT – a senior member of the RLI faculty, an LMFT for over three decades, and an RLT practitioner since 2012.

That’s where you bring your own cases and work out how the method applies to the couples actually in your practice.

By the end of Level 1, you will be better equipped to:

Track the relational system instead of getting pulled into competing stories.
Identify the patterns, power dynamics, and protective strategies sustaining disconnection
Understand when preconditions must be addressed before intimacy work can begin.
Confront harmful behavior with compassion, precision, and direction.
Give clients a clear account of how they are co-creating the relationship they say they do not want.
Build a treatment direction you can return to when the session becomes heated or confusing.

10 Continuing Ed Credit Hours Included when you attend all five classes LIVE.

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.

International Coaching Federation (ICF) has approved this program for 7 Core Competency hours and 3 Resource Development hours.

(Please note: Resource Development includes training formerly called Personal Development, Business Development, or Other Skills and Tools.)

What You'll Learn

Explore the RLT Level 1 curriculum.

Module 1

The Three Phases of RLT and How They Work

📆 Friday, October 16

Reframes the whole approach to couples therapy by introducing the three foundational phases of RLT and how they work together to generate transformation.

Why traditional neutrality often leads to therapeutic paralysis, and what to do instead
The 3 phases of RLT, and how they create a clear arc for relational repair
How to view the couple as a living system, rather than two parallel individuals

Module 2

Building a Clearer Diagnostic Picture from the Start

📆 Friday, October 23

Introduces the first three diagnostic lenses, helping you get beneath the presenting problem and move clients from individual to relational empowerment.

How to surface two distinct presenting problems, and why it shapes every session that follows
The 3 preconditions that must be ruled out before intimacy work can begin

Module 3

Spotting the Patterns That Keep Clients Stuck

📆 Friday, October 30

Decode reactive strategies and early conditioning. The Adaptive Child and the Losing Strategies give you a structured way to name each partner’s reactivity without shame or blame.

The 5 Losing Strategies that keep couples cycling through conflict and disconnection
How to identify and name Adaptive Child reactive behaviours
Why the goal isn’t neutrality, but compassionate confrontation that creates movement

Module 4

Uncovering the Deeper Structures Driving Disconnection

📆 Friday, November 6

The structural forces shaping client behaviour: using the Relationship Grid to assess self-esteem and boundaries, and how early family roles keep running in adult relationships.

How to map a client’s relational stance during conflict using the four quadrants of the Grid
How to shift your approach based on where a client sits — and make that call in real time
How childhood roles like the “hero,” “lost child,” or “scapegoat” carry into adult love

Module 5

Power, Culture, and the Leverage to Create Change

📆 Friday, November 13

The last two lenses — Blatant/Latent Power and Social Context — plus how to use the full map to gather leverage, confront destructive behaviour, and wake up even resistant clients.

A structured way to work with power imbalances without collapsing into blame or rescue
How social identity shapes relational dynamics, and why it belongs in any accurate diagnosis
How to name what’s really at stake for a client in a way that motivates rather than shames

Plus Instant Access to 5 Special Bonuses

Bonus 1

75-Minute Live Couples Therapy Demonstration with Terry Real

The fastest way to internalize the eight diagnostic lenses is to see them in action. Observe Terry conduct a real Phase 1 intervention with a couple, showing how he gathers data, reads the system, and begins to name the dynamic. This demonstration bridges the gap between theory and practice so you can better translate the model into your own sessions.

Bonus 2

3 Video Demonstrations: RLT Role-Plays with Faculty

In these clip-length demonstrations, experienced RLT faculty role-play common couples dynamics and show how a practitioner can navigate them using Phase 1 data-gathering tools. You’ll see the subtle moves, from tracking interaction patterns to asking the right questions, that help reveal the deeper structure beneath the surface conflict.

Bonus 3

Trauma, Truth and Healing: A Conversation with Gabor Maté

In this 60-minute interview, Terry sits down with Dr. Gabor Maté for an intimate dialogue on the relationship between trauma, emotional repression, and relational repair. Together they explore the physical and relational toll of unresolved trauma and how both therapists and clients can begin to heal.

Bonus 4

On the Roots of RLT: A Conversation with Carol Gilligan

Go behind the scenes of RLT’s origin story in this rare discussion between Terry and world-renowned feminist psychologist Carol Gilligan. From the influence of relational ethics to the evolving role of gender in therapy, this conversation offers deeper insight into the intellectual foundations that shaped RLT and why it remains a timely, radical approach to working with couples.

Bonus 5

The RLT Q&A Vault: Real Questions. Clear Answers.

This curated video collection features some of the most insightful questions from past RLT Level 1 cohorts covering everything from what to do if a couple’s stories don’t match to working with resentful clients who don’t want to change.

Everything You Get Inside RLT Level 1

Join us to explore:

5 weekly live sessions with your cohort – October 16 to November 13, Fridays 12–2 PM ET

Live weekly Q&A with Bonny Slim, LMFT – Senior RLT Faculty

10 CE credits when you attend live and in full

All 5 bonuses – Terry Real couples demonstration, faculty role-plays, Gabor Maté, Carol Gilligan, the Q&A Vault

Lifetime access – to every recording and resource in your student portal

One payment of $395

“It gave me permission to do therapy the way I always believed it should be done.

There are certain things that are right and wrong, and we’ve got to call them out… If you want to work with couples with integrity, this is the modality you should learn.”

Dr. Gloria Lee, Psychologist, PsyD, RPsych

Your 100% Money-Back Guarantee

We’re confident you’ll love RLT Level 1, but we offer a 100% money-back guarantee for your peace of mind. If, for whatever reason you’re not completely satisfied, please contact us at support@terryreal.com within 48 hours of the first live class (October 16, 2026) and we’ll issue you a full refund, no questions asked.

Start Before the Workshop Even Runs

Add Level 1 now and your place in the October cohort is held – so on September 22, you’re watching Terry with the training already booked. You’ll get immediate access to the bonuses to start learning right away,

📆 5 Fridays · October 16 – November 13 · 12–2 PM ET

Frequently Asked Questions

Did my workshop order go through?

Yes – your place in Terry’s Thinking Systemically workshop is confirmed (see the top of this page). Your confirmation email is already on its way – check your spam/junk folder if it’s not there in 15 minutes. Please don’t purchase the workshop again.

What happens if I click "Yes"?

One click charges $395 to the card you just used – you won’t re-enter any details. A separate email with your RLT Level 1 details arrives right away, and your registration details page will show both purchases.

What if I don't want to purchase RLT Level 1?

Click “No thanks” and you’ll go straight to your registration details page. Nothing is added, and your workshop registration is unaffected.

I've already done Level 1 – is this different?

This is the same Level 1 training, run live as the October live intake. If you’ve completed it before, you already have lifetime access – click “No thanks” and carry on to your workshop details.

What's the refund policy?

100% money-back within 48 hours of the first Level 1 class on October 16, 2026 – email support@terryreal.com. (The workshop has its own guarantee, to September 24, 2026.)

I have questions about this – who do I speak to?

Please reach out to support@terryreal.com.