The Faculty

The RLT faculty possess a wealth of knowledge and expertise in couples therapy, the RLT model, and private practice. All senior RLT therapists and educators, they are united by their passion for equipping a new generation of practitioners with the skills to powerfully transform relationships.

RLT Certified

Terry Real, the Founder of RLT

RLT was created by internationally recognized family therapist, speaker, teacher, and best-selling author, Terry Real. Terry founded the Relational Life Institute, offering workshops for couples, individuals, and parents around the country along with a professional training program for clinicians wanting to learn his RLT methodology. Drawing on three decades of experience, Terry knows how to lead couples on a step-by-step journey to greater intimacy—and greater personal fulfillment.

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. Terry’s ideas on men’s issues and couple’s therapy have been celebrated in venues from Good Morning America, The Today Show, and 20/20 to Oprah and The New York Times.

RLT Certified

Cathy Hill, Licensed Psychologist in Private Practice, Vancouver, Canada

I began training in RLT in 2010 and after my first bootcamp experience was determined that Terry teach others how to do it. I hassled him until he let me help him set up advanced training for his senior therapists, which led eventually into the role of Director of Training. I am trained in the ‘scientist-practitioner’ model, and very keen on getting RLT ‘evidence-based,’ which requires excellence in training in order to translate into excellence in practice.

RLT Certified

Anna Sterk, LMFT in Private Practice, St. Paul, Minnesota

Learning how to build and sustain healthy relationships has been the journey of my life, and not always an easy or straightforward path. It was life changing for me to build on the personal work I was doing when I started studying with Terry Real in 2012, and it is an honor for me to pass along what I have learned to clients and through teaching the relational skills in bootcamps, practicums, and mentoring.

RLT Certified

Bonny E. Slim, LMFT in Private Practice, West Hartford, Connecticut

I started training in RLT in 2012, and I have participated in most of the courses that Terry has offered since then. Through co-facilitating several Relational Bootcamps, I discovered how transformative the group experience can be. I anticipate the impact that the practicum groups have for participants will be equally valuable. My 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.

RLT Certified

Desirae Ysasi, LPC-S in Private Practice, San Antonio, TX

I have been a licensed therapist since 2006 and a certified Relational Life Therapist since 2018. The road to RLT certification began as a desire to learn more about my passion for couples work and ended as a completely transformative experience for myself and my own relationship. I am thrilled to enter into this relational revolution with my fellow faculty members bringing full-respect living to a whole new generation of therapists and clients.

RLT Certified

Julie Rudiger, LCSW, Private Practice, Denver, Co area

I have been a licensed therapist since 1993 and was introduced to Terry Real’s Relational Life Therapy in 2008. I became certified in 2010, and since then, my practice and personal life has transformed. I love the value of Full Respect Living, which is the tenant of RLT. Teaching clients and therapists the model remains the central focus of my practice. I love the role of “coach” in teaching the skills. Most couples and individuals just need the education and tools to better care for themselves and their partners and families. I am also co-leader of the Relationship Boot Camp in Denver, whereby we help individuals and couples learn the skills in a 2 day intensive workshop.

RLT Certified

Kate Harris, PhD in Private Practice, Dover, NH and PSYPACT

I am a Clinical Psychologist and a certified Martha Beck, North Star Coach. In 2015, I watched Terry Real work with 5 couples and was committed to becoming an RLT therapist, in part, because RLT honors “the worth and dignity of all people” and aligns clearly with my values. Attending Terry’s Bootcamp in 2017 with my husband gave us tools that we use to stay close to each other and deepened our 32-year relationship. I became an RLT certified therapist in 2018 and I am excited to join the faculty and share what I’ve learned.

Become an RLT Therapist

RLT can be transformational for your practice

Working with couples can be challenging, especially when clients hit a wall. Seeing your clients struggling to make progress can leave you feeling lost, overwhelmed, or burnt out. In RLT, we move fast, and we make things happen. Your confidence and love for your work will soar when you master and teach the powerful RLT tools to help your clients undergo profound transformations.

Heal Your Relationship With RLT

Reconnect with your partnerand yourself

Heal the distance between you and your partner and reconnect on a deeper level. Restore balance, respect, and intimacy as you uncover why your relationship is struggling and how to repair it. Working with an RLT therapist, you and your partner will learn to open up, be vulnerable, and hold yourselves accountable so you can continue strengthening and evolving your relationship for years to come.

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What is Relational Life Therapy?

Discover the integrative approach to couples therapy created by distinguished therapist Terry Real that equips people with the lifelong skills to forge more authentic, honest, and intimate connections.

As human beings, we crave connection, community, and closeness. Yet, we’ve never lived in a world that’s been more disconnected or individualistic.

We’re in the midst of a disconnection epidemic: we yearn for meaningful relationships, but we don’t have the skills to realize them. At no time in history has it been more apparent that intimacy is life’s holy grail.

As therapists, we can help people forge the intimate connections they so deeply desire. We can bring deep relief, healing, and change to relationships that are “on the brink,” catapulting couples to new levels of closeness.

When you train in Relational Life Therapy (RLT), you’ll learn the cutting-edge tools to transform relationships, help individuals heal from long-held trauma, and equip them with the skills to live relational, fulfilling lives—accountability, vulnerability, empathy.

And you know what else? These skills can profoundly affect your own relationships, allowing you to enjoy deeper, richer interactions with your partner, family, and friends.

RLT is a powerful method that, once mastered, can transform your life both professionally and personally.

Shall we begin?

Cutting-edge tools to transform relationships

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Transforming the Face
of Couples Therapy

Learn the lifelong skills to cultivate more authentic, honest, and intimate connections with Relational Life Therapy.

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What Is Relational Life Therapy?

There’s a new way we can relate

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Many people want to have great relationships, but society hasn’t taught them how. In a world that’s more disconnected than ever, we desperately need to shift into a relational, connection-building cultureand that starts in the therapy room. 

Changing how we see ourselves in relation to our partner. It involves changing some fundamental aspects of our identity, even changing how we think of ourselves to begin with, but doing this is vital to creating meaningful connections with others. 

Building deeper, more intimate connections with ourselves and others is at the heart of Relational Life Therapy. Created by renowned couples therapist Terry Real, this unique, integrative therapy can profoundly and permanently transform individuals by helping them forge fiercely intimate connections in their relationships. RLT educates as much as it heals to equip people with the lifelong tools to live fully-connected, fearlessly authentic lives.

RLT breaks many of the rules of traditional therapy to go deep quickly and help clients make rapid and significant changes. RLT therapists are real, open, and honest. We set the bar high for our clients. We expect rapid, dramatic change, and to a remarkable degree, we get it.

How RLT Works

Catapulting couples to new levels of closeness, trust, and solidarity

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Using a range of powerful diagnostic and transformative tools, RLT helps people to first reconnect to themselves—their feelings, needs, and desires—to build a stronger, more intimate connection with their partner.

Step 1: Waking Up

RLT therapists use loving confrontation to wake clients up to their negative behaviors in a direct but compassionate way. We show clients the difficult truths about how they are harming their relationships in a way that builds trust rather than resistance.

Step 2: Healing & Transformation

Swiftly get to the root of negative behaviors, understand them, and overcome them. Unique to RLT, deep trauma and inner child work is done in the presence of the partner. This allows individuals to go deeper and couples to grow closer.

Step 3: Relational Skills For Life

RLT equips people with the powerful tools they need to continue building authentic, healthy relationships long after their time in therapy is over—the key to creating change that lasts.

Interested To Know More About the Power of RLT?

Sign up to receive a complimentary brochure

RLT Is Perfect For:

Therapists & Coaches Looking to Expand Their Offering

Learn how to work effectively with couples and utilize your clients’ relationships as a crucible for individual transformation.

Therapists & Coaches Looking to Expand Their Offering

Learn how to work effectively with couples and utilize your clients’ relationships as a crucible for individual transformation.

Therapists & Coaches Looking to Expand Their Offering

Learn how to work effectively with couples and utilize your clients’ relationships as a crucible for individual transformation.

Therapists & Coaches Looking to Expand Their Offering

Learn how to work effectively with couples and utilize your clients’ relationships as a crucible for individual transformation.

Therapists & Coaches Looking to Expand Their Offering

Learn how to work effectively with couples and utilize your clients’ relationships as a crucible for individual transformation.

What Our Graduates
Have To Say

“Before RLT I felt like something was missing as a therapist.

The things I was taught in school were not practical and I felt stuck in my practice. I’m so grateful for the experiences I have had with the RLT training. I now see relationships in a way that finally makes sense to me and I have more confidence working with couples because I have something that is realistic and I believe works and more importantly my clients are able to grasp and practice.”

-James C.

“Before RLT I felt like something was missing as a therapist.

The things I was taught in school were not practical and I felt stuck in my practice. I’m so grateful for the experiences I have had with the RLT training. I now see relationships in a way that finally makes sense to me and I have more confidence working with couples because I have something that is realistic and I believe works and more importantly my clients are able to grasp and practice.”
-James C.

“Before RLT I felt like something was missing as a therapist.

The things I was taught in school were not practical and I felt stuck in my practice. I’m so grateful for the experiences I have had with the RLT training. I now see relationships in a way that finally makes sense to me and I have more confidence working with couples because I have something that is realistic and I believe works and more importantly my clients are able to grasp and practice.”

-James C.

Learn the Practical, Sophisticated Skills to Transform Relationships and Individuals Profoundly and Permanently

Master RLT for…

Your Career

Your Relationship

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