Relationships are not easy and love is not enough. And especially when we come from a challenging childhood homelife, we quickly learn what doesn't feel good and know the patterns we don't want to continue in our future relationships, but we don't always know the "how" to do that. In this episode, well-known best-selling author and renowned relational therapist Terry Real shares insights and tools on how to build a foundation of relational awareness so that we can develop healthy and thriving partnerships. He shares how the gift of a dysfunctional family is heightened emotional awareness as it forces you to tune into the micro cues of others' behaviors, moods, and tone, as well as how to develop a stance of self-protection, as the key is survival. Terry has taken his personal experiences of growing up in a difficult home environment as the foundation for developing a transformative relational style of couple's therapy that highlights how to overcome your trauma so that you can connect with those you love in a deeper, more connected, intimate and authentic way. In this episode we talk about how to be loving while also confrontational, how to effectively express your needs and how to develop the relationship you desire. If you are someone who struggles with intimacy and connection in your relationships, then this episode is for you.

About Terry:

Terry has been a practicing family therapist for more than thirty years, and his

work has been featured on NBC Nightly News, Today, Good Morning America,

the CBS Early Show and Oprah, as well as in The New York Times, Psychology

Today, Esquire, and numerous academic publications.

His most recent book Us: Getting Past You & Me to Build a More Loving

Relationship is a New York Times Bestseller. In 2007 his first book I Don't Want

to Talk About It: Overcoming the Secret Legacy of Male Depression quickly

became a National Bestseller.

Terry founded the Relational Life Institute (RLI), which is dedicated to teaching

the general public how to live relational lives and to teaching mental health

professionals the practice of Relational Life Therapy. RLI uses Terry's work to

advance the concept of "Relational Living" to help people address relational and

psychological health in three critical relationship areas: parenting, coupling, and

workforce effectiveness. The institute offers workshops for couples and

professional trainings around the country as well as support services, books, CD's

and other products.