Relational Life Therapy is now available in Switzerland for couples and individuals from all ages, backgrounds, or orientations. RLT is an effective and profound approach to couples and marriage counselling. The pioneer if RLT is Terry Real, author of the bestsellers “Us” and “The New Rules of Marriage“.
I have chosen to apply this model in my practice because it can inspire deep change, quite quickly. Since August 2024 I am an officially Certified RLT Counsellor
The videos below can give you a flavour of the kind of Relational Life Therapy as your couples counselling method. And my page with Testimonials can give you a feel of how others experienced working with me.
All couples counselling teaches you skills. We work with the parts of you that refuse to apply them.
Terry Real
Intimacy and Vulnerability
Relational Life Therapy approaches romance and vulnerability in a realistic, somewhat raw way that is deeply authentic and genuine. RLT acknowledges, of course, that romance and cherishing and sensuality are essential building blocks of long-term relationships. And it also knows that those, by themselves, are not enough.
Intimacy requires both partners to be able how to speak (uncomfortable) truths in a way that can be heard. And for both to be able to hear (uncomfortable) truths while staying connected with oneself and the other.
If you want more connection and less bickering, and if you’re exhausted by patterns that just never seem to stop, RLT might be for you.
Mindfulness & Communication in Relational Life Therapy
At the heart of RLT is the focus on the responsibility of each and all of us to get to know ourselves better. To learn how to set boundaries and how to speak assertively and compassionately. Only if I can acknowledge my own distress am I able to use it wisely in my relationships. I need to be mindful of how I think, feel, and behave so that I can bring the best of myself into each situation, while knowing and respecting my own boundaries.
Structure of RLT Sessions
In our work together we will identify where your relationship seems stuck in repetitive behaviours: your relational dance, and how each of you contributes to that dance. We will establish where on the Relationship Grid you find yourself most often. And will explore how each of you can move to the centre of health. It is in this “centre of health” where you can make conscious and relational choices. It is this place where you are both connected and protected.
We will identify old wounding, and help you heal and integrate those, so you can engage with others from your wisest self. We will work on skill building regarding communication, self-regulation, assertiveness and boundaries.
If you would like to know more about Relational Life Therapy in Switzerland, please feel free to contact me. If you think your relationship would benefit from this approach, you can book a session here.
I offer marriage and relationship counselling in-person in Nyon or Lausanne, or online via Zoom. Sessions usually last 90-minutes.
Inclusivity & Diversity
RLT is explicitly welcoming of all and sundry. Love, romance, intimacy and sexuality are part of the human experience. Ethnicity, cultural background, social status, sexual orientation, gender identity, choices around the nature of your relationship: I try to be as inclusive as I can be. And I invite you to tell me where I get things wrong, or where you feel I am biased.
I seek to practice with the words of the poet Rumi in my awareness:
Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing there is a field. I will meet you there.
Rumi
Videos of Terry Real explaining aspects of RLT
Here below you will find four short video clips in which Terry Real speaks of the Purpose of Relationship, Relational Repair, Getting What You Want from Your Partner, and Time Out.
