#798: Terry Real — Breaking the Rules of Traditional Couples Therapy for Superior Results, A Few Frameworks That Work

The Tim Ferriss Show

For this episode, I’m doing something a bit different. I’m featuring five chapters from the audiobook Fierce Intimacy by Terry Real. What you will hear in this episode will help you identify both your and your partner’s losing strategies in relationships, and help you move from disharmony to repair. Terry is the creator of Relational Life Therapy, or RLT, which underpins all his books, courses, and teachings and equips people with the powerful relational skills they need to make love work. He is also the author of five books, including the New York Times bestseller Us: Getting Past You and Me to Build a More Loving Relationship.

And if you’d like an extra dose of calm, I recommend checking out Henry Shukman, a past podcast guest and one of only a few dozen masters in the world authorized to teach Sanbo Zen. Henry’s app, The Way, has changed my life. I’ve been using it daily, often twice a day, and it’s lowered my anxiety more than I thought possible. For 30 free sessions, just visit thewayapp.com/tim. No credit card required.

Excerpted from Fierce Intimacy: Standing Up to One Another with LOVE by Terry Real (Sounds True, 2018.). Used with permission.

[00:00:00] Who is Terry Real?

[00:03:11] Harmony, disharmony, and repair: The rhythm of all intimate human relationships.

[00:06:27] Harmony: Love without knowledge.

[00:07:01] Disharmony: Knowledge without love.

[00:10:01] Repair: Knowing love.

[00:10:35] Stay or go? A relational reckoning.

[00:12:04] Five losing strategies for getting from disharmony to repair.

[00:13:21] Being right: Objective reality has no place in personal relationships.

[00:16:35] Trying to control your partner: No one likes being controlled.

[00:21:35] Unbridled self-expression: The barf bag approach to intimacy.

[00:27:33] Retaliation: Offending from the victim position.

[00:32:13] Withdrawal: Provacative distance-taking.

[00:35:58] Shaking hands with your adaptive child — your losing strategy profile (LSP).

[00:38:08] Lessons learned by comparing your partner’s LSP with your own.

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