Terry Real is the world renowned Family Therapist and Author of the groundbreaking new work, The New Rules of Marriage, the best-selling I Don’t Want to Talk About It, and the straight-talking How Can I Get Through to You? Terry’s work, with its rigorous commonsense approach, speaks to both men and women. His ideas on men's issues and on couple's therapy have been celebrated in venues from the Today Show and 20/20, to Oprah and The New York Times.

Terry’s Relational Life Institute grew out of his extensive and empathic experience. The Institute is dedicated to helping boys and men reclaim wholeness and connection, helping parents raise healthy boys, and empowering women to be assertive in their relationships. Along with training mental health professionals, the Relational Life Institute’s workshops help women to assert themselves lovingly and men to open up and learn to be fully present.

Blog Entries by Terry Real

Change and the Dream: Teaching Our Children About Non-Violent Living

Posted January 20, 2009 | 01:01 PM (EST)


This week we celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his commitment to non-violent social change and the peaceful transition of power that focuses on a man who, in many ways, embodies Dr. King's vision. Wouldn't it be remarkable if we carried those principles to the deepest layers of our...

Read Post

The Gift that Pays Dividends in This Economic Recession

Posted December 26, 2008 | 04:29 PM (EST)


The talk of the town is the stock market "correction", and boy what a correction it has been. But at the risk of sounding too "granola", I do think this recession offers an opportunity for a correction of our whole culture.

The galloping, almost addictive, materialism of the 80s and...

Read Post

Father's Day Special: What Legacy Are You Passing On To Your Children?

Posted June 14, 2008 | 04:35 PM (EST)


By Terry Real

Each year at this time, we celebrate fathers, and in doing so we can't help contemplating our relationships with our own fathers as well as the kind of dads we have become.

In a family, the roles we pass from generation to generation can be like a...

Read Post

Obama vs. Rev. Wright: The Wrongness of Righteousness

Posted April 29, 2008 | 05:13 PM (EST)


I found myself riveted by Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr.'s speech at the National Press Club yesterday and even more so by the immediate effect it had on Barack Obama's polls. I feel heart sick and appalled.

Like most of America, no matter what side of the political spectrum you're...

Read Post

Good Parenting and the "Meanest Mom"

Posted February 6, 2008 | 07:49 PM (EST)


A recent article run caught my eye: "Meanest Mom Sells Son's Car". Basically, a mom in Iowa gave her son a car with only two strings attached: 1) No Alcohol, and 2) Always Keep It Locked. Two weeks into the kid's free ride, she checked out the car and found...

Read Post

The Myth of "Quality Time"

Posted January 31, 2008 | 05:32 PM (EST)


Each year, parents resolve to yell at their kids less and spend more so-called "quality time" as a family. The reason why these resolutions don't stick is because when it comes to our life's priorities, we tend to vote with our feet.

I hate the term "Quality Time." I would...

Read Post