The Art of Setting Loving Limits

What does it mean to set boundaries without losing connection? In this powerful Relational Life Foundation Community Conversation, we explore The Art of Setting Loving Limits, learning how to honor your needs, speak truth with compassion, and create healthier, more authentic relationships. In relationships, many of us struggle with boundaries. We over-accommodate, suppress our needs, or fear that speaking up will damage connection. But in Relational Life Therapy (RLT), boundaries are not about punishment or withdrawal, they are about creating the conditions for honesty, accountability, and deeper intimacy. In this discussion, our panel explores how to set loving limits while staying connected and how working with the Adaptive Child helps us change the reactive patterns that often derail our relationships. Participants will gain practical tools, relational insight, and a deeper understanding of how RLT supports healthier communication and connection. Speakers Carol Bastien, LCSW Carol Bastien is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with more than 30 years of experience supporting individuals, couples, and families. A Relational Life Therapy Coach, she takes a strengths-based, solution-oriented approach and is passionate about helping clients transform their relationships through deeper understanding, accountability, and meaningful connection. Shanell Wyche Hodges, LCPC Shanell Wyche Hodges is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor with nearly two decades of experience helping individuals and couples navigate trauma, stress, and relationship challenges. She specializes in Relational Life Therapy and integrates approaches such as EMDR and the Gottman Method to help clients break reactive patterns and build deeper intimacy and trust. Learn more: https://www.psychologytoday.com/profi... Monica Tanner Monica Tanner is an RLT-trained relationship coach, podcast host of Secrets of Happily Ever After, and author of Bad Marriage Advice. Through coaching, her podcast, and her online community, Monica helps couples improve communication, resolve conflict, and reignite connection. Her mission is to reduce divorce and help couples rediscover lasting love. Learn more: https://monicatanner.com Nidia I. Valadez, LPC-S Nidia Valadez is a Licensed Professional Counselor-Supervisor and founder of Spring Oaks Counseling in Texas. She works with couples and individuals navigating trauma, relational conflict, anxiety, ADHD, and intergenerational stress. Her work blends Relational Life Therapy, trauma-informed care, and culturally responsive approaches informed by her lived experience as a bilingual, first-generation Mexican immigrant. Learn more: www.SpringOaksCounseling.com Megan Massett, LCSW Megan Massett is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in private practice who works with adults and couples using a holistic approach. Through her work with Relational Life Therapy, she helps clients heal their relationships with themselves and with loved ones while fostering personal growth and deeper connection. Learn more: https://www.therapyden.com/therapist/... About Relational Life Foundation Relational Life Foundation is dedicated to expanding access to relational healing and education. Its mission is to make relational skills accessible to everyone through programs, workshops, and therapeutic services grounded in Relational Life Therapy (RLT), so that cost or circumstance never stands in the way of connection and healing. Get Involved Community Conversation Series Join our free Community Conversation Series, where therapists, coaches, and thought leaders explore relational topics through the lens of Relational Life Therapy. Our next one is about exploring tools for repair using the CHI model and RLT. Register for free: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/regis... Relationship Bootcamp Our Relationship Bootcamp experiences teach practical tools for communication, accountability, and connection helping individuals and couples transform conflict into deeper intimacy. Check out our upcoming bootcamps: https://www.relationallifefoundation.... Sliding Scale Therapy & Coaching Looking for one-on-one support from an RLT practitioner? We offer affordable sliding-scale Relational Life Therapy for individuals and couples through a network of practitioners committed to making relational support accessible to all. Get connected today: https://www.relationallifefoundation.... Membership & Community Become a member of the Relational Life Foundation community to support our mission, gain access to exclusive conversations and programming, and help expand access to relational healing worldwide. Join our community: https://www.relationallifefoundation....