how to be a relational therapist

level one

A clinical training for therapists — start to feel more confident being relational with clients & build a more sustainable practice

Therapist office with gray sofa, four decorative pillows, two framed abstract blue watercolor paintings on the white wall, a floor lamp, and a window to the right.

Join us in october for this exciting clinical training

Build Your Relational Foundation & Practice Getting Messy in the Therapy Room

Relational therapy isn’t about hiding behind neutrality or technique—it’s about bringing your humanity into the room in ways that foster trust, repair, and lasting change. How to Be a Relational Therapist: Level One will help you lay the groundwork for showing up authentically with clients, using vulnerability and stance as healing tools rather than liabilities.

Across three modules, you’ll gain a solid foundation in relational practice, while also learning how to sustain yourself as a therapist. This training will give you concrete interventions to use in session, confidence to let your authentic self lead (and your freak flag fly!), and support in navigating the messy, real moments that inevitably arise in sessions. You’ll also explore how relational therapy can be a buffer against burnout—helping you feel more alive and connected in your work instead of depleted by it.

By the end, you’ll walk away with practical tools you can use immediately, a deeper understanding of yourself as a relational clinician, and a supportive community that affirms this powerful truth: the therapist’s humanity is not a problem to manage, rather a powerful part of the healing process.

Join Us—We look forward to getting into the mess with you!

“I highly recommend this training to anyone who is interested in practicing more relationally! I learned more than any other training I’ve attended. My clients absolutely love it!”
— past HTBART attendee

the deets

Dates & Time

This 3-part workshop will meet once a month on Sundays in October and November 2025 and January of 2026.

  • Part One: Oct. 12th, 2025 1-4:30pm

    • Relational Therapy 101 (The Basics of Relational Therapy)

  • Part Two: Nov. 9th, 2025 1-4:30pm

    • Taking a Stance in the Therapy Room

  • Part Three: Jan. 11th, 2026 1-4:30pm

    • Therapist as Human First

Scroll down for more detailed information about what topics will be covered in each module & for pricing and payment plans.

“I am grateful to have found a training aligned with my values...Much of my previous education taught me to place myself in the room as a professional who had to use my ‘self’ as rarely as possible. Because of this work, I’ve already started to attend to my relationships with clients in a more sustainable and authentic way. ”
— Heidi M.

daily schedule

1:00-2:30pm – Introductions, Educational Material, & Demo

2:30-3:00pm – Break & Tea

3:00-4:15pm – Dyad Practice/ Breakout Groups; Q&A

4:15-4:30pm – Closing Exercise & Check Out

A burnt orange sofa with a pink quilted pillow, two yellow lemons on the floor, and a yellow reusable shopping bag on the sofa, against a green wall with a white rug.
A group of modern chairs in various colors including blue, gray, black, and beige, arranged in a pattern, likely in a conference or waiting area.

Commitment

Our hope is that all registrants will plan to attend all three training days. This is important because each day’s material will build upon the previous training modules.

Additionally, this training is designed to be a cohort model. As the focus of How to Be a Relational Therapist is on relational work, which is largely experiential, building relationships with your fellow training participants is a significant support to furthering your learning. Consistency will also help you build a community of other relational therapists for continued support when the training has concluded. We encourage you to keep in touch with other participants and deepen your relational community!

Meet your training team

  • Anna Kim, LCSW relational therapy trainer, smiling in blue top with pink striped background,

    Anna Kim, lcsw

    TEAM LEAD & TRAINING COORDINATOR

  • Dani Marrufo, LMFT smiling in chair in waiting room at Kindman & Co.

    dani marrufo, lmft

    CLINICAL SUPERVISOR

  • kaitlin & paul kindman

    CO-FOUNDERS OF KINDMAN & CO.

level one: build your relational foundation

Part One: Relational Therapy 101

Sun. 10/12/25 1-4:30pm

  • What is relational therapy?

  • What are some basic relational therapy interventions?

  • What are relational therapy goals and outcomes?

  • How is relational therapy different than what I already know?

  • How does relational therapy improve therapeutic outcomes? How do we measure effective therapy?

  • How do you know you’re actually doing relational therapy?

  • Why the therapist’s vulnerability is essential when working relationally & to build a strong, secure therapeutic relationship

  • Discussion of limitations of other modalities when a relational approach is not included

  • Includes a demo of working in the here-and-now and basic relational practice

Facilitated by Anna Kim, LCSW & Paul Kindman, LMFT

part two: Taking a Stance in the Therapy Room

Sun. 11/9/25 1-4:30pm

  • How being “neutral” can actually cause harm

  • How to start challenging sociocultural narratives around professionalism in therapy

  • Deconstructing the idea of a “blank slate” and challenging therapist neutrality

  • Modeling your own messiness, your humanity, and considering including physical touch

  • Exploring the importance of allowing yourself to be moved and impacted by your clients and why this is helpful to your work

  • Exploring power & privilege in the therapeutic relationship and why you need to be doing this

  • Includes a demo of modeling how to take a stance in the therapy room/therapeutic relationship

Facilitated by Anna Kim, LCSW & Dani Marrufo, LMFT

part three: the therapist as human first

Sun. 1/11/26 1-4:30pm

  • How to be a therapist and a person in the therapy room

  • Valuing and being transparent about your own authenticity & humanity

  • Practicing your own vulnerability in the therapeutic relationship

  • How relational therapy helps you address burnout & recognizing when you’re starting to get “crispy”

  • Support for navigating personal life circumstances/events and how to discuss these moments with clients

  • Recognizing how building dependence on your care works against therapeutic goals and the importance of setting boundaries that serve you and your clients

  • Includes breakout groups on common challenges you encounter working relationally & how to feel confident in these moments

Facilitated by Anna Kim, LCSW & Kaitlin Kindman, LCSW

f.a.q.

CAMFT approved continuing education provider seal

CEU CREDIT

Kindman & Co. (Provider #1032875) is approved by the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists to sponsor continuing education for LMFTs, LCSWs, LPCCs, and LEPs. Kindman & Co. maintains the responsibility for the program and all its content.

  • At the completion of the training, participants will be able to:

    1. Define relational therapy and differentiate it from one-person and 1.5-person psychologies.

    2. Identify at least three core components of relational therapy, including enactments, use of self, collision vs. collusion, and mutual vulnerability.

    3. Describe the neurobiological basis of attachment and how it supports relational healing in therapy.

    4. Recognize signs of therapeutic enactments and explain the difference between collision and collusion in relational dynamics.

    5. Demonstrate the use of embodied awareness (e.g., somatic tracking, interoception) during a dyadic exercise with a peer.

    6. Articulate how social context, power, and identity impact the therapeutic relationship and influence relational interventions.

    7. Apply relational interventions that emphasize repair, co-regulation, and collaborative meaning-making.

    8. Reflect on personal patterns of avoidance or over-functioning in the therapeutic relationship and their impact on the clinical process.

    9. Develop a self-reflective practice for identifying and navigating personal vulnerabilities in the therapy room.

    • Licensed Therapists, Associate Therapists, & Graduate Students currently attending a psychotherapy program who are able to attend an in-person training in Highland Park, Los Angeles. Please note: graduate students and associate therapists are not eligible for CEU credit.

        • Therapists wanting to understand relational therapy more

        • Therapists wanting to gain and practice relational therapy skills

        • Therapists wanting to build community with other therapists with shared clinical interests

        • Therapists wanting to increase their ability to question therapeutic norms and standards rooted in oppressive systems

        • Therapists wanting to find a therapeutic style that fosters more personal authenticity, sustainability, and works to combat burnout as a clinician

        • Therapists wanting to learn new clinical skills and interventions for working with individual clients

        • Please note that the training material will be primarily focused on supporting therapists working in private practice who have the flexibility of seeing clients on a long-term basis (approximately 1+ year or so). If you work in an agency setting or work more short-term with clients, you absolutely can benefit from this training, just know that it is primarily geared towards longer-term work.

  • To support a cohort feel, our ideal size for this workshop is 10-14 registrants in order to provide a trauma-sensitive, containing space that better supports learning and makes room for all attendees to ask questions. Once you have submitted your registration and payment, your spot is secured and you will receive more information as the start date gets closer.

  • If you need to cancel your registration for any reason, you must do so by Friday, September 12th, 2025 by sending an email to training@kindman.co. If you cancel by this date, you will be eligible for a full refund of any payment you’ve already made. Any cancellations after this date will only be eligible for a partial refund.

  • If you really want to join us but can’t make all of the training module dates, please email us with more info at training@kindman.co and let’s chat about what’s possible!

  • We are dedicated to making our service offerings and trainings accessible to all who are interested. We do have a handicapped parking spot available in our private lot that can be made available to you with advance notice. Please know that depending on the size of the training, we may need to move to a larger space above our office, that does require the use of stairs. If you need any accommodations, please email us at training@kindman.co and we will do our very best to meet your needs!

  • Level One course meets the qualifications for 9 hours of continuing education credit for LMFTs, LCSWs, LPCCs, and LEPs as required by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences.

    Participants will receive a certificate of course completion in exchange for a completed evaluation form by one week following the conclusion of their training. If a participant needs another copy of their records, they may contact Kindman & Co. via email or phone at any time, using either training@kindman.co, or our main phone line (213) 793-2990 and either our Care Coordinator, Training Coordinator, or another member of our team will get them another copy of their certificate within 48 business hours. 

  • Grievances shall be submitted by email and acknowledgement of receipt sent within 24 business hours. The Program Administrator will review the grievance and respond back to participant within 48 business hours. 

Ways to Join Us - Invest in your Relational Practice

Choose Your Relational Therapy Adventure: Start Messy, Get Braver, or Do Both!

With multiple levels, flexible fees, payment plans, and CEU offerings, you have plenty of options for diving into a lively, supportive space where growth — and a little messiness — is celebrated.

level one

Build Your Relational Foundation — Learn the theory & practice getting messy in the room.

3 Modules • 9 CE Hours

Therapy isn’t tidy—and neither is learning it!

In this interactive cohort, we’ll lay down relational foundations while experimenting, stumbling, & laughing our way through the real mess of the work. You’ll find support for your own humanness, connection with peers who “get it,” and practical tools you can bring straight into session.

  • Dates:

    • Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025 1-4:30pm

    • Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025 1-4:30pm

    • Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026 1-4:30pm

    *Qualifies for 9 CEU hours, with 1.5 hours of break time. Breaks do not qualify for CEU hours.

  • Level One Payment Options:

    • Paid Before or On 9/15/25:

      • Pay in Full — $549 paid upon registration

      • Payment Plan — two installments of $295

    • Investment After 9/15/25:

      • Pay in Full—$599 paid upon registration

      • Payment Plan— two installments of $320

    Note: The Payment Plan option requires that the first installment is paid upon registration and the second will be charged after completion of the first module.

  • Level One Payment Options:

    • Paid Before or On 9/15/25:

      • Pay in Full — $499 paid upon registration

      • Payment Plan — two installments of $270

    • Investment After 9/15/25:

      • Pay in Full—$549 paid upon registration

      • Payment Plan— two installments of $295

    Note: The Payment Plan option requires that the first installment is paid upon registration and the second will be charged after completion of the first module.

  • There are four reduced fee spots for available for Associate-Level clinicians & graduate students currently enrolled in therapy programs.

    • Investment On or Before 9/15/25: $349 (or two installments of $190)

    • Investment After 9/15/25: $399 (or two installments of $215)

    Note: The Payment Plan option requires that the first installment is paid upon registration and the second will be charged after completion of the first module in Level One. If interested in securing a reduced fee spot, please email training@kindman.co

level two

Beyond the Basics — Start to get braver, messier, & be more skilled in the therapy room.

4 Modules • 12 CE Hours

Once you’ve dipped into the mess, it’s time to lean in deeper.

In Level Two, you’ll take on the tougher stuff—complex cases, sticky dynamics, and those “oh f*@k, what do I do now?” therapy moments. Together we’ll practice getting braver and more skillful while still honoring the humanity (and humor) that makes relational therapy so alive.

  • Dates:

    • Sunday, Feb, 22, 2026 1-4:30pm

    • Sunday, Mar. 22, 2026 1-4:30pm

    • Sunday, Apr. 26, 2026 1-4:30pm

    • Sunday, May 24, 2026 1-5:30pm (4:30-5:30pm closing celebration!)

    *Qualifies for 12 CEU hours, with 3 hours of break/party time. Breaks do not qualify for CEU hours.

  • Level Two Payment Options:

    • Pay in Full—$829 paid upon registration

    • Payment Plan— two installments of $435

    Note: The Payment Plan option requires that the first installment is paid upon registration and the second will be charged after completion of the first module.

  • Level Two Payment Options:

    • Pay in Full—$779 paid upon registration

    • Payment Plan— two installments of $410

    Note: The Payment Plan option requires that the first installment is paid upon registration and the second will be charged after completion of the first module.

  • There are four reduced fee spots for available for Associate-Level clinicians & graduate students currently enrolled in therapy programs.

    • Pay in Full—$549 paid upon registration

    • Payment Plan— two installments of $290

    Note: The Payment Plan option requires that the first installment is paid upon registration and the second will be charged after completion of the first module in Level Two. If interested in securing a reduced fee spot, please email training@kindman.co

bundle: one + two

Start messy, grow braver, & get more skilled — The whole relational therapy journey.

7 Modules • 21 CE Hours

Why stop halfway? The Bundle takes you from solid foundations to deeper dives, giving you the full shebang of messy, brave, relational learning. Across seven modules we’ll build skills, wrestle with the hard stuff, laugh at our humanness, and grow in a committed community. It’s the most supportive (& cost-effective) way to enjoy everything the training offers.

Includes all seven modules (21 CEU hours total!) Save up to $150 when compared to registering separately.

  • Dates:

    Level One

    • Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025 1-4:30pm

    • Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025 1-4:30pm

    • Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026 1-4:30pm

    Level Two

    • Sunday, Feb, 22, 2026 1-4:30pm

    • Sunday, Mar. 22, 2026 1-4:30pm

    • Sunday, Apr. 26, 2026 1-4:30pm

    • Sunday, May 24, 2026 1-5:30pm (4:30-5:30pm closing celebration)

    *Qualifies for 21 CEU hours, with 4.5 hours of break/party time. Breaks do not qualify for CEU hours.

  • Bundle Payment Options (with CEUs):

    • Paid Before or On 11/30/25:

      • Pay in Full — $1,275 paid upon registration

      • Payment Plan — two installments of $670

    Note: The Payment Plan option requires that the first installment is paid upon registration and the second will be charged after completion of the second module in Level One. If this date has passed, you must pay in full to secure the bundle pricing.

  • Bundle Payment Options (no CEUs):

    • Paid Before or On 11/30/25:

      • Pay in Full — $1,195 paid upon registration

      • Payment Plan — two installments of $630

    Note: The Payment Plan option requires that the first installment is paid upon registration and the second will be charged after completion of the second module in Level One. If this date has passed, you must pay in full to secure the bundle.

  • There are four reduced fee spots for available for Associate-Level clinicians & graduate students currently enrolled in therapy programs.

    Bundle Reduced Fee Investment :

    • Paid Before or On 11/30/25:

      • Pay in Full — $825 paid at time of registration

      • Payment Plan — Paid in two installments of $440

    Note: The Payment Plan option requires that the first installment is paid upon registration and the second will be charged after completion of the second module in Level One. If this date has passed, you must pay in full to secure the bundle. If interested in securing a reduced fee spot, please email training@kindman.co

But wait, there’s more!

Want to go deeper with real cases?
If you’re joining Level Two, you also have the chance to add two virtual case consultation groups designed to give you extra support with your trickiest client moments, deepen your relational practice, and strengthen connections with your cohort (and with your trainers!).

These groups will be co-facilitated by Anna Kim, LCSW (Lead Trainer for How to Be a Relational Therapist) and Paul Kindman, LMFT (our Clinical Director & Co-Founder).

📅 Scheduled Dates:

  • March 4th from 3-4pm (between Module 1 & 2)

  • May 6th from 3-4pm (between Module 3 & 4)

This is a rare chance to bring your real-life cases into the room with two seasoned relational clinicians and walk away with tailored feedback & new perspectives. All for just $150 total!

Think of it as Level Two-and-a-Half — where the theory meets the work you do with clients every day. If you’d like to add this to your registration, simply check the box for “Add Case Consultation Groups” when you sign up!