The 14 Topics

Our program explores fourteen relationship topics, with one new topic featured each week. These topics cycle continuously, so you can join any Tuesday night and jump right in. Every session covers two unhealthy extremes in relationships and then presents a healthy ‘Third Option’ for navigating them.

Our Relationship Topics

Here are the fourteen topics we explore, designed to help you build healthier and more fulfilling relationships:

  1. Building a Climate of Respect

    Learn to treat each other with dignity and honor one another’s rights, no matter how you’re feeling in the moment.

  2. Ending the Blame Game

    Discover how taking personal responsibility for your reactions transforms conflicts and fosters healthier interactions. Remember, “My RESPONSE is my RESPONS-ibility.”

  3. Understanding Expectations

    Explore how unmet expectations can often feel like rejection and learn strategies to navigate them constructively.

  4. Redefining the Power Struggle

    Whether it’s finances, intimacy, or parenting, many conflicts boil down to power. Discover how to get on the same team and work together instead of against each other.

  5. Coping with Control Issues

    Examine what truly drives your decisions and actions, and gain insight into who or what is controlling your life.

  6. Listening Beyond the Words

    Go deeper than surface-level conversations. As Augsburger said, “Being heard is so close to being loved that for the average person they are almost indistinguishable.”

  7. Appreciating Personality Differences

    Celebrate the unique traits that make each person who they are. There are no “good” or “bad” personality traits, just differences to understand and appreciate.

  8. Recognizing Childhood and Emotional Baggage

    Unpack the “unfinished business” and “emotional baggage” we all carry from our past, and learn how it impacts your present relationships.

  9. Handling Anger Constructively

    Understand that while angry feelings are natural and okay, angry behavior may not be. Learn how to express anger in healthy, productive ways.

  10. Speaking the Truth in Love

    Take responsibility for your part in every conversation. Learn to communicate honestly and kindly, fostering genuine connection.

  11. Learn How to Fight Fair

    Develop practical skills to navigate disagreements constructively and find common ground.

  12. Breaking the Hurt Spiral

    Discover why feelings, while important, shouldn’t always dictate your behavior. Learn to respond thoughtfully rather than react emotionally.

  13. Forgiveness and Repair

    Understand that forgiveness isn’t a single act, but a transformative process that paves the way for healing and reconciliation.

  14. Rebuilding Trust

    Trust is built over time and on many levels. Learn the dedicated process required to rebuild broken trust, which takes even more time and effort.