ART International

At its simplest, authentic relating is a groundbreaking relational practice that creates profoundly enriching, enlivening, and nourishing relationships in all social domains of life, from the bedroom to the boardroom, with intimate partners and perfect strangers and everyone in between. Authentic relating is both a key and a map that allows people to unlock and explore the vast and extraordinary landscape of human connection that lies beyond the scope of most typical relationships. It is a practice that heals old wounds, softens and settles reactive nervous systems, and allows people to be deeply seen, heard, and accepted for who they are – even in their most recessed, darkest, scariest innermost selves.

Authentic is being real, honest, revealed, and transparent, allowing others to see, hear, and know our inner world. Relating is recognizing that there is someone else on the other side of the relational field, having a unique experience as rich and complex as our own, and that space and invitation must be given to weave their experience with our own to create a dynamic dance of both authentic human expression and reception. Most people have been conditioned to prioritize their own experience over others, or others’ experience over their own – authentic relating harmonizes this imbalance to create a center of gravity that lives in between each person, where the most aliveness and intimacy can be felt and shared.

Authentic relating is a practice that steers people toward a sense of wholeness, a defragmentation of the different parts of the self into a cohesive whole, where all physical sensations, emotions, and mental thoughts are integrated into a unified expression of consciousness. Great suffering and energetic drain arise from the constant efforts we often make to put forward some aspects of ourselves and keep hidden other aspects of ourselves; authentic relating provides the skills and tools to bring all aspects of multifaceted humanity together, and the result has often been reported to be as healing and transformational as even the best therapy can provide.

We have found that authentic relating provides a space for people to feel a sense of belonging – in themselves and in the world. All parts, all dimensions, all emotions, all aspects that make us human are welcome in this practice. Where there are divides, bridges can be built, worlds can be explored, and treasures can be discovered.