Foundations of Open Relating

for wild and tender hearts

An 8-week communal journey into the fundamentals of creating the relationships that truly work for you.

Note: this was formerly called the Relational Nonmonogamy Circle

REGISTRATION FOR JULY COHORT IS OPEN

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We begin July 19th

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REGISTRATION FOR JULY COHORT IS OPEN ⋆ We begin July 19th ⋆

If you’re here, you've likely already taken the first steps towards exploring unconventional ways of relating. You want something different than the status quo - maybe you want to change or break patterns of the past, and you’re willing to bravely challenge everything you’ve ever been told in order to find or create the loving relationships that fit who you truly are. But maybe you still have a lot of questions. Maybe you know that the answers aren’t found by just adopting a different set of rules, but are instead somewhere within yourself. But how can you find what’s right for you and trust yourself when everything you were ever taught feels wrong?

Hello fellow wild and

tender heart,

Here’s what I know.

Connection is your birthright. You are designed to have relationships that are nourishing, authentic, loving, joyful, and meaningful – relationships that celebrate your unique qualities and empower you to grow and thrive.

I actually can’t tell you how you’ll get there. What I can do is offer you a container to help you discover your path, show you tools to help you walk down it, and hold a supportive community of folks who are doing the same right alongside you.

This and more is what you will receive in Fundamentals of Open Relating for Wild and Tender Hearts. It’s an 8-week online group coaching program led by me, Libby Sinback, the host and creator of the Making Polyamory Work podcast. This is an experiential space where together we will help you find your path. To guide us, I will also introduce you to the four pillars of Integrated Open Relating (formerly called Relational Nonmonogamy): empowerment, security, pleasure, and meaning.

In this immersive program, you'll be invited to:

1. Dig into your values and your “why” for relationships. This is your backbone and your compass that you will come back to again and again to support you and guide your decisions.

2. Learn the most important relationship skill that, without it, makes all other skills pointless.

3. Practice relational empowerment, and “power with” relating.

4. Discover what it means for you to have healthy boundaries between you and others, and between you and you. 

5. Understand what creates a secure foundation for yourself and how to build security through the process of rupture and repair with your partners

6. Cultivate pleasure and joy in yourself and your connections with others

7. Create rituals that infuse your relationships with meaning and purpose

“I was more excited to meet [Libby] and felt that [she was] exactly the voice I needed! I couldn't have asked the universe for a better coach! [She is] real and raw. [She is] not afraid to be honest and tell someone what you are experiencing with them. [She] tells individuals what they need to hear but in a gentle and caring way. I liked how [Libby] was attentive in our conversations and always invested in our moment together, showing us love and compassion.”

— Chad S.

The Foundations of Open Relating for Wild and Tender hearts 8-week program includes:

- Weekly live teaching on the pillars of integrated open relating

- Weekly group coaching sessions led by Libby

- An community of like-minded individuals who share your passion for relational living and unconventional relationships

- An private online space for further group discussions and personal reflections

- Bonus resources, including video lessons, worksheets, and guided meditations, to support your growth and development

Here are some outcomes that some of the past participants have had:

  • "I didn't know what to expect when I first came in. I didn't know! I was kind of nervous. I've never done anything like this before. I’ve taught myself where my boundaries are, what my whoosh looks like, and that has given me this sense of control that I just never had over what was happening internally. I now have the ability to say “no” lovingly. Also to hear everyone else's stories gives me a completely different perspective on what else is out there. It's all just priceless."

    Marcus | Participant

  • "Where I am in my journey is so much further ahead than I was when I started. I was really stuck. I understand now at least what poly means to me through [the group] and through Libby and through all of the learnings I’ve had. I think that there aren't rules so much as there are these healthy boundaries and respect and love, and we can create or take part in whatever level of it works and is right. And resonates. I really needed the boundary work and I will have to continue to work on that. But it’s just amazing to feel so free and to be meeting people that are also in this poly life. It's amazing. I am so far ahead of where I was. I'm pretty shocked how far I am. I know my journey goes until I'm gone, but I'm super happy where I am."

    Rebecca | participant

  • "Where I used to want to just self-defeat or loathe or spiral, I feel like I have so, so many more coping skills. I have supportive people. I have a community. I have every reason to bring myself back and Libby, your resources have been awesome. They've been a tremendous guide. Being able to get out of my head and into my body has been the most amazing aspect of this entire thing, as well as everyone else sharing what they have been experiencing. It's just been really awesome."

    Tyra | Participant

  • "This has been amazing. I think having started our journey not super long ago, we were searching for this community for so long, and it’s been transformative for me and our relationship. Every week I take so much. I end up with so many sticky notes at the end of the session of quotes, things someone said, and I end up doing homework all week and thinking about it and reflecting about it. And it's been such an integral part of my week every, every week. So definitely thankful for it."

    Tom | Participant

  • "For me, I think this course has absolutely benefited my relationship, but maybe even more than that, it's really transformed the way that I thought about family relationships. Because I've applied a lot of the self-compassion techniques and boundary techniques to those relationships in a way that I never felt like I could before. And just also knowing that there's a group of people that will listen and work to communicate the way that this group has worked and communicated with each other is incredible. It's an uplifting humanity thing for me, for sure."

    Shay | Participant

  • "This course has been really meaningful for me on a lot of levels. Definitely personally. It's helping me identify the ways in which I want to show up with myself and in my relationships, especially around boundaries. Having boundaries is a novel concept and definitely with my relationships with my partners and with my community. [I was] able to talk to other people who aren't emotionally invested in my life, who are able to talk about their own experiences. And it helps me feel more grounded in where I am and where I want to be and how it's not going to be perfect. So I don't have to think about that anymore. I can let it go."

    Bailey | Participant

This is a unique opportunity to journey down a rarified path

If this work calls to you, I’m certain that you belong here with us. If you have read this far, this is your direct invitation to join me in Foundations of Open Relating for Wild and Tender Hearts. 

Foundations of Open Relating (for Wild and Tender Hearts) will be offered in 3 cohorts this year. Each cohort will have two weekly meeting times. 

Once a week there will be a 60-minute workshop call. I’ll present the teachings of a particular pillar, and make it tangible for applying to your life and relationships.  You’ll have homework/practices each week to support your learning. 

Once a week there will also be a 90-minute group coaching call. This is where you come for help, with questions, and to learn (and transform) in community. This is the part most participants find invaluable and irreplaceable. The group calls are a crucial part of the deep work and shifts that can happen in this program.

To ensure everyone gets the adequate amount of support and attention, all cohorts have limited enrollment.

July Cohort

We will begin on July 19, 2023

The live, 60-minute recorded teaching calls will be on Mondays from 12:00PM-1:00PM EDT. The dates for those calls are: July 24, July 31, August 7, August 14, August 21, August 28, and September 4.

The 90-minute group coaching calls will be on Wednesdays from 7:30PM to 9:00PM EDT

The dates for those calls are July 19, July 26, August 2, August 9, August 16, August 23, August 30, and September 6.

[registration open now]

August Cohort

We will begin on August 13, 2023

The live, 60-minute recorded teaching calls will be on Fridays from 12:00PM-1:00PM EDT. August 18, August 25, September 1, September 15, September 22, September 29, October 6

The 90-minute group coaching calls will be on Sundays from 1:30PM to 3:00PM EDT

August 13, August 20, August 27, September 3, September 17, September 24, October 1, 8

[not open yet]

September Cohort

We will begin on September 14, 2023

The live, 60-minute recorded teaching calls will be on Tuesdays
from 11:00AM-12:00PM EDT.
September 19, 26, October 2, 17, 24, 31, November 7

The 90-minute group coaching calls will be on Thursdays
from 12:00PM-1:30 PM EDT

September 14,  21, 28, October 4, 19, 26, November 2, 9

[not open yet]

All workshops and sessions will be recorded for replay.

Tuition is $885 and can be made in payments with no penalty

Tuition is non-refundable

You retain indefinite access to course materials and recordings provided all boundaries are honored, i.e. confidentiality, intellectual property, etc… per terms of service.

1 payment of $885

2 payments of $442.50

3 payments of $295

Testimonials

When I came here 16 weeks ago, I did not kind of fully understand or appreciate the vulnerability that we all brought to this group. And so I just wanted to really share that that has been really  incredible for me to be part of that and to give me courage to be vulnerable too. I just wanna put that out there to all of you and thank you with the appreciation for your engagement and vulnerability in sharing your lives and relationships and so forth. Thinking about the past me, what this has done has given me permission really to allow myself to follow my heart and follow the journey that I'm on. 

And when I came here, I didn't really know what that was, I didn't really feel like I could allow myself to do that. I knew that I was on a path, I knew that this felt right, but I just didn't know how to bring it to be. Now there's more clarity, but there's also a lot more out there too… The more you know, the less you know. I have confidence that I can navigate that future, with clarity and tools. 

- Eric

The vision that I had of myself from five months ago was inward and defensive and submissive, trying to make my way, but by pleasing what other people wanted. And so this group has given me an opportunity to see other ways of being. It’s given me language to ask for what I want and in that, feeling more secure and stable because it's now something that I want, not just something that I'm giving someone else that they want. And being able to ask for things and being okay with a no, if it's a no, and not thinking that's the end of the world and that everything is going to come crashing down around my ears. It so more stable, less fragile, more confident.

- Lindsey

Hi, I’m Libby.

I always knew I wanted to do relationships differently. In part, because I was just different - what seemed to work for other people just didn’t work for me. But also, when I looked around, I mostly saw people in relationships that were maybe stable, but didn’t seem all that happy. I decided I wanted not just happy, but extraordinary. 

Today I’m happy to say that I have the love in my life that I always wanted, and it is more beautiful, nourishing, and wildly loving than anything I could have imagined.

If that’s something you are looking for, I want it for you too.

Relating outside the box isn’t easy - I figured out so much through a lot of trial-and-error, putting a lot of pieces of different ideas together for myself, working collaboratively with my partners, synthesizing and adding to all the tools and information I had absorbed on my journey. While everyone really has to find their own way, my hope for you is that I can give to you some of what I wished I'd had. I’ve walked alongside hundreds of folks along their open relating journeys, helping them build self-trust and relational wisdom, and that is exactly what we will do together.

What is Integrated Open Relating? 

I used to call this Relational Nonmonogamy, but relational felt like too vague a term, and nonmonogamy felt like defining relating by what we’re not doing rather than what we are doing. Integrated Open Relating is rooted in the belief that loving relationships are not just ethical and consensual, but also integrated with our values, strengthened by mutual empowerment, build security, increase wellbeing, and are a source of pleasure and meaning in our lives. Integrated Open Relating honors that we are not just a bunch of individual actors, but that we are also the caretakers of our relational ecosystem, and thus how we move through the world and treat one another matters. Integrated Open Relating values power with instead of power over, meaning, nobody is more important than anyone else, no one is trying to control anyone else, and power isn't zero sum, but rather sharing power gives everyone more power. Integrated Open Relating embraces discomfort and vulnerability and messiness, because inside those things is intimacy and connection and deep understanding.

How long is this program?

The program lasts 8 weeks. If you join, please be ready to commit to participating for the full 8 weeks.

Is this for individuals or couples? 

Yes! Individuals or couples (or triads or quads or more!) may participate. However, each individual must register separately. (Why? Because I don't want to privilege coupled people over individuals! Google "couple privilege" for more information about that.)

It is HIGHLY encouraged that you invite people from your relational ecosystem to join you - partners, sure but also friends, family members, queerplatonic life partners... you name it. And if you bring in someone you know, you will have the opportunity to work with Libby directly on your relationship TOGETHER during group coaching.

If it’s a group program, will I get personal attention?

Yes! Participants will be able to receive coaching by Libby during the group coaching calls. Not every participant will be receive coaching on every call, but everyone who wants one will get a turn. Also, you’d be surprised how often someone else is working on the same issue that you are! If there’s a desire for more individual attention, you will have the option to book up to 2 private sessions with Libby at a discounted rate.

How often are calls?

Twice a week. Each week, there will be a teaching call and a group coaching call. The teaching call will be on one aspect of one of the pillars. The coaching call will be a chance to ask questions, integrate the learning, and receive individualized coaching on whatever issue is alive for you that week. The teaching call will be 60 minutes and the group coaching call will be 90 minutes.

What if I can't make the calls?

If you have to miss a call, each call will be recorded and available for download - you can keep them forever. While I encourage you to join all calls live, this is not a requirement. You can still participate via the online group, especially around the teaching material. However, even though the calls are recorded, if you cannot make any of the calls live, I encourage you to wait and join the group at a more convenient time for you, as being “live” with your cohort is one of the benefits of the program.

How many hours each week do I need to have available?

There is a total of 2 ½ hours of calls each week.  In addition, be prepared to spend maybe 1-2 hours a week for practice, reflection, etc.

Are there refunds?

There are no refunds. 

Will there be replays?

You will be able to download all recordings of calls and teachings for your personal use indefinitely.