Radical Heart Therapy & Mediation

Home
United States
Lawrence, KS
Radical Heart Therapy & Mediation

Relationships matter! Let's show up with radical authenticity, vulnerability, and compassion.

For all those who strive for a more radical kind of love, respect, authenticity, and commitment within your relationships — couples, polycules, chosen family, community, and the many more — I see you! I invite you to step more fully into your radical heart and reclaim the essential skills for the conscious, compassionate, and cooperative relationships you long for. In session, I work to provide and help you learn how to create a safe container for conscious dialogue that fosters connection, understanding, repair, respect, intimacy, and creativity. Get in touch with me to learn more about my services:

— Relationship Therapy for committed folks to explore and develop more conscious relating and communication. (Your relationship with yourself counts!)

— Transformative Mediation for resolving acute conflicts in a way that preserves or repairs the relationship.

— Group Facilitation for communities that want to shift into a more cooperative and compassionate culture.

— Workshops & Practice Circles for guided learning with a group of others sharing common interests. My practice is sensitive and responsive to trauma on both the personal and collective level. I welcome, respect, and celebrate LGBTQ+ identities and those of the global majority (also referred to as BIPOC.)

08/12/2021

Where have I been?

I’ve been witnessing the story I had been telling myself of my life to come shift right before my eyes.

I’ve been working, resisting, and pleading to keep what was so nourishing intact around me.

I’ve been applying and stretching every skill I have to show up in relationship as I want to be shown up for.

I’ve been leaning into the warm embrace of the family and community who deeply love me.

I’ve been grieving the ways I haven’t been held by someone I thought would hold me the most.

I’ve been in awe in receiving the generous care of people who barely know me at all.

I’ve been surrendering to the forces of change and growth that are out of my hands.

I’ve been tap-rooting into the infinite source of compassion and peace always available right below the cracks.

I’ve been trusting that, no matter what, I’m going to be okay.

+++++

I look forward to sharing what I’m learning once I have more emotional energy to give here on social media.

With love,
💕Teri

07/21/2021

I didn’t have community as a child. I lived isolated in the suburbs of Los Angeles, where everyone parked in their garages and kept to themselves.

I remember taking lots of walks around my neighborhood as a kid trying to find a friend. It took an enormous amount of courage to knock on the door of a house I suspected had someone my age to play within.

All my memories of those attempted friendships are of them not working out — they weren’t available, their parents didn’t want them to play, we didn’t jive, and/or some insignificant conflict trashed it.

While I still have grief and limiting beliefs to work through and transform from my own experience, it is so uplifting for me to see my daughter have the opposite experience growing up in our cohousing community.

She has easy, supportive, and fun relationships with people above, below, and of her age right outside her door. She runs outside multiple times a day saying, “I’m gonna help Sandy with her plants!” (pictured here) or, “I’m going to Rich’s!” or, “I see Makund outside!” or, “Hennie’s home!"

She’s learning that people who care about her are available for her. She’s developing a secure attachment to not just her parents, but to her community and her self.

Secure attachment to community is a medicine and a necessity I believe many in our society need. I know I did and do.

💕 What was your experience of neighborhood community as a child?

07/08/2021

Brave spaces are where we can encourage and lean into mutual learning and accountability to our values.

It’s where we heal our wounds from toxic white patriarchal colonialism and invest in patterns of relating that are mutually beneficial and liberating.

But it’s not a static box we create and smush ourselves into. Rather, it's a dynamic container we co-create based upon our individual and collective growth zones.

You know, that space between comfort and panic, where you can be challenged and stretched without getting overwhelmed and fighting, fleeing, or freezing.

The size of each individual's growth zone, and thus how much challenge can be tolerated, is influenced by personal and collective trauma as well as the interpersonal dynamics in the room.

We can expand our growth zones, individually and collectively, by strengthening our inner sense of safety and investing in transformative relationship dynamics for radical dialogue, conflict, and repair.

Please share if you find this helpful! 🙏🏻

🌿 Watch a free 25-min video where I go into this in more detail in Radical Heart Space, an off-social-media community platform for folks wanting to show up for intentional community and relationships with radical authenticity, cooperation, and compassion. Link in bio.

07/03/2021

Whoa... read that again! I read it as:⁠⁠
⁠⁠
How long and well I'm able to thrive in community is dependent upon how aligned and whole my inner life is.⁠⁠
⁠⁠
The more aware, compassionate, and congruent I am with myself, the better able I am to move through relationships and community with authenticity, and the more satisfying and sustainable my involvement is.⁠⁠
⁠⁠
Do you feel the truth of this?⁠⁠
⁠⁠
💗 Membership is open July 1-6 for my Radical Authenticity Conscious Communication Practice Circle. Get support in learning and applying practices for self-awareness, compassion, and congruence. Link in bio. 🌿

07/01/2021

You know that community member that never follows through with commitments, or that coworker who is always defensive when given feedback, or that uncle who actively supports the war on the poor, or that friend who keeps pushing your boundaries... ?⁠⁠
⁠⁠
They are such flaky, insecure, classist, insensitive as****es, right?!⁠⁠
⁠⁠
😜⁠⁠
⁠⁠
It's too easy for us to create enemy images (term coined by Marshall Rosenberg) of each other. A part of our brain is wired for it — us vs. them, good vs. bad, right vs. wrong.⁠⁠
⁠⁠
We form these clusters of judgments and assumptions of others we see as wrong, bad, and deserving of distain, scorn, and punishment.⁠⁠
⁠⁠
And there's an asset and a cost to this...⁠⁠
⁠⁠
⭐️ Asset: These enemy images hold precious information about our feelings, needs, and desires. They tell us there is something not working for us here, and can help us discover what we are longing for (and then actively seek it!)⁠⁠
⁠⁠
🪝 Cost: Holding on to the enemy images (rather than sifting through them for the gold) causes us (and potentially the other and the relationship) great suffering in the form of bitterness, resentment, even hatred. ⁠⁠
⁠⁠
Believing in our enemy images cuts ourselves off from the care and compassion we are capable of holding for one another's humanity, which we need in order to effectively and skillfully get our needs met in relationship and community.⁠⁠
⁠⁠
Ready to drop the enemy mentality and work to hold compassion AND accountability for ourselves and each other?⁠⁠
⁠⁠
💕 I share a simple and powerful process for dissolving enemy images in a 30-min video available in Radical Heart Space, a free off-social media online community platform for folks working to bring conscious, radical relating into their intentional relationships and communities. Link in bio to join and get access!⁠⁠
⁠⁠
💗 Membership is open July 1-6 for my Radical Authenticity Conscious Communication Practice Circle. Get support in applying these practices and developing these skills. Link in bio to learn more and apply.

06/19/2021

I failed at this recently and it was almost devastating. 😬⁠⁠
⁠⁠
Months ago, I was seeking consent from one of my most beloved humans, so I gave them the information I thought was necessary and answered their questions as best I could.⁠⁠
⁠⁠
But I didn't give them the FULL truth. ⁠⁠
⁠⁠
There were details I thought were too hurtful to share, not because I was harming them, but because it would touch some insecurities and wounds within them that I thought would be unproductive.⁠⁠
⁠⁠
I was trying to balance sincerity (my genuine thoughts, feelings, needs, motivations, etc.) with tact (sensitivity to what challenging information someone is ready or wanting to know.) ⁠⁠
⁠⁠
It's a tension and an imperfect process. I can't fully know what they're ready for, and my own readiness and fears in sharing influence that perception.⁠⁠
⁠⁠
I was scared to be harsh, which happens when I'm not using enough tact to counter balance my sincerity. ⁠⁠
⁠⁠
I didn't want to cause unnecessary suffering for them and myself, so I toned down my sincerity by making my language more vague and palatable. ⁠⁠
⁠⁠
But tact without the right counter balance of sincerity slides into deception!⁠⁠
⁠⁠
I didn't realize how much miscommunication and misinterpretation was happening. I didn't realize how different our understandings were.⁠⁠
⁠⁠
Until it became clear some months later. And it was *almost* devastating. ::phew:: ⁠⁠
⁠⁠
❓ Can you relate to this tension and struggle in finding the right balance of honesty?⁠⁠
⁠⁠
💕 Check out the 30-min replay where I go into detail about this in Radical Heart Space, a free off-social media platform for folks working to show up for more intentional community & relationships. Link in bio.⁠⁠
⁠⁠
💞 Membership to Radical Authenticity: Conscious Communication Practice Circle opens June 28th. Learn, practice, and integrate how to listen and speak truth with heart. Link in bio.

05/28/2021

Why is there so much emphasis on self-care right now in pop mental health?⁠⁠
⁠⁠
Because we're lacking community-care.⁠⁠
⁠⁠
Of course making sure I'm drinking enough water, eating enough food, getting enough rest, and enjoying enough play is important.⁠⁠
⁠⁠
Of course taking care of myself by asserting my needs and making boundaries, even if it's an inconvenience to another, is important.⁠⁠
⁠⁠
But COMMUNITY-CARE, where we support one another, is just as, if not more important.⁠⁠
⁠⁠
In the individualism of white supremacy culture, it's hard to even know what community-care is. ⁠⁠
⁠⁠
Depending upon the circumstance, it could look like...⁠⁠
⁠⁠
🍽️ Dropping off food for a relative who is sick/had a baby/is overwhelmed/broke a bone/etc.⁠⁠
⁠⁠
🏠 Providing a safe place for a friend to go when they aren't feeling safe at their home.⁠⁠
⁠⁠
📭 Helping a neighbor move on short notice.⁠⁠
⁠⁠
📢 Promoting a friend's new book/art/work.⁠⁠
⁠⁠
✊🏼 Showing up for a protest/rally/town hall for a marginalized cause/community.⁠⁠
⁠⁠
And when it's balanced with self-care, it's sustainable and consistent.⁠⁠
⁠⁠valerio summarizes this perfectly:⁠⁠
⁠⁠
"Ultimately, community care is a commitment to contributing in a way that leverages one’s relative privilege while balancing one’s needs. It’s trusting that your community will have you when you need support, and knowing you can be trusted to provide the same."⁠⁠
⁠⁠
💕 What's a way you've received community-care recently? Please share in the comments -- I and hopefully others will be inspired! ⤵️⁠⁠
⁠⁠
+++++

💞 Membership to Radical Authenticity, a conscious communication practice and support circle, is open now through Wednesday the 2nd. Spots are limited, link in bio.⁠⁠
⁠⁠
💖 Watch/listen to the 30-min replay on this topic of reclaiming community-care in Radical Heart Space, a free off-social media online community for folks working to show up for more intentional community & relationships. Link in bio.

03/11/2021

Sometimes we make a request but we feel so strongly that we aren't up for hearing "no" or negotiating. ⁠⁠
⁠⁠
What we really meant to do was set a boundary. Saying this is where I draw the line.⁠⁠
⁠⁠
And sometimes we set a boundary but are actually more willing to negotiate under the right circumstances than we realize. ⁠⁠
⁠⁠
When discerning which is true, consider:⁠⁠
⁠⁠
— How strongly do I prefer this strategy?⁠⁠
— Are there other strategies that I'm willing to consider?⁠⁠
— What are the consequences of negotiating or not negotiating this strategy? Am I up for that?⁠⁠
⁠⁠
The more awareness and choice you bring to the interaction, the more authentic and intentional your investment in cooperation becomes.⁠⁠
⁠⁠
How do you know when something is up for negotiation or not? I'd love to hear in the comments!⁠⁠
⁠⁠
💕 This was the topic of discussion in Radical Heart Space this week (replay posted). Wanna join others working to bring a radical level of responsibility and attunement to relationships and communities? We'd love to connect with you! Send me a DM or find the link in my bio.

03/09/2021

Join me and the Foundation for Intentional Community for another NVC workshop! Please share! 🙏🏻💕⁠⁠
⁠⁠
Nonviolent Communication (NVC) is a popular communication framework that is mainly known for its emphasis on feelings and needs language and a simple formula for communicating clearly.⁠⁠
⁠⁠
It’s a powerful model that helps us hold our judgments lightly, get curious about and honor your needs and mine, and stay committed to both personal responsibility and collective care.⁠⁠
⁠⁠
But it also has provoked some red flags and hesitation. Like most tools, it can be misused and unintentionally, or intentionally, cause harm.⁠⁠
⁠⁠
Together we will unpack how to use NVC more effectively.⁠⁠
⁠⁠
Join this informative and interactive workshop to learn:⁠⁠
⁠⁠
— The basic NVC formulas, including the four communication components and connection choices that support speaking and listening for truth with heart⁠⁠
⁠⁠
— What the violence is that NVC works to avoid and undo⁠⁠
⁠⁠
— The difference between power as a possession and power as a process, and how NVC can help us shift from habitual competition to intentional cooperation⁠⁠
⁠⁠
— The limits of NVC and its potential to be misused, and how to watch out for and mitigate the pitfalls⁠⁠
⁠⁠
Registration is sliding scale $10-$45. Includes the recording, slides, and handouts. ⁠⁠
⁠⁠
Find the link in my bio! Please share! 🙏🏻💕

03/06/2021

Everyone makes assumptions. It's automatic, saves energy, is easy, reinforces our belief systems, matches our emotional state and expectations...⁠⁠
⁠⁠..and can lead us down roads of thought and action that are counterproductive or harmful to ourselves and others.⁠⁠
⁠⁠
All misattunments and misunderstandings are from unchecked assumptions.⁠⁠
⁠⁠
All stereotypes and prejudices are from by unchecked assumptions.⁠⁠
⁠⁠
Checking our assumptions helps us build connection, understanding, compassion, and cooperation.⁠⁠
⁠⁠
We divest from believing only our limited perspective is true and invest in a more expansive shared reality with others.⁠⁠
⁠⁠
This is CRUCIAL for building intentional relationships, communities, and cultures that resist, unlearn, and heal from inner and outer systems of oppression and dominance, all rooted in beliefs of superiority/inferiority and reinforced by unchecked assumptions.⁠⁠
⁠⁠
Please save and share if you find these example questions helpful! 🙏🏻⁠⁠
⁠⁠
💕 P.S. This week I went live in Radical Heart Space to give a simple step by step how-to for checking assumptions. Check out this and many other bite-sized replays of our weekly live discussions! DM me or find the link in bio.

Address

512 E. 9th Street
Lawrence, KS
66044

Website

https://www.radical-hearts.com/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Radical Heart Therapy & Mediation posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Practice

Send a message to Radical Heart Therapy & Mediation:

Shortcuts

Want your practice to be the top-listed Clinic in Lawrence?

Create a More Beautiful World, Inside & Out

Hey there, my name is Teri Lynn Grunthaner. I work with big-hearted people like yourself who long to create a more beautiful world—where respect, compassion, and generosity hold the center our lives revolve around.

Grounded in our deep interconnection with one another, we start the transformation with our most inner circles—self, partner, family, community—and ever expand to include all our relations.

It takes a radical level of presence, empathy, generosity, and vulnerability to liberate our hearts from the illusion of separation that creates our collective loneliness, greed, shame, and violence.

Thankfully, our interconnection is innate and the skills for cooperation can be practiced!