The RelateGREAT Parenting Intensive

Practical Tools. Calm Authority. Stronger Families.

A Unique Hosted Four-Week Parenting Experience

Parenting is one of the most important, and most demanding, roles we will ever have. Most parents are trying hard. Many are exhausted. And almost all of us were never formally taught how to lead our families with calm authority and connection. This ends now.

The RelateGREAT Parenting Intensive is intentionally offered as a hosted experience only. This is not a large open-enrollment seminar where strangers gather from all over. Instead, this is a four-week parenting intensive designed to be hosted within your own circle — your friends, neighbors, family members, co-workers, or church community.

Why?

Because parenting works best when it is supported by a shared culture. When your natural community is trained together:

  • You build a shared language.

  • You reinforce similar expectations.

  • You understand one another’s approach.

  • You strengthen mutual support.

Instead of parenting in isolation, families grow together.

This is structured, family therapist-led parenting leadership training — embedded within your own village.

How Hosting Works

  • A host gathers interested parents from their circle

  • Once at least 10 registrations are secured, we schedule the four-week intensive

  • The host receives complimentary registration and a signed copy of The 7 Principles for Building Strong Families

What This Intensive Is

The RelateGREAT Parenting Intensive is a practical, structured, four-week experience designed to help you parent with greater clarity, confidence, and consistency. These Parenting Intensives are hosted in your home, place of worship, or business, so that you learn with your natural support network.

Grounded in the proven principles of the Parenting with Love & Logic® approach, and enriched by nearly 30 years of clinical experience working with couples and families, this intensive gives you tools you can begin using immediately.

Taught and facilitated by Jonathan Sherman, LMFT, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Family Life Educator, Author, and Speaker.

What You Will Learn

You will learn how to:

  • Reduce power struggles without escalating,

  • Set limits once and follow through calmly,

  • Teach responsibility through empathy and natural consequences,

  • Respond instead of react,

  • Align as parents when you disagree, and

  • Strengthen long-term character and resilience.

You will not only understand the principles… you will know how to use them in real life.

Class Agenda

You leave each session with clear tools to implement that week.

  • Four weeks, two hours per class.

  • Eight total instructional hours.

  • Small-group, interactive discussion.

  • Typically we do it from 7:00-9:00 pm, though time is flexible depending on your group.

Here's what we'll cover each week:

Week 1:

Parenting with "Love & Logic"
Basic Mindsets & Discipline Practices
There's a lot of advice out there on how to raise your kids. As family therapists and family life educators, we read and keep up on the latest and best parenting information in the field. Love and Logic® is our personal favorite. It is practical, pretty easy to learn, and really effective!

  • Intro to Love & Logic

  • Discipline Basics

  • Three Parenting Styles

  • Enforceable Statements

  • Participant's Action Plan

  • Q&A

Week 2:

Animal Training for Humans: How to Use Lessons from Dog, Horse, and Dolphin Training in Your Parenting
Animal training for humans? Yep! Believe it or not, the methods animal trainers use are much more humane, respectful, and EFFECTIVE than how we humans interact with (train) each other. So yes, I do want you to treat your children like dogs! ;-)  This fun and highly practical class uses the principles and psychology of behavior modification that I have been using for years in my practice with youth and couples. Learn how horse, dolphin and dog trainers shape behavior and how their methods directly relate to how to better parent your kids and partner with your partner. Great lessons for creating change in humans (ie., "shaping behavior"). 

  • Review Successes/Struggles

  • Training the Parent to Train the Child

  • Effective Discipline Strategies continued

  • Participant's Action Plan

  • Q&A

Week 3:

Relationship Building: The Other Side of Effective Discipline.
Using the 7 Principles for Building Strong Families.
Learn the 7 foundational behaviors of strong families and how to build on the strengths your family already possesses. The 7 Principles are: Appreciation, Affection, Commitment, Creative Coping and Problem Solving, Time Together, and Spiritual Wellness.

  • Review Successes/Struggles

  • The 7 Principles: “AACCCTS”

  • Participant's Action Plan

  • Q&A

Week 4:

Parenting: House Rules that Rule!
Setting and Enforcing Them Peacefully and Effectively
House rules create structure, clarify expectations, and set boundaries. Just like the structure that a physical home provides to both protect against storms outside and create a cozy atmosphere inside, clearly defined and effectively enforced house rules do the same for our family relationships. And the real problem that parents face isn't establishing the house rules; it's enforcing them in a way that actually works.

  • Review Successes/Struggles

  • Participant's Action Plan

  • Q&A

  • Review and Next Steps

Why This Intensive Is Structured Over Four Weeks

Four weekly sessions are long enough to create meaningful change, yet short enough to be realistic for busy families. Compare that to one- to two-night classes, which often lack integration time, or six- to eight-week courses, which often become difficult for parents to sustain regular attendance with busy schedules.

Four weeks provides focused structure, space to practice, and time to return with real-life questions, without overwhelming your schedule.

Each week builds on the last, so you leave not just informed, but equipped.

Investment

$197 per individual
$297 per couple

Couples are strongly encouraged to attend together whenever possible.

Registration includes:

Class Size

10 paid registrations minimum. Enrollment is capped at 15 registrations to preserve meaningful interaction and discussion.

  • For example, if five couples are coming and five individuals are coming, that is10 paid registrations, with 15 people total attending.

  • Or, if there are eight couples and seven individuals, that is 15 paid registrations, with 22 people total attending.

Host a Class in Your Home, School, Church, Company, or Organization.

Instead of trying to find a parenting class to attend or waiting for a class to start somewhere, host a private class yourself and learn together in a comfortable setting with the people you know and love.

What Hosting Is
Many families choose to host a Parenting Intensive within their own circle.

Hosting simply means you:

  1. Gather interested parents from your natural community — friends, neighbors, family members, co-workers, church members,

  2. Provide a location and help coordinate registration.

Once the minimum of 10 registrations is reached, we schedule the four-week intensive.

Location Ideas: 
Home, clubhouse, library, community room, church, school, your company's conference room.

Learn with people you love. 
Host a private class for just your family and friends in your home, or feel free to invite your neighbors or open it up to the larger community.

Strength in numbers. 
It's so great to be able to have the support of people you know who are trained in the same parenting approach you are. At the end of the course you'll have a built-in support system because all your class-mates are also your friends.

When parents from the same natural circle are trained together, something powerful happens.

You build a shared language with your natural support system. You reinforce similar expectations. You understand one another’s approach. You strengthen mutual support.

Instead of one family trying to change alone, multiple families grow together. It truly becomes a “it takes a village” experience: not in theory, but in practice.

Hosted classes often result in:

  • Greater follow-through,

  • Stronger accountability,

  • More open discussion, and

  • Ongoing mutual encouragement.

Thus, parenting improves not only inside the home, but throughout the community.

Host Appreciation
As a thank you for gathering your community, once the minimum registration requirement is met, hosts receive:

  • Complimentary registration to the Parenting Intensive,

  • A signed copy of Jonathan’s The 7 Principles for Building Strong Families book.

This is simply a way of expressing appreciation for strengthening your circle.

“Jonathan, thanks for coming again last night. Your presentations have been by far the best parenting classes we've had since I've been here. Thanks!”
—Matthew Hyde, Education Manager, Early Head Start, Kids On the Move Program

We took the class from Jonathan Sherman, an EXCELLENT teacher, and we have loved parenting with these methods in mind! It'll be hard at times but seriously, you'll love it!
—Amy Ehat Woolery, elementary school teacher, and mother 

"I wanted to thank you for coming out to present to our staff last month. Everyone enjoyed it—so much so that they encouraged our parents to suggest and vote on “Love and Logic” to be the parenting theme for November. We’d love to have you come again to present to our parents." 
—Matthew Hyde, Education Manager, Early Head Start: Kids On The Move

“Jonathan was great! So down to earth and honest, truthful, full of great tips. He was genuine and funny. It was an awesome and encouraging class.”
—Parent

PTA/School: Host at Your School for Your Parents and the Community

Free to Parents Alternative
The PTA/School can hire me directly as a speaker from their own funding, and you can offer the class for free to parents. Not only does this make it possible for parents to attend who otherwise couldn’t afford the class, it also means more parents will participate, which means more families will be strengthened, and more children will be helped. Contact me directly to discuss speaking fees.

Enrollment & Contact

Jonathan Sherman, LMFT
RelateGREAT
seminars@RelateGREAT.net
801-787-8014

FAQ

  • If cost is your primary concern, I would encourage you to attend the class offered through your school district. Many parents have positive experiences in those settings, and I would not talk someone out of that option.

    What I offer, however, is different:

    • This class is a family therapist-led parenting intensive.

    • Most facilitators are trained in the Love and Logic approach and how to teach the curriculum effectively. What distinguishes this intensive is the additional depth of clinical experience and real-world application I bring into the room.

    • As a licensed marriage and family therapist, I have been doing parent training for over 30 years and have worked with families across nearly every level of challenge — from everyday issues like whining, chores, and disrespect, to more complex situations involving ADHD, depression, anxiety, conduct disorders, substance use, and serious family conflict.

    • That experience allows me to integrate real-life stories, practical examples, and “in-the-trenches” strategies that go beyond theory.

    • My approach reflects the additional mindsets, principles, and relational frameworks I integrate alongside Love and Logic® — helping parents not only manage behavior, but strengthen long-term family culture.

    • I am also a professional speaker and educator. My presentations are engaging, practical, research-informed, and designed to keep you involved vs. just listening.

    • And I speak not only as a therapist, but as a parent of four children.

    If price alone determines your decision, there are lower-cost options available. If depth of experience, practical application, and therapist-led guidance matter to you, this intensive may be a better fit. Considering the 8 hours of instruction, materials, and small-group access to an experienced family therapist, many parents find the investment to be well worth it.

  • Whenever possible, yes — I strongly encourage both parenting partners to attend together. The intensive is significantly more effective when both adults are learning the same framework at the same time. It helps couples get on the same page, speak the same language, and respond to challenges with greater unity and consistency.

    Parents often tell me that when both attend, it reduces mixed messages and strengthens their confidence in following through together. Those who have come alone have reported they wished their partner’s had come, as it's difficult to adequately share everything that was learned in class or in the way it was taught. 

    Further, it can also be easier to hear and process parenting ideas from a neutral third-party instructor rather than from one’s partner. That shared learning experience often creates momentum that is difficult to replicate later through summaries or secondhand explanations.

    That said, if your spouse or partner truly cannot attend, please still come! Even when one parent participates, learning new tools and gaining additional support can positively influence the entire family system.

  • Single parents should definitely come. While your job in some ways is harder as you don't have a partner to tag team with, being single is, in some ways easier in this aspect as you don't need to negotiate with another parent in the home to do it this or that way. You are in the driver's seat, and you will find that you will get tons of ideas and strategies here that will help you conserve your energy and strength as you learn to parent even more effectively.

  • Out of consideration for all participants, children are not allowed. As lovely as your children are, they can be unintentionally distracting and are not conducive to the learning atmosphere.

  • Because enrollment is limited and seats are reserved in advance, cancellations must be made at least 30 days prior to the start date to receive a full refund. Cancellations made within 30 days of the start date are not eligible for a refund but will receive a full transferable credit toward a future RelateGREAT class or workshop.

Evaluation Results

I don't filter my evaluation results; I give them here as straight as I get them. I figure if you're making the important decision to select the right speaker for your group, is it better to just get filtered positive only testimonials about a potential speaker, or to know how people respond to the speaker, including both those who loved it and didn't? So if someone thought I stunk, you'll hear it here first. Obviously, I don't try to make everyone happy. Part of my utility is to get people out of their comfort zones. If the majority love an approach I use in a seminar, I'll continue those items that resonate with most. If the majority hate an approach, I'll drop it. If one or two people don't like what the majority loves, then I don't give much heed to those critiques, of course. However, I appreciate all feedback, which is one of the reasons my evaluation results are consistently high: My audiences teach me what they like and what works best for them, and I listen.

My evaluation form contains the following items:

  • 1-10 Rating: "Please rate your overall experience of this presentation."

  • The Good: "What was brilliant, superb, exhilarating, life-altering, or opened the heavens for you? In short, what did you like about the presentation?

  • One Thing: "What's one thing that you plan on using and/or implementing into your life from this presentation?" This tells me out of everything what was the one thing that had the most meaningful impact.

  • The Bad: "What stunk, turned your stomach, gave you a headache, made you dizzy, or gave you gas? In short, what didn't you like that could be improved, and/or what would you like to see covered that wasn't? (Go ahead, I can take it!)."

  • Requested Newsletter: This is actually also an evaluation measure: You'd think that someone who would give a lower rating didn't like the presentation. However, while it may not have been the favorite for that person, they got enough out of it that they would like to receive emails containing articles, tips, strategies, and events on these topics from me.

JS: See Love & Logic Plus page for additional content.