Claim OwnershipRelational Skills in Real Life
Subscribed: 39Played: 1,128
Subscribe
© 2026 THRIVEtoday
Description
Chris Coursey brings you the THRIVEtoday podcast, full of real-life stories of encouragement and transformation from people using relational skills every day!
What are "Relational skills"? They are brain-based skills that give us the ability and capacity to build meaningful connections with the people in our lives. With practice, relational skills are what we use to maintain our relationships during strain, conflicts and difficulties so we endure hardship well as we stay connected.
www.thrivetoday.org
139 Episodes
Reverse
This is the first episode in a series on using relational skills to bring reconciliation to painful situations within the church. When people are wounded by those who represent God, that pain often becomes associated with God Himself. In this series, we will explore how such wounds can be healed, how to sit with people in their pain, and how to help them reconnect with Immanuel in a way that restores trust and relationship. We’ll also look at practical ways to heal our own hearts so we can ca...
Nikki and Clinton tell the story of what led to difficulty in their marriage and how, as they gained relational skills and pursued healing together, they learned to keep their relationship bigger than the problem. 🔗 Nikki and Clinton's book: "Glory from the Ashes" https://a.co/d/4ouzrPj 🔗 Explore our theory course based on Conflict: https://thrivetoday.thinkific.com/courses/conflict 🔗 The 4 Habits of Joy-Filled Marriages book: https://thrivetoday.org/4-habits-marriage/ 🔗 Our Marriage Course t...
No matter where you are in life, growing in relational skills and emotional maturity can be transformational. In this episode, Lori shares her personal journey of developing maturity in the middle of real life and ministry. Along the way, she came to a powerful realization: you can't teach what you don't know. Tune in to hear Lori’s story of growth and how that transformed her life and her marriage. Starting at the beginning? Check out our marriage book or Foundational 5 Intro Course: 🔗 The 4...
The relationships closest to our hearts, like marriage, often carry both the greatest meaning and the greatest challenges. In Part 1 of our marriage podcast series, Chris reflects on why marriage can be so hard and offers insights on how we can grow, practice healthier connection, and protect what matters most. 🔗 Learn more about relational skills: https://thrivetoday.org/relationalskills/ 🔗 Explore our theory course based on Conflict: https://thrivetoday.thinkific.com/courses/conflict 🔗 The ...
Our friend and Thrive teammate, Kami, shares how practicing relational skills has strengthened her ability to use them in everyday life. She’s also discovered that the more she practices these skills in her interactions with others, the more she sees our abundantly loving God reflected through her life. 🔗 Explore our library of online courses that range from our Intro course, topical theory courses to give you education on how relational skills interact with certain areas, and Habit Builder p...
Why is it important to practice relational skills? At THRIVEtoday, we value helping people build healthy habits by embedding these skills into our character so we can reflect Jesus in the best version of ourselves. Chris and Kristy compare practicing relational skills to exercising our bodies—simply reading about them doesn’t make them show up in real life. Through daily practice, we can form new pathways in our brains so godly character becomes our natural, first response in any situation. 🔗...
At THRIVEtoday, we’ve been focusing on experiencing our profoundly loving God. As we enter the new year, we’re invited to reflect that love in our relationships. Practicing relational skills helps us grow in our capacity to reflect God’s presence and character, strengthening relationships, building community, and bringing forgiveness and hope—even in difficult moments and with the people we care about the most. 🔗 Learn more about the free PDF Facilitator Tips that accompany 4 of our books: ht...
As this year comes to a close, we turn our hearts toward the year ahead. We reflect on what God has taught us over the past year and look forward with anticipation to what is to come. When we seek God’s perspective, He helps us cultivate appreciation and discover the hidden treasure of peace He places in every moment. Chris shares practical ways to practice peace, appreciation, joy, and Godsight as we reflect on the past and step into the future with God's peace. 🔗 Learn more abou...
1Immanuel means ‘God with us,’ and what a gift that is during the busy, stressful, or grief-filled moments of the holidays. The relational skill of Godsight—Seeing What God Sees—helps us view life through God’s loving perspective and remember we are never alone. Someone is glad to be with us. Someone delights in us. This is the Jesus we celebrate. Thrive trainer Dana shares how he uses Godsight to offer his family the gift of God’s tender, joyful view of them. 🔗 Learn more about the skill of "...
The holidays can bring joy for some and stress or grief for others. Relational skills—especially the skill of quieting—help us stay grounded whether we’re navigating big joy or big emotions. Our friend Shannon shares how she planned intentional quiet moments into her family’s holiday gathering to help everyone connect more deeply. Stay tuned to the very end as Chris coaches us how to implement this intentionality into our own holiday plans. 🔗 Get your Holiday Peace Toolkit PDF. The holidays c...
During the holidays, we talk about joy, look forward to joy, and surround ourselves with decorations that highlight joy. But how can we use the brain skill of "sharing joy" (aka Skill 1) to genuinely increase joy in our own lives and in the lives of those we love? This episode dives into the “share joy” brain skill and provides practical ideas for putting it into action during the holiday season. Hear from Rebecca and Chris. 🔗 This time of year is supposed to be all about being with loved one...
In this episode, Lynn shares how she uses the skill of appreciation to experience the presence and love of God. Chris also explains how relational skills can help you overcome barriers to sensing God’s peace, and he offers guidance on discovering which skills will help you most—and how to practice them in your daily life. 🔗 Learn more about Skill 13 - Godsight: https://www.thrivetoday.org/skill13 🔗 Explore our topical online course - Defeating Your Barriers to Jesus: https://thrivetoday.think...
Appreciation is all about remembering the good things, feeling the good things, and sharing the good things! Chris shares some fun activities he did with a group of friends in person to help them build joy and remember meaningful moments in their lives. These exercises can help us live with greater joy and peace, strengthening our ability to handle tough situations and conversations—even on hard days or when we’re not feeling our best. Reliving appreciation allows us to revisit joyful memorie...
We all want to live as the best versions of ourselves—the way God designed us to be—even when we’re experiencing big emotions. But that takes practice! Our friend Rivers shares stories about times when he felt overwhelmed and stressed, how he recognized what was happening, and what he did to respond with peace and strength instead of reacting from that stress. Hearing these real-life stories—ones we can all relate to—gives us hope and reminds us that living in shalom is truly possible. 🔗 See ...
One of the skills that is learned in the child level of maturity is to discover what satisfies us, so that we can become adults who know how to fulfill our needs and desires in a life-giving way and live a life of contentment. Do we, as adults, have this skill? How can we help our children learn? This episode shares stories about recognizing true satisfaction and how to step through that process, so that we can care for ourselves and others. 🔗 See the book series from Dr Jim Wilder: Growing a...
Chris and Jen share an update on their year, offering a perspective shaped by appreciation. They walk us through how they’ve learned to recognize gratitude, even in situations that initially feel discouraging. They also offer a glimpse into how they continually practice the skill of appreciation, helping them remain rooted in hope and connected to Immanuel. 🔗 Visit https://thrivetoday.org/skill4 to explore our resources on the skill of "Create Appreciation". 🔗 Join our upcoming online event "...
In this episode, Kristy shares her personal journey through the complex terrain of shame—how it shaped her and how she found healing. Then, Chris dives into various signs that we struggle with this difficult emotion, and shares practical, compassionate strategies for breaking free and growing through it. If you've ever felt weighed down by self-doubt or hidden pain, this episode is for you. 🔗 Join our upcoming online event "From Shame to Strength" on November 10, 2025: https://thrivetoday.org...
A new, and increasing common trend in our society, has been to turn to AI companions for validation and friendship. Is this healthy and helpful longterm? Why is this happening and what do people need? Chris takes a look at the underlying needs that everyone has. 🔗 Joy Starts Here: https://bit.ly/joystartsherebook 🔗 Habit Builder Courses: https://thrivetoday.org/skill-practice-courses/ 🔗 Thrive Premier Training: https://thrivetoday.org/premier-training/ 🔗 Learn more about Relational Skills: ht...
In this eye-opening episode, Chris Coursey and Kristy Harrang explore the surprising blessing of unpleasant emotions. From anger to hopeless despair, they look at how our most difficult feelings can become unexpected gifts. Through stories from their own lives, they reveal how embracing emotional discomfort can guide us toward growth, healing, and deeper connection. 🔗 Join our upcoming online event "From Shame to Strength" on November 10, 2025: https://thrivetoday.org/shame-to-strength 🔗 Head...
What are high energy emotions? When do our brains go to these high energy responses and why? Chris answers these questions and more as he looks at how God designed our brains and bodies to work and how we can develop life-giving response patterns to the stresses of life. 🔗 Check out our Return to Joy (skill 11) courses: https://thrivetoday.thinkific.com/collections/skill-11 🔗 Our Premier Training focuses on returning to joy from negative emotions in Track 2 of the training. You can lear...
Comments
Download from Google Play
Download from App Store
United States