“Jonathan is the most prolific speaker I've ever met. How can one person know so much about so much? His synthesis of theory and research, practical information, laugh-out-loud humor, and ancient wisdom all combine in a fun and relatable way. He's amazing. All I can say is get him in front of your group now!"
—James Delany, Ph.D., business owner, husband, and father

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“I met you at a large seminar for women. The class was full. At the beginning of the seminar, I remember thinking this would just be another generalized talk, filled with simplistic Band-Aid type of useless advice. It wasn’t. You helped me through a bad time. That was 13 years ago, and I have long since admired you. Thank you for being you. For being real. For being empathetic. For being the fantastic person you are with a gift you're willing to share.”
—Cate H., wife, mother, professional

“The core in my rope is relationships—relationships that are solid and loving. That’s why we have invited Jonathan Sherman to come and be a part of our Speakers Series because relationships are the core of our lives. I’ve heard Jonathan Sherman now four times, and he’s a stand-up comedian! Oh, in real-life he’s a marriage and family therapist, but he is a stand-up comedian. He is so funny! In a disarming and charming way, he will help you laugh into building stronger relationships. The “ACCCTS” that he teaches in his Building Strong Families course is the core of how I understand relationships—The Acts of Love. If you are rooted in those acts, your relationships will be strong. This is important, important work.”
—Reverend Janet Forbes, St. Luke’s United Methodist Church

“Jonathan is amazing! He’s funny, and his strategies are real-life practical.”
—Amanda Davis, HR Director

MANY more testimonials and reviews here…

Popular Relationship Seminars

1. Marriage Mastery
2. Parent Training
3. Self-Mastery

Other Relationship Trainings

4. Corporate Trainings: Emotional Intelligence, Culture, & Leadership
5. Professional Conferences & Clinical Trainings
6. School Trainings
7. Clergy Trainings

Communication: The DEEP Listening Solution
"We don't communicate" is the most common concern that couples bring to me. The truth is: You cannot not communicate. Everything we do or don't do communicates something. What they mean, of course, is, "We don't communicate well, positively or effectively." Too often people are taught only surface communication skills (ie., "I" statements) that don't ever seem to actually work nor do they get to the CORE of the issue. This communication training by-passes the typical cliched communication skills by focusing on THE communication skill that is rarely taught: DEEP Listening.

Speaking Manglish & Womanese: Bridging the Gender Gap
We were raised in the same culture speaking the same language, right? Nope. While men and women are indeed from the same planet they experience the same world as distinctly different as if they came from their own unique cultures and spoke their own nuanced and complex languages.In this fun, upbeat, informative, and research-based approach Jonathan Sherman, LMFT, licensed marriage and family therapist and relationship strategist teaches you and your partner how to understand and use men's and women's differences as benefits vs. deficits. FULL DETAILS >>

Marriage Prep: The “OUR WAY” Marriage Plan

Prepare for Your Marriage, Not Just Your Wedding. "Happily Ever After" is great, but what about the 10-year follow-up study? How do we make a great thing last, especially in the face of daunting divorce statistics? Learn effective ways of making the marriage you're going into the one you dream it will be.

The "Our Way" Marriage Plan: 10 Steps to Reducing Conflict and Increasing Harmony
You wouldn't try to build a house without carefully thought-out and skillfully drawn-up blueprints. You wouldn't try to run a major business without a thorough business or marketing plan. Your football team wouldn't try to take State without a well-practiced playbook. Yet, in our marriages, the basic plan is "If we love each other enough, it will just work out." That's a nice thought. That isn't a plan, folks. Thus the high conflict and failure rates in marriage.

Building Strong Families with "ACCCTS"
Learn the six foundational behaviors of strong marriages and families and how to build on the strengths your family already possesses. This fun, upbeat, informative, and research-based approach Jonathan Sherman, LMFT, a licensed marriage and family therapist and relationship coach teaches the guiding principles and practical techniques for the six most common traits of strong, resilient families and marriages: Appreciation and Affection, Commitment, Creative Coping and Problem Solving, Time Together and Spiritual Wellness.

Creating Your GREAT Relationship Brand: How Sound Business and Marketing Principles Can Strengthen Your Marriage and Family
If everyone wants a GREAT relationship, why isn’t everyone getting one? Are they really that hard to come by? If so, do they need to be? There must be a better way... and there is. Come learn the strategies for creating a truly great, lasting and powerful relationship. This fun, upbeat and informative presentation looks at relationships from a very unique angle: the business and marketing world. The mindsets and skills learned in this workshop apply to marriage, parenting and even at work.

Animal Training for Humans: How to Use Dog, Horse and Dolphin Training Techniques in Your Parenting (and Partnering)!
(Originally called "Husband Training 101”)
Darn those stubborn husbands! If only there were a tried and true method for getting husbands to behave! Okay, men aren't dogs (really, we're not!), and it's not your job to "fix" us. However, there are many things that you can do to enhance your influence with your husband to get more of what you want from your husband and from your marriage. This workshop is taught by Jonathan Sherman, LMFT, a licensed marriage and family therapist, as well as a fully trained husband who's still on his best behavior! (Good boy!)We'll discuss basic training methods and show you how to get results where there haven't been results before. As any good dog or horse trainer will tell you the bulk of the training is in training the trainer to interact more effectively with the one being trained. Women tend to be the relationship managers in most marriages. This doesn't mean their husbands are less responsible for doing their part; it just means they are often less aware. Husbands do want to be able to please their wives, but quite frankly, they don't know how. Further, their wives rarely know how to effectively motivate them to willingly do what the wife would like them to do. Does any of this sound familiar? Then this workshop is for you.

Relationship Fitness Check-Up
Give the gift of a healthy relationship this Valentine's season! For anything to run well—cars, our bodies, and especially our relationships—we need to make sure they get regular check-ups and the ongoing maintenance they need.

The Life-Long Marriage: Advice from the Real Experts
We can talk about it all we want—but here are the ones who have done it! A panel of elder couples in our community who have weathered 40+ years of marriage and made it work share their wisdom and humor about the committed marriage. The lessons they have to share are priceless.

Men, Relationships & Emotions
We all know that men and women deal with emotions, relationships, and many other things very differently. In this workshop, we look at the often ignored and misunderstood aspects of men, how they relate and how important emotions are to men and women. We also discuss practical ways to integrate this information into our daily lives.

Making a Good Marriage Great!
Anything valuable requires ongoing investing and reinvesting to maintain and improve its value. Our marriages are no different. Learn how to not only keep the good thing you've got from wearing out, but also how to make it even better.

Valentine's All Year Mini-Retreat
Learn how to make romance fun, easy and practical throughout the entire year.

Empty Nesters: Skills for the Second-half of Marriage
In the second half of marriage, couples often need to to reinvent their marriage, to make mid-course adjustments, and to reconnect with one another in a more meaningful way. This workshop addresses eight challenges couples at this stage face and the methods to overcome them.Finding Contentment: What Do We Do As Empty Nesters? Ahhh... the kids have flown the coop and we now have the house and ourselves to each other.... Was that a "Yikes!" or a "Yay!" I heard? Come learn how the wonderful opportunities and unique challenges of the second half of marriage can be met with wisdom and skill.

Animal Training for Humans: How to Use Dog, Horse and Dolphin Training Techniques in Your Parenting!
Jonathan Sherman, LMFT, is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist who specializes in training parents how to effectively discipline their children while building a closer relationship as a family at the same time. This fun and highly practical workshop uses the principles of behavior modification from both the human and animal kingdoms that Jonathan has been using for over 20 years in his practice with youth and their parents. You’ll never look at parenting the same way again.

Parenting Tips from the Trenches Parent Training Course

Parenting with Love and Logic
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!

Parenting Teens with Love & Logic
Parenting teens can seem about as easy as nailing Jell-O to the wall! But believe it or not there are some approaches that work better than others—better for both the teen and for the parents! So come and learn some practical approaches to add to your parenting toolkit.

How to Talk to Teens About the Tough Stuff
The tough stuff (“sex, drugs and rock and roll” as well as media, porn and peers) can be hard for parents to talk about and for teens to open up about with their parents and/or the responsible adults in their lives. Too often topics about parenting teens centers on discipline and consequences. However, one of the most effective ways to help teens prevent or overcome problems is... (continue reading...)

Parenting with LCD: Raising Resilient Children as a Community of Faith



StepFamily Success: Secrets for Building a Less Contentious, More Harmonious StepFamily
Step-families are normal but they face many challenges that are unique. By learning skills to deal with these differences step-families increase their chances for success. Learn tips, ideas and principles that can help you create a strong family with confidence.

Divorce Transitions
Divorce is difficult for everyone: you, your children, your family, your friends. There are so many old and new issues to deal with: conflict, grief, co-parenting, dating again, step-families and on and on. Knowledge truly is power. Come and learn some guiding principles that have helped thousands better navigate these difficult times. Divorce is hard enough as it is. Don't go it alone.

Successful Second Marriages: How to Really Live Happily Ever After
Beat the odds. Second marriages have a higher divorce rate than first marriages, but that's in large part because people don't learn the key dynamics unique to second marriages than can make or break the deal. This workshop will prepare you to make this one not only stick, but make it worth sticking.

Internet Safety: Keep Your Kids Safe Online
The Internet is fantastic for kids... and dangerous, too. In this workshop you will learn:

• Online safety guidelines for parents

• Basic rules of online safety for teens

• Kid's rules for online safety

• How to tell when children spend too much time on the computer

• How to know what your children are doing online

• How to set and enforce your rules and limits.

• Family and Kids Contracts for Online Safety

Alternative Solutions to Managing ADHD
Balanced alternative solutions besides medication to managing ADHD, including lifestyle, skill development, health and wellness and more. All strategies are practical and doable. This is a fun, upbeat and informative workshop. “Jonathan’s Attention Dynamic Skills Grab-Bag” is included with 125 tips and strategies in five headings: Mind, Body, Mood, Structure, Social.

Co-parenting: Helping the Kids through Divorce and Step-family Life.
Key concepts and practical strategies for helping your kids and yourself through the difficult transition of divorce through effective co-parenting. Special attention will be given to working with a difficult, toxic or narcissistic ex-spouse who refuses to co-parent. For 11 years he taught the State of Utah's Divorce Parenting Education Class and since 1994 Jonathan has been counseling children, adults, couples and families through all stages and transitions of family life. 

Families & Spiritual Wellness
An interfaith panel offer their insights and answer questions regarding developing spiritually through our families and our families through our spirituality.

Busting Holiday Stress
(Formerly called "The Holidays & Family Togetherness: Rockwell Dream or Griswald Nightmare?")
Ahhh. The holidays! The best time of the year . . . and the most stressful. Why is that? Well, family is one reason. As much as we love them they sure can push our buttons . . . . Just tink of all those personalities in one room. Oh boy! Come learn some time-tested and some innovative strategies for effectively dealing with the stresses of family togetherness over the holidays. We will discuss and share skills for dealing with Stress, Expectations, Anger, Conflict, In-laws, etc. so you can make this holiday season the most enjoyable in years. Give yourself the best gift this year—peace.

Body Language: What You Need to Know About Non-verbal Communication
Most of our communication (a whopping 93%!) is nonverbal and yet we get very little training in this most important and influential aspect of relating to one another. Join Jonathan Sherman, LMFT (Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Relationship Strategist, and Speaker) in this fun, memorable, and highly practical workshop where you will learn how to leverage the power of body language, tone, and other non-verbals in all of your relationships (professionally and personally) for the mutual benefit of you and those you influence. In this workshop you will learn: the power of joining (mimesis), the two levels of communication, how to craft your body language choices as carefully as you do your word choices, how intention trumps technique, stage presence, body language clustering, universals and gender differences, and much more.

New Year, TRUE You
I often give this workshop at the beginning of each new year. Every year, you hear some show, article or product promising "New Year, New You." I despise that phrase because there's nothing wrong with the core of you, only the "junk" behaviors or mindsets you've picked up along the way. Instead I advocate: "New Year, TRUE You." Dump the junk that never was you and instead work at being MORE you, authentically YOU this year.

TRUE You: Owning Self and Banishing Fear
Flee the comparison trap. Don't try to be a "new" or "better" you—simplify by learning how to just be more you the way you REALLY are. Learn how to shed the junk that never was you and how to be more authentically you. In this presentation you will learn what mindsets and behaviors will help you shed the junk that never was you and practical ways how to bring out more of the real you.

Mindful Mood Mastery: Making Peace with Strong Emotions

Stress-Busting: Mastering Stress, Anxiety, and Other Strong Emotions
I'd love to share these 10 powerful stress-busters with your group.

Mastering Anger: Anger Management Skills that Really Work

Solutions to Depression

Pornography: Problems and Solutions
Pornography has been aptly termed "the drug of the new millennium." This workshop delineates the scope of the problem but, more importantly, practical approaches and solutions to the problem that you can implement in your home and in the lives of those you love and serve. This workshop is frequently hosted by church groups and is offered in a spiritually sensitive manner that incorporates spiritual principles as well as the best research and evidence-based practices.

Building Strong Teams | Building Strong Leaders with A-Triple C-T-S
It's all relationships, folks. It's only the words that change as we transition from family-life to work-life. Both realms are organizations of different people working as a system towards a common goal. At work, it's money. At home, it's happiness. At both, hopefully, it's also about creating meaning. The workplace requires strong leaders and strong teams that can cohesively work together to create incredible outcomes that build people in the process.

Smart Communication Skills for Building a Successful Workplace Culture
Learn The Four Culture Keys to help your team create a workplace culture they want to return to: one with high morale and low turnover. The Four Culture Keys help: 

• Improve effective and assertive communication vs. passive aggressiveness,

• Improved conflict resolution,

• Increase respect vs. gossiping,

• Improve team-building and disrupt cliques,

• Improve morale and appreciation,

• Motivate your team.

Body Language: What You Need to Know About Non-Verbal Communication
Most of our communication (a whopping 93%!) is nonverbal and yet we get very little training in this most important and influential aspect of relating to one another. Join Jonathan Sherman, LMFT (Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Relationship Strategist, and Speaker) in this fun, memorable, and highly practical workshop where you will learn how to leverage the power of body language, tone, and other non-verbals in all of your relationships (professionally and personally) for the mutual benefit of you and those you influence. In this workshop you will learn: 

• The power of joining (mimesis),

• The two levels of communication,

• How to craft your body language choices as carefully as you do your word choices,

• How intention trumps technique,

• Stage presence, body language clustering,

• Universals and gender differences, and much more.

Leadership Academy and Organizational Development
Jonathan partners with Five Degrees Consulting to provide state-of-the-art management consulting based in emotional intelligence solutions that bring the latest and greatest of human technology to the workplace to engage employees, solve communication problems, and develop leaders.

Emotional Intelligence: The “Street Smarts” of Success

The Science of Happiness

The 5 Dysfunctions of Teams

Coaching for Crucial Conversations & Confrontations

Stress Management for Managers

The Smart Art of Providing Superior Customer Service with Difficult People

Seizing Innovation: Leaving the Fear of Change Behind (based on Who Moved My Cheese)

WORKING the System: Motivating and Strategizing with "Resistant" Teens to Achieve the Better Outcomes THEY Want
Systems, whether they be school, family or legal systems, can seem impossible for teens to successfully navigate. These systems can seem especially hard to figure out when teens feel their only options are comply or rebel—neither option being what they really want. Teaching teens how to strategically “work the system” empowers them to actually achieve the better goals they want: And they do want to succeed, many just don’t know how. The Working the System seminar teaches your people how to reach and teach the “unreachable” and “unteachable”.This seminar has been taught to health care professionals (doctors, nurses, aides), behavioral health professionals (psychologists, social workers, family therapists and counselors), Guardian ad Litem attorneys, CASA workers, teachers and parents.

Body Language: What You Need to Know About Non-Verbal Communication
Most of our communication (a whopping 93%!) is nonverbal and yet we get very little training in this most important and influential aspect of relating to one another. Join Jonathan Sherman, LMFT (Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Relationship Strategist, and Speaker) in this fun, memorable, and highly practical workshop where you will learn how to leverage the power of body language, tone, and other non-verbals in all of your relationships (professionally and personally) for the mutual benefit of you and those you influence. In this workshop you will learn: 

• The power of joining (mimesis),

• The two levels of communication,

• How to craft your body language choices as carefully as you do your word choices,

• How intention trumps technique,

• Stage presence, body language clustering,

• Universals and gender differences, and much more.

Smart Communication Skills for Building a Successful Workplace Culture
Learn The Four Culture Keys to help your team create a workplace culture they want to return to: one with high morale and low turnover. The Four Culture Keys help: 

• Improve effective and assertive communication vs. passive aggressiveness,

• Improved conflict resolution,

• Increase respect vs. gossiping,

• Improve team-building and disrupt cliques,

• Improve morale and appreciation,

• Motivate your team.

Mastering Stress & Other Strong Emotions: Cooling Burnout for Professionals
Whether you are seeking skills to cool professional burn-out, bring balance to your personal and family life, or to more effectively help your clients, this workshop is packed with real-life practical strategies you can begin using today. Come and learn the "Top Stress-Busting Tips from the Trenches" that Jonathan Sherman's clients around the country have used to "Transform stress into success!" Jonathan's Stress-Busters are based only in the best research- and evidence-based approaches combined with real life practical experience so that you walk away from this workshop with the strategies and mindsets that really work. In this workshop, you will:

• Understand the neuroscience and physiology of stress as the foundation for approaching stress management;

• Learn powerful, in-the-moment techniques (including Jonathan's list of 299 "stress-busters"), that are easily taught to clients, for reducing stress and improving resilience in the “heat of the battle”;

• Practice skills which help reduce the impact of stress and anxiety and improve overall well-being.

• Learn how to identify, understand the core messages, and use the generally unknown positive aspects of anxiety, depression and anger.

Thriving in Private Practice

Alternative Solutions to Managing ADHD
Balanced alternative solutions besides medication to managing ADHD, including lifestyle, skill development, health and wellness and more. All strategies are practical and doable. This is a fun, upbeat and informative workshop. “Jonathan’s Attention Dynamic Skills Grab-Bag” is included with 125 tips and strategies in five headings: Mind, Body, Mood, Structure, Social.

Building Strong Families: A Strength-based Family-Life Education Model
Through a wellness-based approach participants will learn the six most common traits of strong, resilient families: Appreciation, Commitment, Creative Coping and Problem Solving, Time Together and Spiritual Wellness. This fun, upbeat and informative research-based presentation has been presented to a wide-range of community groups, church groups, clinical (mental health and substance abuse) and professional populations. This presentation provides information and ideas that professionals can utilize in their own lives, with their clients and in the community. This workshop has been an effective means of combating the stigma of mental health by exposing community members to a licensed mental health professional in a non-threatening, upbeat milieu. 

Learning objectives: Through the demonstration and presentation of a community-based wellness workshop model participants will: 

1. Learn the six most common traits of strong, resilient families with a brief introduction to the supporting research.

2. Learn how to easily recall these traits as well as ways to practically apply them with clients.

3. Gain suggestions for teaching these traits to client families and using them in their agencies (i.e., integrating into therapy, psychoeducation, group therapy, psychoeducational classes, etc.).

4. Gain ideas for implementing these concepts in their own community (i.e., offering as a workshop as community outreach, prevention service, etc).

An Ounce of Prevention: Marketing Family Strengths by Taking Best Practices to the People
Learn how to develop your own Relationship Wellness Series to market your practice.

Too often we as clinicians wait for individuals and families to access therapy at the point of crisis. Via example of the presenter’s own Relationship Wellness Series™ (RWS) a model is presented for how individual practitioners and organizations can actively “get the word out” about developing good mental health through developing healthy relationships. The RWS is presented to the community as a valuable community service where useful, practical information is given in no-strings-attached stand-alone workshops. This model could be adapted well to various organizational and individual needs, skills and interests. This model has proved effective in achieving its three main objectives: 1. Provide a valuable community service as a way to “give back”, 2. Function as a means for developing “good will” marketing for practice development and 3. Reduce the barrier of stigma around mental health issues by exposing participants to a licensed mental health professional and/or organization in a non-threatening venue.

Learning objectives: Through the demonstration and presentation of a community-based workshop series participants will 

• Learn how to implement similar programs in their own communities. 
  Be exposed to several examples of sample workshops such as: “Building Strong Families,” “The Life-Long Marriage: Elder Couple Panel Discussion,” “Step-families, Strong Families,” “Stress-busting 101,” “Divorce Transitions,” “Making a Good Marriage Great,” and parenting workshops. 
  Gain suggestions for developing, marketing and teaching their own wellness-based workshops in their own communities.

Be the Answer: Solutions to Bullying
Jonathan Sherman, LMFT, conducts school interventions and assemblies called "Be the Answer: Solutions to Bullying" based in the nonviolent resistance movements of Gandhi and MLK, Jr as well as current research-based approaches and is focused on rallying the numerous bystanders who too often just... well, stand by. Very powerful.  "Be the Answer" provides real solutions to the bullying problem. Based on the Olweus Bullying Prevention Project, TAB-S, and incorporating the teachings of Mohandas K. Gandhi and Martin Luther King,Jr. “Be the Answer: Solutions to Bullying” is a comprehensive, dynamic and systemic intervention program designed to integrate into your school’s existing policies. Further, "Be the Answer: Solutions to Bullying"provides practical approaches kids actually relate to and will use as it empowers them to stand up for themselves and others in Peacefully Powerful ways. "Be the Answer" is a perfect tie-in to Red Ribbon Week and curricula on MLK, Jr. Available as a stand-alone assembly or as a school-wide prevention and intervention program for students, faculty and parents.