The Journey of Adjustment
Online : 6th-8th November 2026 : €175
Part 1 now open for registration ...
What does it mean to relate?
Life is a living system of relationships. Everything is connected: the way we relate to ourselves, to other people, to our work, and to life as it unfolds.
To relate is more than to live together, to work together, to talk, or to stay connected online. It is to be truly present: listening, seeing the other person, speaking honestly, and to remain in touch with ourselves while meeting the other. Yet, in a time of constant messages, social media, AI, busy schedules, and competing demands on our attention, it is easy to be connected without feeling genuinely close.
The ability to relate is something we can learn, practice, and deepen. As we do, our relationships can become a source of greater warmth and fulfilment.
How Can I Find Fulfillment in my Relationships?
Life revolves around relationships, yet it is surprisingly easy to leave ourselves out of them. We may try to fit in, stay silent when something matters, or become so busy and distracted that we offer only part of our attention. At other times, we withdraw when a relationship becomes difficult or speak from frustration before understanding what we are truly feeling.
Fulfilment begins with returning to ourselves and, from there, returning to the relationship. It means remaining true to our values and deepest aspirations while remaining open to another person's experience. A meaningful relationship has room for difference. Even when we see things differently, we can stand in our own experience, while remaining open to the relationship and what it may teach us.
Discovering the True Way to Relate
The people in our lives often show us aspects of ourselves that are difficult to see on our own. A reaction, misunderstanding, conflict, or moment of distance can become a mirror. If we pause and look honestly, we may begin to recognise the fear, expectations, habit, or old story shaping our response.
By recognising the part that belongs to us, we also begin to see where change is possible. As we adjust the way we participate in a relationship, something new can emerge. Step by step, our relationships can grow with us and become a source of greater honesty, understanding, and warmth.
This is the Journey of Adjustment.
The Journey of Adjustment Course
The Journey of Adjustment is an experiential course, brought to life through dialogue, practical exercises, reflection, and the shared work of the group. Each participant brings a different perspective, and this becomes part of the learning.
The course helps us recognise the patterns shaping our relationships and understand more clearly what happens within us when we listen, react, withdraw, or speak. Other people can become mirrors, revealing aspects of ourselves that may otherwise remain unseen.
We will also explore the relationship between male and female as a living polarity, expressed both between people and within our inner life. This interplay reveals different ways of perceiving, acting, giving, receiving, and meeting life. By learning to work with these differences through intelligent cooperation, the natural tension between the two can open the way towards greater balance and growth.
The course introduces impeccability as a way of approaching ourselves, life, and our relationships with care: acting to the best of our ability with the knowledge available to us in each moment. It asks for honesty without harshness and the willingness to adjust our actions as our understanding deepens.
At the heart of the course is the relationship with ourselves. As this deepens, new ways of relating to others become possible, with greater awareness, responsibility, and heart. From insight to action.
How We Work
The Journey of Adjustment is a personal development course. It is not couples therapy or relationship counselling, and you do not need to attend with a partner. Relationships are the field in which we explore, but the work continually brings us back to the relationship with ourselves.
The course is experiential. We use reflection and practical exercises, paying attention to our experience and also to the words through which we express it. There is time to work individually and time to learn through meeting one another in the group. Sharing can deepen the exploration, and participants always choose what they wish to bring. The personal boundaries are respected.
We are not looking for ultimate answers. The invitation is to become more aware of what is happening within us, to see familiar experiences from another perspective and, from there, discover what may become possible in the way we relate and act.
No previous knowledge or particular level of education is required. We begin with the basic principles and allow the understanding to grow through experience.
Inspired Life Coaching
Key Concepts in this Course
In this course, we will explore the general principles that can help any kind of relationship work and grow:
- • What we truly seek from a relationship and what we bring to it.
- • Recognising and valuing our own inner being.
- • Turning fear and uncertainty into opportunities for greater awareness.
- • Working with emotions without allowing them to take control.
- • Understanding how expectations and assumptions shape the way we see another person.
- • Relating through feeling, opening the way to a deeper and more heartfelt way of being with one another.
- • Communicating honestly, listening openly, and speaking without abandoning ourselves.
- • Exploring the living polarity between male and female, and how difference can be brought into intelligent cooperation.
- • Growing through disagreement and conflict without becoming caught in blame.
- • Bringing greater meaning, responsibility, and heart into the way we relate.
Meet the facilitator, Irina Marsh
I am a philosopher by training and a teacher by vocation, with an ICM accreditation in transformative coaching. I hold a PhD in Philosophy, shaped by Aristotle's understanding of the good life as something we grow through the way we live, the choices we make, and the character we develop. As an Associate Professor teaching communication and leadership, I bring to the course many years of experience working with people and exploring the questions that arise as we seek to understand ourselves and relate more deeply.
In facilitating The Journey of Adjustment, I work within the tradition of the Institute for the Study of Man, where the course was developed through the vision and work of Théun Mares and Elizabeth Schnugh. I am creating a space in which participants can reflect at their own pace, look more closely at the way they relate, and begin to notice where a different response may become possible.
My way of working is warm and grounded, with respect for each person's individual experience. My approach is informed by philosophy and positive psychology, together with my appreciation of symbols and stories as ways of illuminating the deeper patterns of human life. This gives the course both depth and practicality, supporting participants in finding meaningful insights that can be carried into everyday life and in developing a clearer sense of how to live and relate with purpose and heart.
Course Details
For whom?
The Journey of Adjustment is open to anyone who wants to understand relationships more deeply and strengthen the way they relate to themselves, to other people, and to life. Men and women of all ages are welcome.
The course may be especially meaningful if you are going through a difficult period in a relationship, feeling drawn towards greater self-awareness, or simply sensing that you would like to live with more honesty and heart. It offers a supportive, practical setting in which to begin that exploration.
The Journey
The Journey of Adjustment unfolds in three parts. The first two take place online, with the group working together through individual reflection, dialog, exercises and shared exploration. For those who wish to go deeper, the third part of the Journey brings us together face to face.
Each part grows from what came before, with some space in between to live with the experience and notice what begins to show itself in everyday life and relationships. There is no need to decide at the beginning how far you would like to go. You begin with Part One and allow your own experience to guide you from there.
Part One: Opening the Way
This is where the Journey begins. We introduce the way of working at the heart of The Journey of Adjustment and start looking more closely at ourselves in relationship: what we bring, how we respond, and what our relationships may reveal about us.
We begin to notice some of the patterns that shape the way we relate and to use our relationships as mirrors for a deeper understanding of ourselves. From there, we explore where a different response may become possible and what it means, in practice, to begin adjusting the way we participate in our relationships.
Those who complete Part One and feel they would like to continue will be invited to register their interest in Part Two. Once there are enough participants to form the group, we will announce the dates and open registration.
Part One: Dates, Fees, and Registration
Registration is now open for Part One of The Journey of Adjustment.
Dates: Friday, 6th November - Sunday, 8th November 2026Format: Online
Time: 15:00-22:00 UTC each day, with a one-hour meal break from 18:00-19:00 UTC.
The fee for Part One is €175 per person.
A €75 deposit is payable at registration, with the remaining €100 due by 15th October 2026. For registrations made after 15th October, the full fee of €175 is payable at registration.
Your place is confirmed once the €75 deposit has been received. For registrations made after 15th October 2026, your place is confirmed once the full course fee of €175 has been received.
If you are no longer able to attend, please let us know as soon as possible so that your place can be offered to someone else. Fees already paid will be refunded, less the €75 deposit, which is non-refundable.
Where cancellation is necessary for documented medical reasons, the fees paid will be refunded, less a €25 administrative fee.
In the unlikely event that the course needs to be cancelled by the organiser, participants will be informed as soon as possible and all course fees paid will be fully refunded. New course dates will be announced, and those who had already registered for the cancelled course will be given priority when registration opens for the new dates.
To begin the Journey, please complete the registration form below. Once we receive it, you will be contacted by email with payment details and the next steps.
Meet the Course: Free Online Webinar
For those who feel drawn to The Journey of Adjustment and would like to know more before deciding, Irina will offer a free introductory webinar online.
The 2-hour session will include a short introduction to the course, time for questions, and a brief exercise in which participants will have the opportunity to work together. This will offer a first sense of the course itself, as well as of how we relate and engage with one another.
The webinar is designed to help you explore whether the course speaks to where you are in your life and whether this may be the right moment to join. We would love to meet you online:
Saturday 26th September 2026, 14:00-16:00 UTC
Important Details
To take part, please complete the registration form below. Registration is required, and places are limited, so we encourage you to register early. The online participation details will be sent to everyone whose registration is confirmed.
Should the webinar become fully booked before your registration is confirmed, you will receive an email letting you know that registration has closed and that we were unable to secure your place.
If you have registered but you are no longer able to attend, please let us know as soon as possible so that your place can be offered to someone else. You can write to us using the contact form at the bottom of this page.
A note on language
The course will be conducted in English. An intermediate level is helpful, and participants are encouraged to join with the English they already have. Perfect fluency is not required. What matters most is the willingness to listen, take part, and express what feels meaningful and true.
Beginning the Journey
If you feel drawn to this work and sense this may be the right time to look more deeply at the way you relate to yourself, to others, and to life, Part One is your first step into The Journey of Adjustment.
You are warmly invited to join us and discover where this exploration may lead. Please complete the registration form below to reserve your place and take the first step with us.
Part Two: The Exploration Deepens
After Part One, there is time to take the experience back into life. Things we noticed during the course may appear again in a relationship, perhaps in a different light, and new questions may arise.
Part Two begins from there. We meet online again and continue the Journey from what we have actually lived and discovered since our first work together.
The exploration goes further, giving us space to return to some of the principles introduced in Part One, meet them from a new place, and work with what has become more visible through experience. As the Journey deepens, we continue developing greater awareness of ourselves in relationship and of the choices available to us in the way we respond and act.
Part Three: Coming together
For those who have continued through Part Two and feel drawn to take the exploration further, Part Three brings us together face to face.
Being together in the same space allows for a more immersive experience and gives the group another way of working with what has been unfolding throughout the Journey.
Participants will be invited to register their interest after completing Part Two. Once we have enough people to form the group, we will choose the dates and venue, share the practical details, and open registration.
Register
If you would like to register for the course then please complete the form below, and we will be in contact with you.