Shanti O’Connor, MS | Hawthorn Healing Arts
Rooted in Love has been cancelled. Call 541-330-0334 to learn more about future events with Shanti.
Healthy relationships aren’t built on chemistry alone. Chemistry may light the spark, but it’s safety, honesty, repair, and the willingness to stay present when things get hard that sustain love over time. Shanti O’Connor’s upcoming six-week couples group, Rooted in Love, was created for partners who want more than just “getting by.” It’s designed for couples who are ready to step out of survival patterns and into a more secure, conscious way of relating — together.
This isn’t traditional couples therapy, and it’s not about diagnosing what’s wrong or fixing your partner. Instead, it’s about protecting the relationship itself. It’s about learning how to regulate together, repair quickly when conflict happens (because it always does), and grow into a partnership that feels steady, resilient, and emotionally honest.
Drawing from the work of relational leaders such as Stan Tatkin, Terry Real, Harville Hendrix, and Thomas Hübl, this group weaves together attachment theory, nervous system awareness, relational skill-building, and trauma-informed practices. The result is a deeply experiential journey — one that engages not just the mind, but the body and heart as well.
What This Work Actually Looks Like
Each session blends thoughtful teaching with guided exercises you’ll practice directly with your partner. There is space to slow down and notice what’s happening beneath the surface — in your body, in your tone, in your reactions — and to begin responding from a more grounded place. Couples will explore how emotional and nervous system safety is created (and disrupted) in relationship. You’ll learn to recognize attachment patterns and unconscious dynamics that may be driving recurring conflict cycles. Instead of escalating or shutting down during disagreements, you’ll practice tools that support steadiness and clarity.
Repair is a major focus. Many couples don’t struggle because of conflict itself — they struggle because they don’t know how to come back together afterward. In this group, you’ll learn how to repair ruptures quickly and effectively, without blame or prolonged withdrawal.
There is also room to gently examine how shame, power, family history, and even collective or ancestral trauma can quietly shape partnership. These influences are often invisible, yet they can strongly impact how we show up. Bringing compassionate awareness to them opens the door to real change.
Throughout the six weeks, consent and choice are woven into the process. The pace is intentional. This is trauma-informed work, which means emotional safety and nervous system regulation are prioritized at every step.
Who Tends to Benefit Most
This group is a beautiful fit for couples who want to deepen intimacy and strengthen trust. It’s especially helpful for partners who feel stuck in repeating arguments or who sense distance growing between them but don’t quite know how to shift it.
Couples navigating stress, life transitions, parenting, career changes, grief, or general disconnection often find that having structured, supported space makes a profound difference. You don’t need prior experience with couples work — only a willingness to take responsibility for your part and to stay engaged in the process. The group welcomes couples of all genders, sexual orientations, and relationship structures. Diversity of experience is honored, and vulnerability is respected without pressure to overshare.
There are, however, some situations that require a different level of support. This group is not appropriate for couples experiencing active domestic violence, ongoing addiction without outside support, or severe emotional dysregulation that would be better stabilized in individual therapy first. If there’s uncertainty about fit, Shanti welcomes a brief consultation to help you determine what would be most supportive.
The Structure and Investment
Rooted in Love runs for six consecutive weeks. Sessions are offered both in-person and online to increase accessibility. Group size is intentionally limited to maintain depth, connection, and safety. The investment is $350 per couple, with payment plans available. Each weekly session lasts approximately two to two-and-a-half hours — enough time to move beyond surface conversation and into meaningful practice.
About Shanti O’Connor
Shanti O’Connor, MS, NCC, is a holistic therapist who has been serving the Bend community for over 15 years. Her work bridges mind, body, and soul, integrating attachment theory, somatic practices, mindfulness, ritual, and energy-based modalities. She holds a Master of Science in Counseling, is a nationally certified counselor and licensed teacher, and brings additional training as a Transformational Energy Medicine Practitioner, TRE teacher, Yoga Teacher, Pranic Healer, and Reiki Master.
Her background includes specialized training in trauma, pre- and postpartum mental health, grief work, dynamic group processes, and somatic healing techniques. She works with individuals, couples, children, and members of the LGBTQIA community, holding space with deep presence and practical tools for change. What distinguishes Shanti’s approach is her emphasis on nervous system regulation and relational repair. She understands that lasting partnership growth requires more than communication techniques — it requires safety in the body and honesty in the heart.
A Different Way to Grow Together
If you are willing to slow down, tell the truth with care, and choose the relationship again and again — even when it’s uncomfortable — this work can shift not only how you love, but how you show up in the world. Secure partnership isn’t about perfection. It’s about learning how to return to one another with steadiness and compassion. It’s about building something that feels rooted — strong enough to weather stress, honest enough to evolve.
Connection grows where safety lives. And sometimes, the most loving thing you can do for your relationship is to intentionally tend to it — together.