When Chris M. Lyon, a relationship consultant, and D/s expert, approached me with news of a virtual course, “The Path of the Submissive Partner,” made specifically for the submissive partner, I was intrigued to know what she had created. I’ve talked about how impressed I was by her book, “ Leading and Supportive Love,” in a review on this site and have even given it to my therapist so that she can understand the way my relationship works in terms that make sense for her. So, starting the course with that impression, I had high hopes for the information presented and the solutions to the challenges we have in taking the submissive path. She didn’t let me down.
I was offered full access to her course in exchange for an honest review.
The Path of the Submissive Partner is a 4-week course that you can take at your own pace, in your own time. This course is for submissive-identified people only. While a Dominant could take this course, the content is written to help the submissive partner enhance and improve their life and their place in the relationship. I don’t think a Dominant would gain much insight as a student. That said, it is an excellent course for submissives to learn more about who they are and what they need, and more importantly, how to communicate that to their Dominant partner.
To access the course, you start with a webinar titled “ Loving Your Dominant” and is a great introduction to Chris’s teaching style and the level of detail in the information she presents. You can not access the course without first taking the introductory webinar. The entire “Path of the Submissive Partner” course is $197. This price includes the four weeks of lessons, as well as all of the bonuses and worksheets. The bonus for signing up for the course is a digital PDF of Chris’s book, “Leading and Supportive Love.”
About the Course
Inside the course, you have four modules, released one a week until you’ve completed the course. Each module has at least one video lesson and a few worksheets or downloadable files to go with the lesson. The lessons are jam-packed with information, so I strongly suggest you watch them more than once to get all that you can from them.
In Week One, you are introduced to the course and tasked with clarifying what change you want to effect during the course. You’ll identify how change works, how to make that change happen in your relationship, as well as common issues and challenges submissives have in D/s relationships. These issues and challenges are addressed throughout the course. You’ll gain access to the private Facebook group related to the course as well as fill out a couple of worksheets to really hone into what drives you as a submissive.
Week Two is about building empathy with your partner to create trust, talking with friends and family about your power exchange relationship, and why, as a submissive, sometimes we stop submitting. You’ll learn how to identify moments where submission is off and why they happen. The worksheet for this week is about identifying your strengths and where your relationship could improve.
Week Three is, honestly, the most intense as far as information and growth building. In this lesson, you’ll learn how to communicate with your partner effectively, how to talk about difficult topics, and keeping the communication healthy, open, and goal-oriented. Submissives often have issues sharing difficult thoughts or talking about things that might seem challenging, and Chris covers some of the common reasons we do that too. The handouts for this week are essential to any relationship, a way to keep conversations productive when they are hard and how to make communication the power tool that it is for relationships.
In Week Four, Chris introduces service and protocol as a means of building more intimacy in the relationship. She also covers important topics that I, too, cover in detail here on the site, self-care, and journaling. Finally, the lesson goes through how to find a D/s friendly professional if you decide on therapy or coaching for your relationship.
There are two bonus modules, unlocked on the 5th week of the course. One is for single submissives who may be taking the course, and the other is for all sensitives.
My Impressions
The course is well laid out, and the information is thorough. It is densely packed, though, which is why I suggest you watch each lesson more than once if you want to pick up every bit of content. I took a lot of notes, and am still unpacking the information to make use of it in my own life. I’ll be referring to it often for journaling and personal growth.
Despite the excellent quality of the information, the video portion of the content does not add anything extra to help grab and hold your attention to the information being taught. Visual learners might struggle without going though each lesson at least twice, making notes themselves as visual learning aids.
Each video is short enough that if you don’t have a lot of time on your hands, you don’t feel like you need to commit a ton of that time each day to do some personal growth work. Consume it at your own pace, in small bites. The course remembers where you left off, and you can pick up right where you stopped before.
The downloadable worksheets and files are great for both working with the course and for keeping as relationship aids throughout your dynamic. I especially liked the one on a communication toolkit.
The course is easy to navigate on mobile devices too, which means you can take your learning on the go and do your lessons anywhere!
There is a lot to learn about being submissive from this course, not only from a general standpoint but how being submissive is a beautiful thing in a D/s partnership. Chris emphasizes what submissives do to nurture the Dominant and the relationship. The course also covers how we can work to deepen the intimacy and encourage growth in our Dominants also. No matter where you are in your relationship, from just dating to a 25+ year marriage, you can find guidance on how to navigate what can often be confusing waters about communication and embracing our submissive identity.
Are you ready to take “The Path of the Submissive Partner” virtual course?
Head over to DsRelationships.com and start with the introductory webinar on “Loving Your Dominant.” When the webinar is over, you’ll be able to sign up for the course and start deepening your submission right away. The total cost of the the virtual course is $197.