RCT Toybox

48 concept cards about growth in connection

The RCT Toybox is a deck of 48 cards that define, illustrate, and connect important concepts central to Relational-Cultural Theory (RCT). RCT concepts were originally conceived by founding and continuing scholars at the International Center for Growth and Connection, the Jean Baker Miller Training Institute, Wellesley’s Stone Center, and Monday nights in the living room of Miller’s home.

RCT Toybox cards are designed to provide both an overview of each concept and ways to connect them to other concepts.

This is the latest update to the original decks from 2022 and 2024 featuring new art for new and revised concepts.

How To Use the Toybox

The RCT Toybox is intended to be a tangible way to learn & explore important ideas about relationships & the cultures that influence them. There is no right way to use this card deck, but here are some ideas to prompt deeper thinking about RCT concepts.

Storytelling

Choose three cards at random, and use them to tell a story about yourself or a relationship. Consider the order the cards are played and how these concepts are related to each other.

Storytelling can be done with a particular challenge, event, or relationship in mind, or by allowing the cards themselves to prompt memories & discussion of desired outcomes. When telling a story shared with someone else, draw three cards each and take turns playing and discussing each card until one person runs out.

Weave a Web

Start with a question or a stuck place where you want deeper understanding. Look through the cards until one feels relevant, then place it on the table.

Spread the remaining cards around it and slowly follow the thread, noticing which RCT concepts shift or expand your thinking. Use the cards to build a bridge from where you are toward new possibilities.

Dominoes

Choose one card at random and place it in the center of a table. Spread the remaining cards around the periphery, leaving the first card well-isolated.

Find another card that matches one side of the first card by category or author. Place that card next to the first, touching the matching sides. Continue by finding cards that match an open side of any card already played.

If you are playing with others, take turns selecting and playing cards. When all cards are gone, name each arm or cluster to represent the concepts in that part of the connected structure.

Resources

For more information about these and other RCT concepts:

• Toward a New Psychology of Women (1976) Jean Baker Miller
• Women’s Growth in Connection (1991) Alexandra Kaplan, Irene P. Stiver, Judith V. Jordan, Janet Surrey, Jean Baker Miller
• The Healing Connection (1997) Jean Baker Miller and Irene Stiver
• Women’s Growth in Diversity (1997) edited by Judith V. Jordan
• The Complexity of Connection (2004) Judith Jordan, Linda Hartling, Maureen Walker
• How Connections Heal (2004) edited by Maureen Walker and Wendy Rosen
• The Power of Connection: Recent Developments in Relational Cultural Theory (2008) edited by Judith V. Jordan
• Wired to Connect: The surprising link between brain science and strong healthy relationships (2016) Amy Banks
• Relational Cultural Therapy, 1st edition (2009), 2nd edition (Norton Theories of Psychotherapy Series) (2018) Judith V. Jordan
• Connected Teaching (2019) Harriet Schwartz
• When Getting Along Is Not Enough: Reconstructing Race in our Lives and Relationships (2019) Maureen Walker
• Queering Connection: Narratives of Healing in Relational Cultural Therapy with Queer and Transgender Clients (2024) Nathaniel Smith