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About us
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Your Academic Assistant
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I'm Coach Phillip Ciprotti, a Master Certified and Trauma-Informed Relationship Coach dedicated to your personal growth and transformation.
My Experience:
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ACC credentialed through the International Coach Federation (ICF)
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7 years facilitating powerful, transformative conversations
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14 years working with trauma and neurodivergent clients
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Creating productive, supportive environments for development
My approach helps clients process their thoughts and emotions, clarify their vision, define their mission, and set clear, tangible goals. I leverage this expertise to guide transformative journeys specifically tailored for you.
Working with me, you will:
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Attract fantastic people into your life
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Build meaningful, lasting relationships and marriages
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Work through traumatic breakups, divorces, and other obstacles
Together, we'll move beyond these challenges, allowing you to find the fulfillment and joy in partnerships you've been seeking. Open Heart Academy is here to help you find the happiness and connection you deserve.
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Our Mission
At Open Heart Academy, we challenge individuals to take control of their lives through lifelong self-discovery and growth.
By embodying virtue, courage, introspection, and accountability, we guide clients to uncover their own answers and enroll in the journey of building meaningful relationships and dating with strength and confidence.
Our Vision
To help build a world where everyone who seeks it can matriculate into a life of purpose and meaningful connections.
IRON & IVY COACHING METHOD™
We believe every person already holds the power to chart their own course once we strip away the noise and face what’s really in the way. Your story and your problems don’t define you; they point to growth edges waiting for your courage. Together, we’ll shine a light on hidden tensions, contradictions, and blind spots, and reclaim the untapped strength waiting to get out.
IRON
Here, we forge resilience by inviting challenge in measured doses. We co-design stepping-stone exercises that stretch your comfort zone—nothing overwhelming, only enough to spark new capability.
At the heart of our work lies an anti-fragile mindset. As we lean into calculated pressure, those inner tensions become the catalyst for genuine insight and tougher resolve.
Philosophically, Iron fuels authentic connection in every stage of relationship: in dating, it’s the courage to expose your needs and negotiate boundaries; in committed partnerships, it’s the resolve to face misunderstandings head-on and transmute conflict into deeper trust; in marriage, it’s the steadfast grit that allows you to weather life’s storms together and emerge stronger.
IVY
Real growth is living, breathing, and branching out. While Iron hones your edge, Ivy nurtures the fertile ground beneath it. We weave in self-compassion, honest feedback loops, and reflective practices that let fresh understanding take root and spread. Over time, this network of awareness and accountability climbs higher, reinforcing the strength you built in the forge.
In relationships, Ivy is the art of patient cultivation: in early dating, it shows up as genuine curiosity and presence that let sparks bloom; in ongoing partnerships, it’s the small rituals—check-ins, gratitude exchanges, shared reflections—that weave you closer; in marriage, it becomes a living tapestry of trust and tenderness that sustains intimacy through every season.
CONCLUSION
This isn’t a lecture or a static playbook—it’s a dynamic partnership. I listen, question, and stand next to you through every phase as we strategize your transformation.
When our work wraps, you’ll carry a battle-tested playbook—tempered by Iron, alive with Ivy—that keeps you adapting, growing, and winning long after our sessions end.
BLUEPRINT FOR FLOURISHING
1) Metaphysics: the branch of philosophy that examines the fundamental nature and purpose of reality.
The Good, the Forms, and Divine Purpose
We dwell between two horizons—the shifting world of experience and an eternal realm of perfect ideals (Justice, Beauty, the Good).Plato taught that these Forms give shape and meaning to everything we see. Aristotle grounded that vision in natural purpose: every being moves toward its built-in end (telos) under the guidance of four causes. Thomas Aquinas then wove both threads into a single tapestry, locating all purpose in a personal Creator whose divine intelligence orders the cosmos toward flourishing.
2) Epistemology: the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature and scope of knowledge.
Reason, Recollection, and Illumination
True knowing isn’t mere data-collection but the soul’s awakening to higher realities. Plato described this as “recollection” of the Forms through dialectic. Aristotle refined the process, distinguishing a passive intellect that gathers sense-data from an active intellect that abstracts universal principles and applies them via phronesis (practical wisdom). Aquinas added a final spark: divine grace doesn’t override reason but perfects it, enabling faith and intellect to shine together on moral and spiritual truths.
3) Ethics: the branch of philosophy that studies moral values and conduct.
Virtue, Habit, and Grace
Moral excellence is forged, not handed down. Following Aristotle’s golden mean, we learn prudence, courage, temperance, and justice through repeated, intentional action until right conduct feels natural. The Stoics intensified this with daily disciplines—premeditating hardships, rigorous self-examination, and focusing on what lies within our power. Aquinas then brought habit and grace into harmony, showing how the theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity elevate natural virtue into a lasting joy no trial can extinguish.
4) Psychology of the Soul: the philosophical study of the mind’s structure and interior life.
Inner Harmony and Resilience
Well-being springs from an ordered soul. Plato mapped its three parts—reason, spirit, appetite—revealing how imbalance derails us. The Stoics taught us to build an inner fortress that no fear or anger can breach. Yet Aquinas reminds us that even self-mastery needs divine healing: grace restores disordered desires and returns reason to its rightful throne. In that restored harmony, life’s storms become teachers, and every challenge draws us closer to the timeless Good.
5) Dialectical Relationship: the method of seeking truth through dialogue and community.
The Path of Shared Inquiry
Wisdom is born in conversation. From Plato’s Socratic dialogues—where questions midwife hidden insight—to Aristotle’s valorization of philia (the friendship of equals in pursuit of truth), the communal root of knowing stands clear. Seneca modeled mentor-mentee bonds that guide moral growth, and Aquinas placed the Church itself as a living community where faith and reason flourish together. Our own journey, too, unfolds best in shared discovery and mutual encouragement toward the Good.
TOOLS OF TRANSFORMATION
In my work I use various relevant elements of the following tools/modalities in my work:
Cognitive Behavioral Coaching (CBC)
From a coaching vantage, CBC helps clients spot and reshape unhelpful thinking patterns that stall their goals. We use thought‐reframing and evidence-based questioning to turn limiting beliefs into launchpads for action. Rather than delving into deep psychopathology, we focus on concrete shifts—“What story am I telling that’s holding me back?”—and build new mental habits that align with your ambitions.
Acceptance & Commitment Coaching (ACC)
ACC invites you to clarify your deepest values and commit to small, consistent steps—no endless willpower required. We lean into acceptance of difficult emotions (“I notice fear, yet I still move forward”) so that you expend energy on purposeful action instead of avoidance. In this way, you cultivate psychological flexibility: the capacity to stay present with discomfort while pursuing what truly matters.
Dialectical Performance Coaching (DPC)
Borrowing from DBT’s balance of acceptance and change, DPC equips you with skills to manage overwhelm and communicate assertively under pressure. You’ll learn to notice emotional intensities without judgment, deploy crisis-survival strategies during high-stakes moments, and practice interpersonal effectiveness—ensuring your relationships support rather than derail your progress.
Stoic Resilience Training
Stoic philosophy offers timeless tools for fortitude and perspective. Through practices like negative visualization and daily reflection on control (what’s up to me vs. what isn’t), you build an unshakeable foundation of inner calm. This mindset keeps you steady when plans veer off course and transforms setbacks into strategic feedback.
Trauma-Informed Coaching (Coach Certified)
Understanding the impact of stress on the nervous system, we prioritize safety and stabilization first—creating a “window of tolerance” where growth can happen. We gently expand your capacity for challenge without retriggering old wounds, weaving in polyvagal-inspired regulation techniques to help you stay grounded as you stretch toward new goals.
Relational Frame Coaching
Drawing on Relational Frame Theory, we explore the stories and language patterns that shape your identity. By unpacking rigid associations (“I must be perfect to matter”), we open space for new, empowering frames. This narrative work accelerates insight and helps you craft a self-story aligned with your purpose.
Gottman-Inspired Partnership Coaching
For clients seeking better connection—whether romantic or professional—we integrate core Gottman principles: mapping needs and strengths, identifying communication “horsemen,” and building bidirectional influence. These relational lenses ensure that your support system becomes a strategic asset rather than an unexamined backdrop.
Together, these modalities form a comprehensive coaching blend—each chosen for its empirical strength and tailored to your growth edge. We don’t diagnose or treat; we partner with you to harness proven frameworks that propel you toward your most ambitious, values-aligned future.
