The Inner Circle

The blog is where I say what I can say publicly. The Inner Circle is where I say the rest.

For years I’ve written about intimacy, sexuality, and marriage for people navigating them inside a faith tradition that rarely discusses either well. That writing stays free, and it always will — it’s how most people find me, usually while searching something they’d rather not say out loud.

But there is a category of question the public blog can’t hold. The ones that need more nuance than a shareable post allows. The ones where the honest answer is complicated, or where I’d want to know you were reading it in a room with the door closed. The Inner Circle is for those.

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Two different things. You don’t need both.

Improving Intimacy: The Course is a finite curriculum — ten modules you work through privately, at your own pace, and keep permanently.

The Inner Circle is an ongoing membership — the essays I don’t publish, five private forums, live Q&A, and a premium podcast feed.

One is structure. One is company. Here’s how they compare.

	Free	The Course	The Inner Circle
Price	$0	$197 once	from $19/month
How long it lasts	Always	Yours permanently	While you’re a member
Public blog, podcast & newsletter	Yes	Yes	Yes
Ten modules, 46 lessons, 8 exercises	—	Yes	—
Progress tracking & certificate	—	Yes	—
Entirely private — nothing to post	—	Yes	—
Members-only essays	—	—	Yes
Five private forums	—	—	Yes
Monthly live Q&A + recordings	—	—	Yes*
Premium podcast feed	—	—	Yes*
Ask anonymously	—	—	Yes

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The Inner Circle — three ways to pay

Identical access in all three. The only difference is billing, and I’d rather you pick the one that suits how you like to handle money than have me choose for you.

	Monthly	Annual	One-Year Pass
Price	$19 / month	$190 / year	$190 once
Works out to	$228 a year	$15.83 a month	$15.83 a month
Renews automatically	Yes	Yes	No
Cancel any time	Yes	Yes	Nothing to cancel
Best if	You want to try it without committing a year	You know you’re staying and want two months free	You never want a recurring charge — or it’s a gift

On automatic renewal. The monthly and annual plans renew so your access doesn’t lapse in the middle of a conversation. You’ll get an email 30 days and again 7 days before any annual renewal, the date and amount are always visible in your account, and cancelling takes one click and keeps your access through the end of the period you’ve already paid for. No phone call, no retention script.

And if you’d simply rather not have a recurring charge at all — that’s what the One-Year Pass is for. Same access, ends when it ends, no card on file quietly waiting.

Prefer no recurring charge? Take the One-Year Pass — $190. Already a member? Go to your Member Home.

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What membership actually includes

Members-only essays

Longer pieces written without one eye on who might screenshot them. Clinical depth, real case patterns with identifying details changed, and the parts of this work I’ve learned not to put on the open web.

Five private forums

Start Here, Introductions, Course Discussion, Measured Successes, and Ask Daniel — where you can ask the question you’ve been carrying, under a name of your choosing, among people working on the same things. Nothing posted there is public or indexed by search engines.

Monthly live Q&A

One hour a month, live, where you can ask me directly. Submit questions in advance if you’d rather not speak. Recordings stay in the archive for members who can’t attend.

The premium podcast feed

Bonus episodes, extended interviews, and ad-free versions of everything public — delivered as a private feed that works in whatever app you already use.

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Improving Intimacy: The Course — $197 once

Ten modules, 46 lessons, and eight guided exercises, with progress tracking and a certificate at the end. You can read the full curriculum lesson by lesson before deciding — I’d rather you know exactly what you’re buying.

Nobody sees your progress but you. No community requirement, no live attendance, nothing to post. If the idea of discussing any of this with other people is the part that stops you, this is the one to take.

It’s yours permanently. A one-time purchase, not a subscription — you keep it whether or not you’re ever an Inner Circle member.

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Which one is actually right for you

The course if you want a defined path with a beginning and an end, you’d rather work privately, you’re doing this without a partner’s participation, or you want something concrete to return to for years.

The Inner Circle if what you actually need is somewhere to ask — if you’ve read plenty and what’s missing is a room where the question can be said out loud, or the answer to your situation rather than the general one. Start monthly if you’re unsure; it’s $19 to find out whether the room feels right.

Complete if you want both and would rather not think about it again for a year.

Neither, for now, if money is tight. The blog and the public podcast are substantial and free, and they always will be. Start there. Nothing here expires.

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What’s ready today

The Inner Circle is new, and I’d rather tell you where it stands than let you find out after paying.

Open now: the members-only essays and all five private forums.

Opening during the founding period: the monthly live Q&A, the recordings archive, and the premium podcast feed. Founding members get them at no extra cost the moment they launch, and hear first.

What that means for the price. These are founding rates, set below what the membership will cost once everything above is running. Founding members keep them for as long as their membership stays continuously active — including after the price rises for everyone else. You’re paying less in exchange for joining before it’s finished, and I’d rather be plain about that trade than pretend it isn’t one.

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Who this is for

Individuals and couples doing the work — whether you’re married, dating, divorced, single, in the faith, out of it, or somewhere complicated in between. You do not need a partner’s participation to get value here, and you do not need to have your position on anything resolved.

What this is not

It is not therapy, and joining does not create a therapeutic relationship between us. I can’t give you individual clinical advice here, and I won’t pretend a membership substitutes for treatment when treatment is what’s needed. If you’re in crisis, please reach out to a licensed provider in your area or a crisis line — in the US you can call or text 988 at any hour.

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Questions people ask first

Do I need the course to join the Inner Circle?

No. They’re separate and neither requires the other. Plenty of members never take the course; plenty of course students never join the community.

Can I switch between monthly and annual?

Yes. Cancel one and start the other from your account, or email me and I’ll sort it out. Nobody should pay twice because the billing options confused them.

Is my membership private?

Your billing name is never shown. You choose your display name in the community, and it does not have to be your real one. The forums are set to private, excluded from search engines, and your avatar is generated rather than tied to your email address.

What happens if my membership ends?

You lose access to the essays, forums, Q&A, and premium feed. If you bought the course — on its own or as part of Complete — you keep the course. That part is permanent and unaffected. You can rejoin later, though founding rates only hold while a membership stays continuously active.

Will the free blog get worse?

No. Everything already published stays free and stays up, and I’ll keep writing publicly. The Inner Circle is additional, not a wall around what was already here.

I’m not sure I belong here.

Most members felt that way first. You don’t have to post anything — plenty of people read for weeks before saying a word, and that counts as taking part. If it turns out not to be right, the monthly plan means you’ve risked $19.

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Daniel A. Burgess is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist specializing in couples and sexual health, and the author of Divine Sexuality.