This book has its roots in the authors' 16 years of direct clinical experience with almost 500 stepfamilies, as well as their own personal experience as a stepfamily. In response to the dearth of resources for stepfamilies in the therapeutic community, the Burts have created an intervention that addresses the specific concerns and challenges of the stepfamily: the Step By Step Model of Brief Therapy. This important book outlines the model and its applications. The strengths of the Step By Step Model are in its simplicity and flexibility, and in the collaborative process between client and therapist. The authors' discussion highlights the necessity of providing clients with realistic perspectives, strategies, and tools that help them to be more in control of the stepfamily process. Whether related to interactions, adjustments, or developmental stages, the Step By Step Model is designed to accommodate the many forces at work both inside and outside the therapy room. This perspective will help any clinician, regardless of specific orientation, to bring into focus therapeutic strategies that help these families move forward.

Attempts to guide readers towards forming the remarried family, considering such issues as former spouses, new grandparents, and legal issues involving custody, visitation, adoption and financial arrangements.

Lesbian Step Families: An Ethnography of Love explores five lesbian step families’definitions of the step parent role and how they accomplish parenting tasks, cope with homophobia, and define and interpret their experiences. An intensive feminist qualitative study, the book offers guidelines for counselors and lesbian step families for creating healthy, functioning family structures and environments. It is the first book to concentrate exclusively on lesbian step families rather than on lesbian mothering in general. In Lesbian Step Families: An Ethnography of Love, you’ll explore in detail the different kinds of step relationships that are developed and what factors may lead to the different types of step mothering in lesbian step families. The book helps you understand these relationships and parent roles through in-depth discussions of: how a step mother and legal mother who live together negotiate and organize parenting and homemaking tasks how members of lesbian step families define and create the step mother role strategies family members use to define and cope with oppression how sexism is transmitted within the family and how mothering may limit and/or contribute to female liberation the opinions and viewpoints of the children of these families The findings in Lesbian Step Families: An Ethnography of Love challenge traditional views of mothering and fathering as gender and biologically based activities; they indicate that lesbian step families model gender flexibility and that the mothers and step mothers share parenting--both traditional mothering and fathering--tasks. This allows the biological mother some freedom from motherhood as well as support in it. With insight such as this, you will be prepared to help a client, a loved one, or yourself develop and maintain healthy family relationships.

Each member has their own unique place in a family. Ron Deal explores the myth of the "blended" family offering practical, realistic solutions for stepfamilies.

View the inner workings of healthy stepfamilies through the stories of twenty families as they discuss how their households operate. This enlightening book takes a deeper look at what adults and children in stepfamilies say about such issues as discipline, money, family roles and relationships with ex-spouses, and the development of new traditions and rituals. Incorporating actual words of family members, Developing Healthy Stepfamilies shows many ways in which stepfamilies function well through adapting new and different “rules” to fit their circumstances. The book concentrates on positive rather than negative aspects of stepfamily life to help dim the image of stepfamilies as problematic and also to instill hope in would-be stepfamilies by normalizing their differences from biologically based families. Written with the intention of disseminating information and increasing understanding about stepfamily functioning, this book is useful for stepfamilies, their friends and relatives, and professionals such as teachers, clergy, physicians, and counselors. Developing Healthy Stepfamilies draws a colorful picture of the creativity and flexibility such families have brought to their lives and relationships. Emphasizing what works in stepfamilies instead of what does not, the book illustrates the process of integrating a stepfamily, the value of humor and patience, and the richness that can unfold for all members of the family. The author, a family therapist and educator, has drawn together information direct from stepfamily members themselves, providing readers with first-hand knowledge of the daily workings of this fast growing family form. A showcase of stepfamilies that are functioning well, Developing Healthy Stepfamilies helps show would-be stepfamilies that “it can be done.” This is not a book of instructions; it illuminates the many ways in which stepfamilies can and do function. Some of the topics covered in the book include: definitions of a stepfamily a historical review demographics suggestions for new stepfamilies from established ones genograms of the families participating in the study As a group, stepfamilies are different from biologically based families in form and function. These differences are important for the families, and for those working with them, to recognize and accept as normal. Although intended to be an informative text for professionals and students in fields such as counseling and social work, this book also serves as a source of hope and encouragement for stepfamilies and prospective stepfamilies themselves.

Stepfamilies: History, Research, and Policy examines language use, laws, cultural stereotypes, media images, and social policies and practices to create an understanding of how predominant views about stepfamilies and stepfamily members are constructed within society. As the rates of divorce and remarriage continue to increase, it is more important than ever to overcome nuclear family ideology and abandon the model of research that compares stepfamilies with nonstepfamilies. This book shows you how honor and empowerment can be attained in new family structures and how alternative kin networks can be just as healthy as the traditional nuclear family unit.As this book examines the ability of different societies to integrate different family forms into mainstream notions of “family,” you will realize the damaging effects of treating stepfamilies as incomplete, undesirable institutions. In fact, Stepfamilies: History, Research, and Policy will challenge your notions of family over and over again, as it discusses: key relationships in stepfamilies stepfather involvement in parenting after remarriage meaning of gender in a stepfamily differences in “investment” between biological and nonbiological parents demographic change and significant shifts in the social and cultural implications of stepfamilies attempting to reconstruct a household like that of a previous marriage the impact of stereotypes on the internal dynamics of stepfamilies and on the interactions of stepfamilies with outsiders the absence of guidelines and cultural norms for role performance and problem solving in stepfamiliesStepfamilies: History, Research, and Policy discusses both the difficulties of forming new families and households as well as the factors that promote family cohesiveness and integration in stepfamilies. From stereotypes of stepmothers to ambiguous legal relationships to child maltreatment in stepfamilies to sibling relations, there isn’t much that the penetrating lens of this book leaves uncovered.

What ́s Different about This Book? This modular reference book and series for co-parents and human-service professionals is unique in the genre of stepfamily media for seven reasons. It is the only current resource that... Is based on (a) 30 years ́ clinical research, including over 17,000 hours ́ consultation with over 1,000 typical divorced and stepfamily adults and some of their kids; (b) five widespread re/marital hazards, and (c) 12 Projects to neutralize the hazards. This volume... Integrates six core concepts: # proven family-systems principles; and... # an inner-family concept of human personalities, linked to... # a definition of high-nurturance families; # a framework of seven effective-thinking and communication skills, # healthy three-level grieving and healing blocked grief; and... # a framework of stepfamily realities, meanings, and merger-adjustment tasks. A fifth uniqueness is that the book... Provides Internet addresses to over 150 experience-based stepfamily articles, worksheets, and other resources to augment its contents. This is one of several guidebooks for a free, 8-module self-study course for people interested in healing and self-growth. Lesson 7 focuses on evolving high-nurturance stepfamilies. And this book is different because of... My personality, writing style, training (BSME and MSW), and 72 years ́ life experience (engineering, business, teaching, and 30 years ́ practice of psychotherapy with hundreds of stepfamily clients). My learnings from personal "ACoA" recovery (from a low-nurturance childhood) since 1986 greatly influence this site and series of stress-prevention guidebooks. And... I have many years of personal experience as a stepgrandson, adult stepson, stepfather of two girls, and stepbrother of four - and an admirer of two haughty stepcats.

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