“Blended families” come together with big hopes and fervent wishes for a loving new family. However, the realities of stepfamily living can create constant painful ruptures–within the couple, between stepparents and stepchildren, between parents and their children, and between ex-spouses. The longing captured in the language of “blended families” all too often adds layers of shame to dashed hopes.
For both therapists and stepfamily members, a first-time family map is not only misleading but sometimes even destructive. Whether you work with individuals, couples, or families, with adults or with children, the intensity and complexity of the issues can be daunting. The good news is that we do have solid, practical, evidence-based guidance about what works, and what doesn’t, to help stepfamily members meet their challenges.
Whether you work with couples or families, with individual adults or with kids, this workshop will give you a framework that integrates over four decades of research and clinical experience with a wide variety of therapeutic modalities on three levels: Psychoeducational, interpersonal, and intrapsychic/family-of-origin. You’ll leave with a clear map of the territory, a full box of tools for sowing realistic hope, softening conflict and forging connection, as well as a boat load of great handouts.
Learning Objectives:
- To describe some key differences between first-time families and stepfamilies
- To describe some of the major challenges facing “blended families”
- To describe a three-level model for clinical work
- To list some common “easy wrong turns” that clinicians (and stepfamilies) make in response to stepfamily challenges
- To list evidence-informed “things that work” to meet stepfamily challenges
Presenter:
Patricia Papernow, EdD is an internationally recognized expert on stepfamilies. Her work integrates a wide variety of theoretical models and is informed by over four decades of clinical practice combined with a deep understanding of the research. Dr. Papernow has authored dozens of articles and book chapters as well as the leading books in the field: Surviving and Thriving in Stepfamily Relationships: What Works and What Doesn’t, and, with Karen Bonnell, The Stepfamily Handbook: From Dating, to Getting Serious to Forming a “Blended Family”. She is the recipient of the award for Distinguished Contribution to Family Psychology from the American Psychological Association and the award for Distinguished Contribution to Family Therapy Practice and Theory from the American Family Therapy Academy. Dr. Papernow is a psychologist in Hudson, MA.
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Meeting the (Big!) Challenges of “Blended Families”: Rupture and Repair Up Close and Personal
March 14, 2025
10:00 am - 1:00 pm
Patricia Papernow, EdD
3 CE Contact Hours
Online