Divorce, Remarriage, and Blended Families


Book Description

Dr. Pino is a clinical psychologist and the Executive Director of the Monsignor Carr Institute. He is an Associate Professor in Psychology at D’Youville and Canisius Colleges. Dr. Pino is the author of Personalized Marriage Preparation and Family Enrichment. He has also developed the Children’s Version of the Family Environment Scales. He is the author of Training Consultants: Workbook/Reader for Mental Health and School Personnel.




Stepfamilies


Book Description

Based on a landmark longitudinal study, the nation's leading expert on stepfamilies reveals his breakthrough findings and offers the first detailed guide to easing the conflicts of stepfamily life and healing the scars of divorce. There are more than twenty million stepfamilies in America. For most of them, the simple, daily issues that challenge every family are even more anxiety-provoking. After conducting a comprehensive nine-year-long study funded by the National Institutes of Health, Dr. James H. Bray has written an invaluable book that explains why over half of all stepfamilies fail and reveals the strategies that help the others succeed. A stepfamily is assaulted on all sides by difficult and often divisive questions. How much control should a stepparent have over a stepchild? How much authority should a nonresidential parent exert over a child? How should a difficult former spouse be handled? How does an "ours" baby change the emotional dynamic in a stepfamily? Why is there a lack of "honeymoon effect" during the first years of stepfamily life? The purpose of Stepfamilies is to answer all the important questions of stepfamily life--to fill in the knowledge gaps that undermine so many stepfamilies today and, crucially, to learn the effect of stepfamily life on children. Based on one of the largest and longest studies of stepfamily life ever conducted, Stepfamilies interweaves the stories of real families to illustrate such study findings as how: a stepfamily has its own natural life cycle a stepfamily takes several years to develop into a family unit a stepfamily is at greatest risk during the first two years a stepfamily ultimately coalesces into one of three forms a stepfamily must solve four basic tasks in order to succeed a stepfamily can help heal the scars of divorce Filled with emotional, gripping stories, Bray's findings pinpoint the three major transitions in stepfamily life and identify the riskiest issues that can throw a family into crisis. Bray is the first to identify the several distinct forms that stepfamilies take and to explore which types of stepfamilies are more vulnerable than others and why. He also describes the natural life cycle of stepfamilies and basic tasks all stepfamilies must undertake to succeed. With a wealth of insight into the positive effects of remarriage, Bray shows how a loving, well-functioning stepfamily can lessen the trauma of divorce and restore a child's and family's sense of security. Most stepparents remarry with the highest hopes and new resolutions for a better life. Never before have their unique needs been addressed in depth. Through insightful case studies and practical advice, Stepfamilies reveals how a strong, stable stepfamily is as capable as a nuclear family of nurturing healthy development, of imbuing values, of setting limits and boundaries, and of providing a structure in which rules for living a moral and productive life are transmitted, tested, rebelled against, and ultimately affirmed. Bray's positive message and fascinating findings--many of which defy intuition--will put stepfamilies on the road to lifelong harmony.




Blending Families


Book Description

Even under the best of circumstances, marriage in a blended family is challenging. From parenting to ex-spouses to past hurts, couples face many obstacles. In Blending Families, eighteen successful stepfamilies will show you how they've learned to overcome their everyday challenges. Whether you ve been married for years or just preparing for the journey, Blending Families is the essential resource to help you breakthrough and have a successful family that will thrive for years to come.About the AuthorJimmy Evans is Founder and CEO of MarriageToday, a ministry that is devoted to helping couples thrive in strong and fulfilling marriages and families. Jimmy and his wife Karen co-host MarriageToday with Jimmy and Karen, a nationally syndicated television program which is broadcast daily into over 110 million homes in America and more than 200 countries worldwide.




Remarried with Children


Book Description

It's the most daunting task many parents will ever face: bringing two growing families together into one brand new marriage. But even though statistics show that most remarriages are at high risk--especially when there are kids involved--more and more people are learning how to make them work and more and more kids are coming out of them with their psyches and souls intact. This honest and hopeful book looks at those successes--and at some failures--to show what they have in common: ten essential secrets that are at the heart of a healthy blended family. As a stepparent with six children in a blended family, Barbara LeBey draws on her own family's hard-won success, as well as on extensive interviews and new research to show how to navigate the stresses, sticking points, pitfalls and perils most couples don't even anticipate. Starting with her first controversial secret--that the new marriage comes first, even before the demands of the children--LeBey debunks prevalent stepfamily myths and anticipates common traps. (Among them, money issues, warring stepsiblings, and destructive exes.) A strong advocate for children (including how to guard against fade-out parenting), she also suggests ways that in-laws, schools, and the legal system itself could provide better support for blended families. REmarried with Children is an expert, compassionate, down-to-earth book to turn to over and over again for advice, support and sanity. Key topics include how to: -Meet your children's and stepchildren's needs--without letting them undermine your new marriage -Understand the new roles, new rules, and the new relationships for children and stepchildren of a blended family -Deal with angry and/or manipulative exes--without adding fuel to the fire -Handle key decisions about finances, religion, traditions, behavior and discipline -Maintain healthy relationships with your children's grandparents--and other relatives--from a previous marriage -Recognize warning signs of trouble ahead--and get the help you need







The Secret to Blended Families Marriage and Parenting Success


Book Description

Whether you have children that are a product of a divorce, death or other life-changing experience, adding a new set of siblings and parents into the mix is something that is a traumatic event, no matter how pleasantly it goes. When an adult decides to move on and take that fateful step into marriage once again, the families that result from that marriage can be quite a combo. In this book, Daren Carstens, along with his wife, help you with advice, ideas and theories that will help you along this new road that you are traveling. You will learn how to love your spouse more, properly discipline your biological and step-children, create a fun, loving household, and move on by grasping the joy that each day in a blended family provides. With their help you will realize that things that may seem like a curse can be turned into amazing blessings. Life is precious and learning how to live a peaceful one, inside of a house of different personalities is something to be treasured. Are you part of a blended family? Have you been struggling to make everyone in your home feel special and equal? From step-brothers and step-sisters to live-in grandparents and adopted children, blending a family is a complicated and long process. With the help of Daren Carstens and his wife Laura, you will walk through a step by step process and be led into a peaceful, productive family life, marriage, and personal life. Are you divorced? Have you adopted a child? Or has grandma moved in to the spare bedroom? All of these things are examples of the components that make up the different parts of a blended family. All of these things are examples of the components that make a blended family so difficult to transition into a cohesive unit. This book will help you manage your marriage, whether it is a new marriage after divorce or death, in which you are blending two previous families into one. You will get tips of the trade from an experienced family, along with the inspiration that it takes to help you create a foundation that will withstand any storm. By reading this book you gain the tools that you need to deal with strife, rebellion, and disagreements and those tools will help you to build a strong family that lives a fun, peaceful life. Packed full of quotes and stories, this book will also help you ease your stress over your new situation, bickering within your family, and the personal trauma that every person in the family unit goes through after a big change. You will learn to regain your love for each other and your passions in life and explore those passions as a family, set to tackle the world together. Throughout this book we will explore how to handle the tensions between new siblings by teaching brothers and sisters to become lifelong friends. When you look inside you will see that Daren explores different theories on how to stop jealousy between siblings, how to assure that everyone in the household feels special, and creative ways to celebrate each other on a daily basis. You will learn how to deal with marital disagreements and how the way that you deal with those disagreements will affect the rest of your family. You will gain insight into why our behavior is so important to the rest of the family and how to decide whether or not you need more help within your blended family. If you are in a blended family or you have a family member who is in this situation, the advice and leadership that Daren Carstens, along with his wife Laura, will give you, will prove to be an invaluable gift. Share this book with your spouse and work together as the heads of your family to bring the members closer. You will learn to give each other the support that both of you need as husband and wife and through that, your children will learn to support each other. After you have used all of these wonderful tools, please be sure to review this book so that others can gain insight into how they may be inspired by it.




Fierce Marriage


Book Description

Ryan and Selena Frederick were newlyweds when they landed in Switzerland to pursue Selena's dream of training horses. Neither of them knew at the time that Ryan was living out a death sentence brought on by a worsening genetic heart defect. Soon it became clear he needed major surgery that could either save his life--or result in his death on the operating table. The young couple prepared for the worst. When Ryan survived, they both realized that they still had a future together. But the near loss changed the way they saw all that would lie ahead. They would live and love fiercely, fighting for each other and for a Christ-centered marriage, every step of the way. Fierce Marriage is their story, but more than that, it is a call for married couples to put God first in their relationship, to measure everything they do and say to each other against what Christ did for them, and to see marriage not just as a relationship they should try to keep healthy but also as one worth fighting for in every situation. With the gospel as their foundation, Ryan and Selena offer hope and practical help for common struggles in marriage, including communication problems, sexual frustration, financial stress, family tension, screen-time disconnection, and unrealistic expectations.




Raising Children in Blended Families


Book Description

A realistic and forthright resource, this practical guide for parents of blended families helps adults understand their children's feelings and cope with arising difficulties.




The Blended Family


Book Description

Based on personal experience and expert insight, this book can help your new family learn to work and play together and to love and respect each other.




Divorce and Blended Families


Book Description

Offers information and advice on divorce and blended families, including how to make household transitions more smooth.