Customer Reviews (1)

This book is about...
This book taught me about stepfamilies.This book had stuff that doesn't happen in my life but it was interesting anyway.This books teaches kids that there's different rules in different houses.I learned that some people can be different than you think they are.Even if you meet someone and think you might not like her, you might end up liking her. ... Read more

Product Description
Understanding Stepfamilies takes a large step toward achieving integration of the many variables presented in understanding the stepfamily system. The book examines the dynamics and resources within these complex family systems. It helps clinicians and researchers understand the underlying structural patterns and dynamics of stepfamilies, promoting more successful, positive treatment outcomes.

Chapters in Understanding Stepfamilies offer clinicians and researchers an international perspective, including contributions from the U.S., Canada, Israel, and The Netherlands. Readers learn of unique theoretical approaches to understanding stepfamily typologies and behaviors and specific clinical models for assessment and intervention, as well as more empirically-based findings regarding parent-child interactions. ... Read more

Product Description
A supportive, easy-to-read guide that takes readers step-by-step through each stage of divorce. From selecting an attorney to starting a new stepfamily, it provides insightful advice based on the latest research findings. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

comprehensive, specific, and misses 4 key points
I have specialized in providing professional education and therapy to divorcing, courting, and re/wedded couples since 1981. I am (a) 66, (b) a stepgrandson, stepson, and ex-stepfather and stepbrother, (c) an invited Board member of the Stepfamily Association of America, (d) a contributing editor to 'Your Stepfamily Online,' and (e) the author of six personal-growth and family-relations books.

I recommend this scholarly reference book to readers who want a readable, well-organized introduction to stepfamily life and clear opinions on how to (ideally) manage stepfamily problems. I do not recommend it to anyone who wants to know the core reasons most US stepfamilies are significantly stressful, and why most readers will be unable to follow Clapp's well-meant advice. Like most stepfamily authors, she omits meaningful coverage of these essential points:

1) why and how to assess and reduce co-parents' psychological wounds from childhood (vs. divorce). Most divorced and stepfamily adults appear to be significantly wounded - and don't (want to) know it;

2) the origin and impacts of blocked grief in adults and kids, and how to spot and reduce it. All stepfamilies follow three or more sets of profound losses (broken bonds);

3) co-parent unawareness of - and indifference to - five key topics: (a) normal personality formation, composition, and function; (b) keys to high-nurturance families and relationships, (c) effective communication skills, (d) healthy 3-level grief, and (e) stepfamily realities, norms, implications, and hazards. And...

4) little effective re/marital and co-parenting help (i.e. courtship coaching, co-parent classes, informed counseling, co-parent support groups) available in most communities and the media.

In my clinical experience, these factors will often promote needy, love-dazed courting co-parents to commit to the wrong people (mate, stepkids, and "other parent/s"), for the wrong reasons, at the wrong time. Then the factors inhibit co-parents from identifying and resolving these core personal, role, and relationship problems:

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Great, Wonderful Practical Advice
I have read many books on separation and divorce and how it effects the family and I found this one the best.It contained wonderful practical advice on how to survive the break-up and move on.

I have a lot ofconflict in my divorce and this book gave me some great advice on how tocope.I found the chapters dealing conflict most helpful and I would wouldhighly recommend it.I especially loved how it recommended handlingsituations with some humour.It helped to reinforce to me the importanceof minimizing conflict wherever possible.The book helped me stopped someof the insanity, take a step back and re-evaluate the situation.

Eachchapter contained little checklist of what was covered in the chapter,brief summaries. These are great for reference, when you need littlereminders in a hurry.

It is full of invaluable practical tips that shouldbe shared whenever possible.

What else can I say. I highly recommend it. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did.I couldn't put it down.Dispite how painful the subject is, the book was a ray of sunshine and sometimes even a chuckle.

A Life Saver
I bought this book on the advice of a counsellor and read it cover to cover while sitting on a mountain top in Montana.I went through a very ugly divorce and I was lost.This book was so profound it literally fueledmy recovery.Other than the Bible, no other book I've ever read (includingmany on divorce) has hit me so hard.I often give this book now as a giftand the response is always the same- very positive.A must read for anyonegoing through the agony of divorce especially with children.

Excellent Resource - have shared frequently
It is well written and clear insight into the complexities of divorce and parenting issues.It is very usable whether read in its entirety or only specific chapters.

Useful resource for parents trying to recover from divorce.
This 1992 book by Genevieve Clapp is a treasure. Less about Divorce than about New Beginnings, it concentrates on the healing process, with practical everyday guidance on getting on with your life.There's an obligatory section on how divorce works, with skeletal guidance on navigating the legal system, on selecting an attorney, on divorce mediation, and on getting your children through the divorce. The heart and soul of this work, though, is in the materials Clapp provides for getting on with your life after divorce, primarily for divorcing parents. There's some really good material on transition to a rewarding single life, including coping with loneliness. There's excellent guidance on managing your childen and your romantic life.There's a useful section on how to cope with being the noncustodial parent, including a helpful, if painful, section on how to deal with rejection by your kids. My personal favorite is "How to Discipline Effectively and Still Be a 'Good Guy.'"This is an excellent resource for divorced parents who are struggling with the task of moving on even though their divorce is more or less complete. ... Read more

Product Description
This book is a gutsy and heartfelt portrayal of a stepfamily’s trials and triumphs during their first seven years together.Based on the author’s family, an inspiring and truthful book that stepparents need to read. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A Must Read for Stepfamilies and Those Who Work With Them
This gutsy, graphic, honest account of one stepfamilies journey from shaky beginning to solid landing was inspired by the authors passion to share with others some of what she and her family learned in their wonderful and often messy process.The story of their finding their way unfolds in vignettes that are packed with precious and intimate jewels of learning about the unforseen pitfalls of merging two families to create anew. The author's committment to be of service to other families who are in this process is palpable.She brilliantly holds our attention while teaching lessons that we could not get from a text book. As a mental health professional I applaud this important and unique contribution. ... Read more

Product Description
Do stepfamilies experience greater levels of stressors than first families? Do they also experience more negative manifestations of stress? Find the latest research on these questions and more in this groundbreaking exploration of the complex factors and dynamics that make up stepfamilies. The Stepfamily Puzzle fills a gap in research that has not kept pace with the rapid growth of interest in this subject. It sets some of the pieces of the stepfamily puzzle into an intergenerational framework that includes the roles of grandparents, parent-child interactions, the struggles to define boundaries and achieve marital intimacy, and the underlying effects of financial support on stepfamily well-being.

The Stepfamily Puzzle compares the effects of stress in stepfamilies and conditions in other families and reveals that the differences between the two types of families may not be as dramatic as long assumed. It also examines in-depth the emotional and financial stressors that impact stepfamilies and how this stress is exhibited in family relationships. Other groundbreaking research presented in this book includes:

• the closeness of relationships between children and grandparents in stepfamilies as compared to children and grandparents in first families
• effects of ongoing attachment to the former spouse on post-divorce relationships
• stepsibling subsystems
• a comparison of self-esteem and behavior problems of stepchildren and children in other family structures
• social support received by children in stepmother, stepfather, and intact families
• quality of stepfather-adolescent relationships
• effect of child support on stepfamily satisfaction
  
  Therapists, attorneys, and those interested in the numerous therapeutic and psychoeducational programs, self-help groups, and trade literature available on stepfamily relationships will find The Stepfamily Puzzle a valuable introduction to current research in this area. By presenting the complex variables that interact within stepfamilies, this book helps professionals understand the dynamics behind stepfamily relationships so they can provide effective support and care.

Product Description

Product Description
Includes discussions and first-hand comments on some of the relationships and problems connected with stepfamilies. ... Read more

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It has been estimated that fifteen million children in the United States live in stepfamilies.

This book, by a husband-and-wife team consisting of a psychiatrist and a psychologist, gives an overview of the stepfamily and explains the importance of the stepfamily and its differences from the nuclear family.

With the rising rate of divorce and remarriage, more and more adults and children are today living in stepfamilies and encountering the unique adjustment problems and stresses inherent in the stepfamily situation.

Drawing upon their personal and professional experience the Vishers have provided a thoughtful, compassionate guide that will be invaluable for anyone who works with stepfamilies... as well as for anyone who lives in a stepfamily.

The Vishers' interest in stepfamilies began in 1959, when they were married and both became stepparents. ... Read more

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From a series which looks at subjects of specific interest to children which asks and answers the questions they most frequently raise. This title deals with stepfamilies. ... Read more

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Literature suggests that over 60% of American stepfamilies divorce, psychologically or legally. This translates into millions of anguished, traumatized adults and kids, who form an invisible subculture on our continent. There seem to be five combined reasons for this tragic, unremarked epidemic: _ co-parents' psychological wounds from low-nurturance childhoods, _ blocked grief, _ unawareness of key stepfamily realities and relationship skills, _ courtship neediness and idealism, and _ little qualified community and media help. ... Read more

Product Description
Nan Bauer Maglin is Associate Professor of English at the Borough of Manhattan Community College, City University of New York. Nancy Schniedewind is Professor of Educational Studies at the State University of New York, New Paltz. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

An honest book.
This is the first book I have read on the subject of stepparenting that did not try to sugar coat this sometimes painful situation. The voices of the women quoted in this book are open and honest.This is not an easy read as it will tap into any pain you have had as a stepparent.It is worth the pain. ... Read more