Note: The links below lead to the nonprofit educational Break the Cycle! Web site (formerly "Stepfamily inFormation"). Close new pages or use your ´back´ button to return here.
Stepfamily literature commonly
estimates that
well over half of American parents who attempt re/marriage after divorce or
mate death ultimately
re/divorce psychologically or legally. From my
26 years´ research on why
most couples can´t achieve the loving relationship they long
for, this practical Guidebook
for divorcing parents, stepfamily co-parents, and
supporters outlines and illustrates a sequence
of seven Projects to help them choose...
The "/" notes that it may be a stepparent´s first union. "Co-parents" means the bioparents and stepparents heading two or more nuclear-stepfamily homes. The sequel to this volume is The Re/marriage Book.
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...
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Is based on (a) 26 years´full-time live clinical and theoretical research, including over 17,000 hours´live consultation with over 1,000 typical divorced and stepfamily co-parents and some of their kids; (b) five well-hidden
re/marital hazards, and (c) a series of 12 co-parent
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 proposed definition of
high-nurturance families; and...
# a framework of seven effective-thinking and
communication skills,
and...
# healthy three-level
grieving
and healing blocked grief; and...
# a framework of specific stepfamily
realities,
meanings, and merger-adjustment
tasks.
A fifth uniqueness is that the book...
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Provides
Internet addresses to over 150 experience-based stepfamily
articles, worksheets, and other
resources to
augment its contents. This is the "textbook" for
a free, 8-module
re/marriage-prep course for courting co-parents,
based on
Projects 1-7.
And this book, Web site, and series are unique because of...
My personality, writing style, training (BSME and
MSW), and 69 years´ life experience (engineering, business,
teaching, and 25 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 divorce-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.
In summary, Stepfamily Courtship is the first book of its kind to help love-dazed, needy, unaware courting co-parents choose the right people to re/wed, at the right time, for the right reasons. The majority of U.S. stepfamily couples attempt stepfamily commitment basically unprepared - and most of them re/divorce despite their
love, determination, and commitment. The enormous tragedy of this is that the agony it causes millions of adults and kids is preventable! This is the third book in a re/divorce-prevention series that integrates most of the ~150 Web articles and worksheets in the related non-profit educational Web site.
Most topics in this book also pertain to couples who are considering a first marriage without prior kids
and those who are already re/married!
Build a
High-nurturance Stepfamily extends the three prior books with
five more projects for re/married co-parents and their supporters.
Table of Contents
Book Display
How to Make Three Right ReMarriage Choices