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Step Families

Introduction

Building a new family is an exciting but challenging time.   Stepfamily life can be a happy experience for many people, however, the stepfamily experience can become difficult and joyless.   According to Newman (2004, p. 3) many people make the mistake of thinking that a stepfamily is like a first time family and they try to be like the families they just came from.   Also, starting a stepfamily has often come about because of loss such as divorce and death, and maybe starting a stepfamily is surrounded by current losses for example, children moving to a new home and losing their own bedrooms (Healy 2002, p. 24).   Stepparents may be faced with many difficulties, however there are practical strategies that can be implemented to help stepfamilies come to terms with their challenges and adapt successfully to their new lives.  

According to Newman (2004, p. 4) “A stepfamily is a family where at least one partner has at least one child from a previous relationship.   Stepfamilies come in many different shapes and sizes.   They have many different types of living arrangements and patterns of interaction”.   Stepfamilies don’t start with an empty slate and as Goldenberg and Goldenberg (2008, p. 47) state they are born out of relationship losses and the abandonment of hopes and dreams in the previous family.   According to Einstein and Albert (1986, p. 15) for the children, the remarriage might be the event that crushes their hopes and dreams that their parents will get back together and for the parents, unfinished business from their previous relationship can trigger negative feelings that can invade a new relationship.   Healy (2002, p. 24) states that if there are unresolved feelings such as anger, grief, shame, anxiety
or guilt then professional support is essential before entering a new relationship.
Goldenberg and Goldenberg (2008, p. 47) postulate that “structurally, remarriage and consequent stepfamily life is complex, whereby a variety of parental...