You have an exciting, fulfilling job. You've fallen in love with the man of your dreams--and met his three kids Now what? Jacquelyn B. Fletcher shows how any professional woman turned wife and instant stepmother can build on the skills she employs at work--organization, team-building, goal-setting, and planning--to succeed at home in her new role as stepmom. Drawing on the latest research, her own experiences, and those of other real-life stepmothers, Fletcher offers advice, hope, encouragement, and much-needed answers to common conundrums, including:

• Why don't I have...

Practical, realistic, and upbeat advice--from sharing a bathroom to initiating conversations--for people who "inherit" children along with a new spouse. The success or failure of a stepparent to bond with stepchildren can make or break a new marriage. But this book has a refreshing message--it is possible to achieve longlasting, rewarding relationships with your new children.

Most stepparents feel caught in a bind because in order to connect with their stepchild, they have to reach out--but not too much, too little, or too deliberately. And relationships with stepchildren are...

If you are among the growing number of families in which adults with grown children have remarried later in life, you are probably familiar with the conflicts and complicated emotional dynamics that can result. Parents expect that remarrying will be easier because the children are grown up. But the reality is that these remarriages can cause painful struggles between parents and their adult children. Based on in-depth research by a psychiatrist and a sociologist, Step Wars trains a revealing lens on the sources of these conflicts and teaches the skills required to manage them....

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...

By understanding the impact that birth order has on each family member, parents are better equipped to ease the transition into a new, different but functional family unit. Using his signature humor and real life examples, Dr. Leman provides both insight and...

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...

What determines whether stepfamilies remain together? What helps stepfamilies overcomes the difficulties of remarriage and become mutually supportive family units? How can mental health professionals better support this development? This book brings both clarity and depth to the unique and complex dynamics of remarried families. Patricia Papernow draws on interviews with over 100 stepfamily members, up-to-date research, a solid theoretical framework, and an empathic clinical sensibility to present an insightful model of stepfamily development, the Stepfamily Cycle. This details account of...

An honest and groundbreaking guide to understanding the complicated emotions that develop between stepmothers and children.

When faced with often overwhelming challenges, what woman with stepchildren is unfamiliar with that stepmonster feeling? Half of all women in the United States will live with or marry a man with children. To guide women new to this role and empower those who are struggling with it Wednesday Martin draws upon her own experience as a stepmother. She's frank about the harrowing process of becoming a stepmother, she considers the myths and realities of being married to...