Becoming Family: How to Build a Stepfamily That Really Works

More than one in five families with two parents is a stepfamily and eight million children live in stepfamilies. The stepfamily is both a wonderful blessing and a challenge.

Drawing on their own experiences and that of the stepfamilies with which they have worked, Robert and Jeanette Lauer give practical advice on how to deal with the top ten challenges in stepfamily life: Loss / Adjustment / Personal Identity / Family Identity / Loyalty / Conflicts / Former Spouses / Resources / Step Parenting / Marital Intimacy.

The authors encourage the formation of stepparents support groups, and an appendix includes activities and suggestions for small-group discussion.