PREPARING TO BLEND 2.0: EFFECTIVE PRE-STEPFAMILY COUNSELING ISSUES AND STRATEGIES

Course overview

In blended families, the rules are different. The majority of pre-stepfamily dating and engaged couples will walk into their wedding feeling unprepared and unequipped to address issues like co-parenting, finances, establishing family identity, and daily routines for their new life together. In fact, pre-blended family couples are about half as likely to get premarital preparation compared to first marriage couples; 75 percent get no preparation at all (Carroll & Doherty, 2003; Ganong & Coleman, 2004). Preparing to Blend 2.0 will address main issues and strategies for Mental Health Professionals, Marriage Coaches, and Ministry Leaders to equip couples and children for stepfamily living. The course will discuss competing emotional attachments, relational complexity, multiple households, and ambiguous relational dynamics in stepfamilies - and how the structure of pre-stepfamily counseling varies from traditional premarital counseling.