What Is Taught?
Stepfamilies and their relationships differ from first marriages in many ways, so which differences are the focus of stepfamily education? The major topics included in stepfamily education programs are listed in Table 13.1. Not surprisingly, these 20 interrelated, overlapping topics reflect the 12 clinical tenets covered in Chap. 12. These topics are organized around: (1) educating stepfamily members about how
Table 13.1 Content of stepfamily education programs
|
Content |
Stepfamily educational program |
|
Stepfamily challenges and “issues” |
Messinger et al. (1978), Pill (1981), Brady and Ambler (1982), Stroup (1982), Nadler (1983), Cuddeby (1984), Gibbard (1998), Nicholson and Sanders (1999), Michaels (2000, 2006), Adler- Baeder (2007), Gelatt, Adler-Baeder, and Seeley (2010), Skogrand, Dansie, Higginbotham, Davis, and Barrios-Bell (2011) |
|
Stepfamily development and complexity |
Pill (1981), Brady and Ambler (1982), Nadler (1983), Mandell and Birenzweig (1990), Bielenberg (1991), Higbie (1994), Fausel (1995), Henderson (2001), Trone (2002), Michaels (2000, 2006), Adler-Baeder (2007), Gelatt, Adler-Baeder, and Seeley (2010), Skogrand et al. (2011) |
|
Unrealistic expectations/myths about stepfamily relationships |
Messinger et al. (1978), Brady and Ambler (1982), Ellis (1984), Michaels (2000, 2006), Gelatt, Adler-Baeder, and Seeley (2010), Skogrand et al. (2011) |
|
Normalizing stepfamily experiences |
Ellis (1984), Michaels (2000, 2006), Adler-Baeder (2007), Skogrand et al. (2011) |
|
Stepfathering/stepparenting |
Pill (1981), Webber, Sharpley, and Rowley (1988), Higbie (1994), Gibbard (1998), Henderson (2001), Michaels (2000, 2006), Adler-Baeder (2007), Gelatt, Adler-Baeder, and Seeley (2010), Skogrand et al. (2011) |
|
Relationships with former spouses/ co-parenting |
Messinger et al. (1978), Pill (1981), Bielenberg (1991), Fausel (1995), Gibbard (1998), Michaels (2000, 2006), Adler-Baeder (2007), Skogrand et al. (2011) |
|
Child loyalty conflicts |
Messinger et al. (1978) |
(continued)
Table 13.1 (continued)
|
Content |
Stepfamily educational program |
|
Strengthening the couple |
Pill (1981), Ellis (1984), Webber et al. (1988), Bielenberg (1991), Higbie (1994), Fausel (1995), Gibbard (1998), Henderson (2001), Michaels (2000, 2006), DeGarmo and Forgatch (2007), Adler-Baeder (2007), Bullard et al. (2010), Gelatt, Adler-Baeder, and Seeley (2010), Skogrand et al. (2011) |
|
Integrating the stepparent |
Nicholson and Sanders (1999), Adler-Baeder (2007), Skogrand et al. (2011) |
|
Helping children adjust |
Bielenberg (1991), Higbie (1994), Henderson (2001) |
|
Financial decisions |
Higbie (1994), Skogrand et al. (2011) |
|
Communication skills |
Stroup (1982), Nadler (1983), Cuddeby (1984), Nelson and Levant (1991), Higbie (1994), Fausel (1995), Gibbard (1998), Nicholson and Sanders (1999), Henderson (2001), Adler-Baeder (2007), Gelatt, Adler-Baeder, and Seeley (2010), Skogrand et al. (2011) |
|
Problem solving skills |
Stroup (1982), Nadler (1983), Webber et al. (1988), Mandell and Birenzweig (1990), Nicholson and Sanders (1999), DeGarmo and Forgatch (2007), Bullard et al. (2010), Skogrand et al. (2011) |
|
Conflict resolution skills |
Cuddeby (1984), Gelatt, Adler-Baeder, and Seeley (2010) |
|
Stress management skills |
Fausel (1995) |
|
Parenting skills |
Cuddeby (1984), Nelson and Levant (1991), Fausel (1995), Nicholson and Sanders (1999), Adler-Baeder (2007), DeGarmo and Forgatch (2007), Bullard et al. (2010), Gelatt, Adler-Baeder, and Seeley (2010), Skogrand et al. (2011) |
|
Role clarification |
Mandell and Birenzweig (1990), Bielenberg (1991), Adler-Baeder (2007), Skogrand et al. (2011) |
|
Family strength building |
Duncan and Brown (1992), Adler-Baeder (2007), DeGarmo and Forgatch (2007), Bullard et al. (2010) |
|
Maintain parent-child relationships |
Adler-Baeder (2007), Skogrand et al. (2011) |
|
Maintain child’s ties with nonresidential parent |
Adler-Baeder (2007), Skogrand et al. (2011) |
their families are structurally and dynamically different from first-marriage families, (2) building general interpersonal skills, and (3) building stepfamily-specific skills (Adler-Baeder, Russell, et al., 2010 ; Lucier-Greer & Adler-Baeder, 2011) . The content of stepfamily education does not seem to vary if programs are billed as pre-remarriage or post-remarriage educational programs. Moreover, the content reflects to a great extent what therapists and counselors do in their work with step- families (e.g., Berger, 1998; Bernstein, 2006; Browning & Artelt, 2012; Cartwright, 2003 ; Gold, 2010 ; Lawton & Sanders, 1994; Papernow, 2013 ; Visher & Visher, 1996 ).
