In-Person Training (Knoxville)

This training is presented in partnership with Relationship Builders.

6 CE Hours

“Meeting the (Big!) Challenges of “Blended Families”: What Works and What Doesn’t”

Patricia Papernow, EdD

*A Professional Membership is just $125.
To join and receive a discount on this and other trainings, visit https://tlpca.net/become-a-member/.

42% of Americans have a close stepfamily relationship. This means that all clinicians (and school counselors and family lawyers and PCPs and…) find themselves dealing with “blended families” and the complicated dynamics they can create for adults and kids and their relationships with each other.

Stepfamilies are fundamentally different from first-partner families. The challenges can be intense. The good news is that we now know a lot about what works to meet these challenges. However, it’s very often quite different from a first-time family. Unfortunately, few ever receive any training in understanding these dynamics and how to work effectively with them. Using a first-time family map can not only be misleading, but all too often it’s destructive.

Come learn to navigate the intensity and complexity these families create for everyone involved (including, often, the therapist). Whether you work with couples, families, or individuals, with adults or with children, this workshop will give you a framework that integrates over 40 years of research and clinical experience with a wide variety of clinical modalities on three levels: psychoeducational, interpersonal, and intrapsychic/family-of-origin. Plus you’ll leave with a tool box for sowing realistic hope, softening conflict, and forging connection, as well as a boat load of great handouts.

Objectives:

• List some of the fundamental differences between stepfamilies and first-time families.
• Describe some of the challenges facing children in stepfamilies.
• Describe some of the challenges stepfamily structure creates for couples.
• List some concrete, evidence-informed strategies to meet stepfamily challenges.
• List some “best practices” for successful stepparents.

About the Speaker(s)

Patricia Papernow, EdD

 Dr. Patricia Papernow has taught about “blended families” all over the U.S. and the world, sharing what over 4 decades of research and clinical work tells us about best practices for meeting the often-intense challenges for kids and adults in stepfamilies. She has authored dozens of articles and book chapters as well as the leading books in the field, including Surviving and Thriving in Stepfamily Relationships: What Works and What Doesn’t, and, with Karen Bonnell, The Stepfamily Handbook: From Dating to Getting Serious to Forming a “Blended Family.” Patricia is the recipient of the award for Distinguished Contribution to Family Psychology from the Society for Couple and Family Therapy (American Psychological Association) and the Award for Distinguished Contribution to Couple and Family Therapy from the American Family Therapy Academy.

TLPCA Contact

If you any questions, please contact Megan McCarter Cates.