Stepchildren

Secret One: Put the marriage first
Remarried with Children: Ten Secrets for Successfully Blending and Extending Your Family
by Barbara LeBey
As a more mature person, you can do it right this time. You are en- titled to another chance at happiness, but this time the love that you start your marriage with has to be big enough and wise enough to embrace a ready-made family.

I’m Not Sure If I Am Afraid to Make a Commitment
by Ellen Kreidman, Ph.D
Do I go for this guy who has a few relationship kinks, but is more willing to work on building a solid relationship than anyone I have ever known? It kind of squashes my plans for my future, but would create a “family” future in its place.

Chapter One
The Lost Boy: A Foster Child's Search for the Love of a Family
by Dave Pelzer
Imagine a young boy who has never had a loving home. His only possesions are the old, torn clothes he carries in a paper bag. The only world he knows is one of isolation and fear. Although others had rescued this boy from his abusive alcoholic mother

Definitions
Stepmotherhood: How to Survive Without Feeling Frustrated, Left Out, or Wicked
by Cherie Burns
As a stepmother, you are initially perceived, falsely or not, as a rival to the most traditionally revered and respected biological force in the family - the mother. If that's not enough to put some drama into your life, there's plenty more.

Problems with his anger and the way he relates to my son
by Ellen Kreidman, Ph.D
Dear Dr. Ellen: I have been dating a man who is a recovering alcoholic. When I left him before he stopped drinking, he drove his fist through a wall in anger, then calmed down and accepted that he needed help. I really thought he was making progress. Alco

My hunsbands sister is dying of cancer and wants us to have the custody of her kids
by Ellen Kreidman, Ph.D
My husband and I are happily married for 5 years now and we are blessed with 2 beautiful daughters, aged 3 and 19 months. The problem is my husband's sister, a single parent, is dying of cancer and she has 2 kids, a boy, 15 and a girl, 10.

We split up because she decided that the kids were too much for her
by Ellen Kreidman, Ph.D
I'm a 35 yr old male, who recently split up with my fiancee. I have two kids m-9, f-3 from a previous relationship that had ended about a year and a half, when a girl and I got together. Our relationship was truly wonderful. For the first time in my life

Congratulations! You're Part of a Stepcouple
Stepcoupling: Creating and Sustaining a Strong Marriage in Today's Blended Family
by Susan Wisdom, LPC, Jennifer Green
A stereotypical first marriage follows the rhyme. A wedding comes after romance, and babies arrive later. Lovers ease into family life, adding children over a period of years. Unfortunately, for every two weddings celebrated in a given year, a divorce

He was excited that he would become part of my husband's large family, but…
by Ellen Kreidman, Ph.D
I was recently married after a two-year courtship. Because this is a second marriage for Bob and me, we had a private, small ceremony and an open house where we invited family only so they could get to know one another. My son John, 23, is an only child

Her daughter lives with us. Our relationships suffers and I can't address the problem
by Ellen Kreidman, Ph.D
I have been married to a wonderful lady for almost three years. We both have children from previous marriages. My problem is related to her children. Her son is 30 and her daughter is 26 and a single mother. I am an understanding and compassionate person

The Modern Stepfamily
Stepfamilies
by James H. Bray, Ph.D., John Kelly
The videotape opens with a shot of the wedding guests. About a hundred of them are gathered on the lawn in front of Temple Beth-El on what looks like a perfect spring day. The Texas sky above the temple is a flawless blue, except for a single cloud over