Common Challenges of Stepfamilies

In her book, “Surviving and Thriving in Stepfamily Relationships: What Works and What Doesn’t,” Patricia Papernow, EdD, discusses the five common challenges that a stepfamily can face and offers some straightforward guidance to help address them.

Focus on the Home Team

Couples can actually learn a few valuable tricks from their favorite teams. According to marriage researcher, John Gottman, PhD., happy couples have a few things in common: They have friendship and admiration, they have each other’s back, they handle conflict well, and they have a sense of “we-ness”. With these characteristics, they form a pretty strong team that can handle life’s toughest challenges.

Finding the Right Therapist

We’ve put together a list of questions that may be helpful for you to ask as you are considering who to choose as a therapist!

What to Expect in Couples Counseling

Starting counseling can be a daunting experience – especially couples counseling. In fact, most couples put it off until they just can’t take it anymore.

Is Contempt Wrecking Your Relationship?

Contempt happens when we take a stance of superiority over our partner. While contempt can be clearly delivered in a direct verbal message of superiority, it is often delivered non-verbally.