Step Parenting
Above photo is compliments of Tina Phillips@FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Susan Cohn, MFT & LCSW
Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist
Licensed Clinical Social Worker
21710 Stevens Creek Boulevard - Suite 101
Cupertino, CA 95014-1179
(408) 257-5772
Even in the best of circumstances, children and parents struggle with how to define the new family they find themselves in.
Alliances may lead to triangulating and placing one step-parent against the other, or one child picking on another.
Often discipline becomes difficult to maintain as the natural parent unconsciously defends their child’s behavior.
My goal with step-parenting issues is to help each parent clarify to the other how they feel the household and their children should be managed. Based on that, time must be spent on coming up with workable definitions of the new family rules that all parties can live with.
Often time is spent discussing a specific child, who may be acting out because of changing circumstances. The focus is how both parents can help this child adapt.
Please give me a call if you want to find out how more about how I can help you with these issues.
Step-parenting can be highly complex.
The age of the children involved, the way in which the divorced parents interact with each other and the changes the whole family has to adapt to (i.e. change in residence, school or finances) all affect how a step-family bonds.