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Report Card - June 2005 - Divorce & Blended Families |
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The Problem One of the greatest challenges faced by a newly formed stepfamily is the process of blending. Blending occurs only after great effort is made by both the parents and the children to be a part of one another's lives and to accept a new family structure. Stepfamilies face many new challenges and adjustments including: defining individual family roles, child discipline, bonding, family traditions, involvement with relatives, finances, interaction with former spouses, and mourning losses. These challenges can be faced and dealt with successfully. LDS Resources The Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints provides a quick review of Ensign articles related to blended families on their website Providentliving.org. The actual list is located here. Perhaps the best single Church article on blended families is Uniting Blended Families written by Elder Robert E. Wells (Ensign, Aug. 1997). In his article, Elder Wells gives an account of his experiences growing up in a blended family and the unique challenges faced. He gives valuable insights on issues of remarrying, finding a new spouse, and meeting the challenges a blended family faces. He says, "Our blended family was successful because we were given love and respect as well as opportunities to serve and sacrifice." |
BYU Family Expo Conferences provide valuable resources on divorce and blended families. This annual conference features inspirational speakers much like Women’s Conference and Education Week but on a much smaller scale, is designed to strengthen families and to teach parents how to raise up a righteous posterity, helping to prevent the problems that often arise in modern family life. It is sponsored by the School of Family Life, Religious Education, the Alumni Association, and the Division of Continuing Education. A complete directory of talks given at the conferences since 1998 are available online.  BYU Families Under Fire Conferences also provide valuable resources for divorce and blended families. It is an annual event designed to give specific hands-on information and hope to families and church leaders who are struggling or dealing with different real and even tragic problems attacking our society, families, and individuals today. This conference features speakers who are experts in the fields of therapy, counseling and family issues. |
For a directory of talks given since 2000, visit the following link: http://ce.byu.edu/cw/fuf/archives/. Some of the favorites have been James D. MacArthur 2005 talk on The Functional Family at Family Expo and Jan Scharman 2000 talk on Developmental Stages of Stepfamilies - The Stepfamily Cycle at Families Under Fire. Foundation Website Brent & Jan Scharman have provided several personal articles on blended families. A collection of these articles is located on our website Mentalhealthlibrary.info at Scharman Index On Stepfamilies . There are numerous other sources of help for divorce and blended families. Among those listed on our website are: Step Family Association of America and Focus on the Family New Spanish Website AyudaParaMi.info We are creating a Spanish version of the Mental Health Library. This new website currently has LDS and general resources available in most of the our mental health topics. "Ask the Librarian" will soon be available on the website as well. However, we need your help in building this library of resources. Visit AyudaParaMi.info to take a look at this new website. Please provide comments and/or submit resources, by completing the feedback form. Your suggestions are crucial as we build this library of resources. |
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