Stepfamilies 101: What You Need to Know

A slide presentation by Peter Gerlach, MSW
A stepfamily includes at least one minor or adult stepchild and one stepparent. Typical stepfamilies are very different from intact (“normal, or traditional”) bio-families, and face up to five major hazards. One of them is adult ignorance (lack of knowledge) of stepfamily norms, facts, and realities.
These 20 slides aim to reduce such ignorance by summarizing key things to know about typical stepfamilies. This presentation is for…
§Couples who may join or form a stepfamily,
§adults and older kids already in a stepfamily, and…
§lay and professional people wanting to support typical stepfamilies.
Option: take this self-assessment quiz on stepfamily basics. Then get clear on why you’re about to study this – what do you need?
Suggestion – to gain “the big picture,” study all the slides without following any links. Then return and follow any links of interest in each slide.
To view or hide the slide index, click the “Outline” icon in the lower left corner of your screen. To see the previously-viewed slide, click the left arrow  
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