Co-creating Familyness: Blended Families and the Holidays (Without CE’s) Tuesday, December 6, 2022

Co-creating Familyness: Blended Families and the Holidays

Tuesday, Decemeber 6, 2022 

6:00 – 8:00 PM ET 

Presenter 

Ron Deal is one of the most widely read and viewed experts on blended families in the country. A Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Licensed Professional Counselor, he is the founder of Smart Stepfamilies,™ Director of FamilyLife Blended® for FamilyLife,® and the author and consulting editor of the Smart Stepfamily Series of books, including the best–selling Building Love Together in Blended Families (with Dr. Gary Chapman) and the highly referenced book, The Smart Stepfamily: 7 Steps to a Healthy Family. Ron is a popular conference speaker, host of the podcast, FamilyLife Blended, and frequently appears in podcasts and the national media. He is an invited Fellow of the Townsend Institute for Counseling and Leadership, a member of the Stepfamily Expert Council for the National Stepfamily Resource Center, and has been training therapists for nearly two decades. He and his wife, Nan, have three sons and live in Little Rock, Arkansas. Learn more about becoming a Recognized Smart Stepfamily Therapy Provider at SmartStepfamilies.com. 

 Abstract 

The holidays can be a stressful time for all families. Blended families, who are in the throes of bonding new relationships, grieving the past, and forging a new family identity, can find the holidays intensely stressful. If not managed well, family gatherings can easily fracture already fragile relationships. However, holiday get-togethers, when strategically managed, can be an opportunity for blended families to carefully move their family forward. This Webinar will address family system dynamics, grief journeys, and loyalty conflicts that culminate in holiday stress and discuss therapeutic interventions mental health professionals can prescribe to restructure family relationships and foster family integration. 

Learning Objectives 

Participants will: 

1. Identify why stepfamily emotional distress often spikes during holiday seasons and learn how to help couples anticipate it 
2. Explain how to help individuals and family subsystems effectively grieve together during the inevitable upsurge of sadness that accompanies the holidays 
3. Describe how attachment, loss, and loyalty issues create competing attachments and barriers to family integration 
4. Outline practical coping strategies as a mental health professional to teach families about how to help multi-household stepfamily subsystems, such as co-parents, interact with one another during the holidays to diminish stress and increase family connectivity—and over time, build family identity  
5. Illustrate practical therapeutic procedures in working with remarried couples and stepfamilies and discern traditional therapeutic interventions not suited for stepfamilies   

 Continuing Education 

*Note: This Webinar is not approved for CE credit.