Blended families pose challenges

Blending families can be challenging, and reasons are many and varied. The National Step Family Resource Center points out that all step families begin with a history of loss. Step families form because previous relationships have ended.

Such a significant loss can bring on feelings of sadness, anger and fear, and many times members of a blended family may enter into the new situation on edge, guarding themselves against the possibility of experiencing that kind of loss all over again.

In addition, the very formation of step families creates “insiders” and “outsiders,” according to the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy. In traditional families, relationships are more fluid. Family members feel closer to each other depending on experiences.

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