Surviving and Thriving as a Blended Family [Paperback]

Jerry Wilde (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: William Neil Publishing (May 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0964280620
• ISBN-13: 978-0964280625
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,223,197 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jerry Wilde is a professor of educational psychology for Indiana University East. Prior to this academic appointment, he spent years working with students who had emotional, behavioral, and learning difficulties. It was through his experiences with children and families that he learned the skills and techniques included in his books. His experiences with his own health problems have reinforce his beliefs about the nature of emotions. After experiencing kidney failure and being on dialysis, he was fortunate enough to receive a kidney transplant. However, he recenlty developed cancer in his transplanted kidney and will soon be back on dialysis. Through it all, Jerry remains optimistic and stubbornly refuses to let these difficulties change his outlook on life. Other than psychology, the great loves of his life are his family, the Iowa Hawkeyes, the Minnesota Twins, and Diet Mt. Dew. He can be contacted at [e-mail]

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars useful overview, superficial advice, August 8, 2004

By 

Peter Gerlach (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Surviving and Thriving as a Blended Family (Paperback)

I have specialized in providing professional education and therapy to divorced, courting, and re/wedded couples since 1981. I am (a) 71, (b) a stepgrandson, stepson, and ex-stepfather and stepbrother, (c) an invited Board member of the Stepfamily Association of America, (d) a contributing editor to 'Your Stepfamily Online,' and (e) the author of six personal-growth and family-relations books.

I recommend "Surviving and Thriving..." to readers who want a general overview of typical stepfamily issues. I do not recommend this book to anyone seeking to understand and avoid the core causes of stepfamily stress abd re/divorce. Like most lay and professional authors in this (stepfamily / stepparenting) genre, Wilde misses four core hazards that (I believe) every courting and re/married partner must know:

1) why and how to assess and reduce co-parents' psychological wounds from childhood (vs. divorce);

2) the origin and impacts of blocked grief in adults and kids, and how to spot and reduce it;

3) co-parent unawareness of five key topics: (a) normal personality formation, composition, and function; (b) keys to high-nurturance families and relationships, (c) effective communication skills, (d) healthy 3-level grief, and - for some - (e) stepfamily realities and norms and implications. and...

4) little effective re/marital and co-parenting help (i.e. courtship coaching, classes, informed counseling, co-parent support groups) available in most communities and the media.

In my experience, these factors will often block the best-intentioned adults from following well-meant re/marital and co-parenting advice, as in this book. If ignored, the factors inexorably promote choosing the wrong people to re/wed, for the wrong reasons, at the wrong time - and subsequent stresses and re/divorce. Awareness, acceptance, and discussion of these (and related) factors can reduce three of these stressors, and help to achieve high-nurturance stepfamilies.

[...].