What the workshop offers:
First a few facts
This workshop offers parents managing stepfamilies a place to formally learn about the common features of stepfamilies. This will better equip you for the task. A stepfamily demands different expectations and roles, so our aim is to encourage an awareness of the need to forge new ways of being in a stepfamily. If you ever said out loud, or perhaps just thought to yourself, “ARRRGH! This is not the Brady Bunch” or “No one told me how to be a parent in a step family”, this is the workshop for you.
It will also be an opportunity to share and acknowledge with others your emotional responses to living in a stepfamily. This is often a huge relief in itself.
Each participant will be provided with new strategies for coping with the difficult stepfamily dynamics and relationships. At the same time we will promote and practice the art of acceptance of each individual’s current and prior situation no matter how complex or difficult these are.
In these ways, there will be a balance between practical discussions and guidelines regarding what works, and exploration of your own creative solutions in a very safe environment. You will have an opportunity for both intellectual and experiential learning.
We aim for each couple to leave the workshop with a renewed, joint perspective which celebrates the viability and positives of stepfamily life, with better joint skills for dealing with the problems that just seem to keep getting in the %#@*ing way. The workshop will be led by a male/female pair of family psychologists who will (hopefully!) demonstrate the challenges and benefits of integrating different perspectives.
Topics covered:
Who is it for?
Couples of any gender managing a stepfamily. A stepfamily is a home with at least one child living there full-time or part-time where there is a blood / primary tie with one adult and no blood tie with the other adult.
When?
The workshops will be held over two consecutive Saturdays, 9:00AM to 4:30PM, starting in August 2014. (Yep, it’s two big days).
What is the cost? $600 per couple. This includes light refreshments, excellent coffee and light lunch.
The workshop leaders
Dr Henry Luiker – Clinical Psychologist MClinPsych Macq, PhD Syd, MAPS (Clinical)
Lorraine Corne – Consulting Psychologist BA(Hons)UNSW, DipEd, MAPS, MCCounP, IMAPA Lorraine has worked in private practice for 20 years. She has two clinics, one in Bellevue Hill and one in Gordon, on Sydney’s Upper North Shore. Lorraine works with adults, couples and adolescents. She works with a number of different therapies, ensuring that the therapy matches with the clients’ needs and outcomes. Lorraine has been involved with the Australian Psychological Society for many years, being a former chair for State and National positions in the College of Counselling Psychologists and was a founding member of the Interest Group for Children, Adolescents and Family.
Download full brochure: Making Stepfamilies Work brochure
Download registration form: Making Stepfamilies Work registration form
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