ABSTRACT
This chapter examines how emotionally focused family therapy (EFFT) can provide a map for family therapists to navigate the complex nature of divided loyalties and competing needs that characterize stepfamily life. The case example of Judy and Sam Munro will illustrate how EFFT would conceptualize this couple's difficulties and how treatment might unfold to help this family build and strengthen secure attachment bonds with the goal of promoting resilience for children. Stepfamilies statistics reveal that a significant number of people living in the Western world today will experience stepfamily life. Societal changes including easier access to divorce and more adults having children without partners have contributed to these statistics. Children are the members of the stepfamily that suffer the most in term of loss. Stepfamilies are harder for children to negotiate, and the adjustment period to this transition takes more time then adjusting to divorce.
