ABSTRACT
Stepmothers are different from mothers both in reality and in fantasy. A stepchild may have two mothers and two fathers, and the child will surely be facing a very different psychological task, as it develops and has to negotiate adulthood, in comparison with a child who only has one set of parents. Divorce means that the original marriage has broken up because it has become untenable; the stable walls of family life have fallen down and stepparents can never rebuild the original dwelling, though most children will hope that they can. It seems clear that the therapeutic world needs to be more willing to acknowledge that there are many stepparents and stepchildren in society. M. Robinson's will need to establish her as dependable and trustworthy and as able to create a secure attachment to her stepchildren as any biological mother.
