A First of Its Kind Blended Family Conference to Calgary, AB; Empowering Clinicians to Better Support Blended Families

Calgary, Canada, June 19, 2021 --(PR.com)-- Stepfamily Matters – a first of its kind conference in Alberta will provide expert training for psychologists, marriage and family therapists, doctors, educators, social workers and other professionals to understand the differences, complexities and unique challenges of today’s growing numbers of blended families.

After 4 years of offering Blended Family Couples workshops in Calgary and surrounding areas, the team at Journey Counselling Inc. are seeking to support the stepfamily community further by providing this research based professional development opportunity to clinicians. This is a live event hosted at the Deerfoot Inn & Casino from October 7 to 8, 2021. Very often clinicians working with stepfamilies discover something is missing. The training and education most received is based on working with first families; two partners and their biological kids. This approach ignores several significant truths about blended families and often leaves the therapist and family feeling frustrated and hopeless.

As of the 2011 census, 12.6% of Canadian families were stepfamilies with two married or cohabiting partners and one or more children under 25 that was not biologically related to both partners. Estimates are that 33% of children in the USA are part of a stepfamily and between 13 and 20% in Canada. More than ever, healthcare workers, mental health workers, educators and family support workers need to work confidently and knowledgeably to build stronger and healthier stepfamilies. “To marry again is the triumph of hope over experience.” ~ Samuel Johnson.

The main conference speaker, Dr. Patricia Papernow has taught about blended families all over the U.S. and the world. She has written about best clinical practices for meeting stepfamily challenges and shared current research about blended families in dozens of articles and book chapters and has authored the leading books in the field: "Surviving and Thriving in Stepfamily Relationships: What Works and What Doesn’t," and, with Karen Bonnell, "The Stepfamily Handbook: From Dating, to Getting Serious to Forming a 'Blended Family.'" Patricia is a highly engaging teacher, a systems and trauma-trained clinician, and an attuned caring clinical supervisor. She is the recipient of the 2017 award for Distinguished Contribution to Family Psychology from the Society for Couple and Family Psychology of the APA (American Psychological Association) and resides in Hudson, Massachusetts.

Also presenting will be Dr. Jeff Chang, Associate Professor in the Graduate Centre for Applied Psychology, Athabasca University. Jeff is a Registered Psychologist and a Clinical Fellow and Approved Supervisor with the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy. Jeff’s current practice focuses on families embroiled in high- conflict separation and divorce. He will be training clinicians on best practices when working with children in high conflict divorce cases while also navigating the legal minefields. He has authored leading articles and chapters in the area including the book, "Creative Interventions with Children: A Transtheoretical Approach." Jeff resides and works in Calgary, Alberta.

For more information: Journey Counselling Inc., Charles Coleman, Director, 403-829-8543 or info@stepfamilymatters.com