You feel like you don’t matter. You used to be your own person before you married someone with kids and now it feels like everything revolves around your partner and their ex.
You feel like you don’t fit in anywhere. Even though there are tons of people in blended families, it doesn’t seem like any of them are the same, and no one can related to what you’re going through.
Every decision in your home now is influenced by someone else, and it’s not you.
It’s like you and your marriage are on the bottom of the list of things that matter. It goes: 1) What the ex wants; 2) What the kids need; 3) What your partner will actually do; and in far last place is you.
You try to talk to your friends at work, but they don’t really get it.
Your life feels like chaos.
Schedules change without warning.
Any routine you put in place to make your life a better place gets washed away in the flood of other peoples’ decisions.
Lately you’ve taken to going off to cry (or scream!) by yourself…in the bathroom, your closet, or your car.
It seems like the only place you can get some peace and have space for what’s going on with you.
You’re sick of the stress, the sleepless nights, and feeling so d@#$ exhausted every day.
You love your partner, but if something doesn’t change, you’re not sure if this marriage is going to work out. You think to yourself, “there’s got to be a better way.”
You want to find someone who can help you focus on you and changing the things you can control.
Hi, I’m Kristen and I help stepparents learn to navigate the tumultuous waters of blended family life with calm and humor. My
clients experience change over time, because they learn to practice acceptance of the things they can control, focus on themselves, and only do the parts of parenting, which work for their family. Most days we laugh, sometimes we cry, and have lots of eye rolls along the way as we work through the incredibly complicated, painful, and exhilarating role of being a stepparent.
I am trained in connecting how our early life experiences shaped us biologically and work with stepparents to unpack how those adaptations are helping or hurting them now. My clients typically come to see me weekly, so they can develop a relationship with me and practice creating space for themselves, using their voice, and imagining their own hopes and dreams in this new family.
I will often integrate breath work and body movement to help teach how the brain and body are connected and so you have tools from session one, which can help you outside the therapy room when the schedule changes, unexpected expenses come up, or you’re just plain sick of being “not the parent.”
Therapy is awkward, I’m not gonna lie. It’s also a relief…
A relief to be able to take some time, practice new ways of being and laugh along the way.
If you are ready to stop feeling resentful and hopeless as a stepmom or in your stepparenting role, contact me for a FREE 15- minute consultation at 737-808-4888 or click the contact form to send a secure message to discover how therapy with a plan and the right therapist can make the difference in your blended family.
