Dr. Patricia Papernow is internationally recognized as one of the foremost experts on “blended families.” For more than five decades, she has integrated her own deep clinical experience with the ever-expanding body of research to teach people around the world about the unique challenges of stepfamily relationships and what helps these families thrive. Her work has helped shape best practices for stepfamilies and for the professionals who work with them. She has received multiple distinguished awards for her contributions to family psychology and family therapy.
Dr. Papernow provides training and consultation across the U.S. and internationally to clinicians, as well as to school counselors, pediatricians, nurse practitioners, clergy, and others who are often on the front lines with stepfamily challenges. More recently she has expanded her focus to educating the many family law practitioners who serve post-divorce families, including attorneys, mediators, parenting coordinators, forensic mental health professionals and judges.
Dr. Papernow has just completed the second edition of her book, Surviving and Thriving in Stepfamily Relationships: What Works — and What Doesn’t. The first edition has been called “the best book ever written on the subject,” “a remarkable achievement,” “a lifesaver,” and “an incredibly good read.” This second edition adds 15 years of new research to our understanding of “what works” and it introduces nine new families. Like the first edition, it is full of both evidence-informed practical guidance and deeply moving clinical vignettes. Written for both helping professionals and stepfamily members and helping professionals it has already received rave reviews from both.
Dr. Papernow’s third book, The Stepfamily Handbook: From Dating to Getting Serious, to Forming a “Blended Family, co-authored with Karen Bonnell, combines Karen’s considerable skills as a post-divorce co-parenting coach with Patricia’s deep knowledge of stepfamilies. Together they have created a practical step-by-step guide that takes recoupling parents and their partners from falling in love, to moving wisely toward more commitment, to creating a successful stepfamily.
Dr. Papernow is also the author of dozens of professional articles and book chapters. She is frequently interviewed by national and international media. Her first book, Becoming a Stepfamily, is also widely recognized as a classic in the field.
Dr. Papernow is a psychologist in private practice in Hudson, MA, where she now devotes most of her time to training and consultation. As a clinician, Dr. Papernow draws primarily from the Internal Family Systems model, also integrating her training in couple and family therapy, Gestalt therapy, attachment, trauma, interpersonal neurobiology, preventive mental health, and learning differences.