In the past, stepfamilies, or blended families, have been seen as second rate compared to nuclear families. Nowadays, this view has shifted and there is a huge increase of stepfamilies seeking answers on how to more effectively deal with the challenges of this more complex family system compared with the nuclear families, and how to move towards successful family integration.

When people divorce and remarry, they often have unrealistic expectations and then are quickly disillusioned, feeling guilty and self accusatory when their new stepfamily does not integrate and settle down. Relationships in stepfamilies are not developed overnight, and integrating the different expectations and ways of doing things often takes a long time, it may take up to 3 to 4 years, to form a solid alliance and work as a team to meet the stepfamily challenges.