Nearly Half of Americans Are Part of "Blended" Families

Marriage Experts FamilyLife® and Ron Deal Join Forces for Blended Family Help

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Dec 08, 2011, 03:06 ET

LITTLE ROCK, Ark., Dec. 8, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Nearly 42 percent of adults, or 95.5 million people, in the U.S. have a steprelationship as part of a "blended family".(1) With so many people now learning how to relate to stepparents, stepchildren or half siblings, FamilyLife has hired Ron Deal to apply his 25 years of experience toward new resources for blended families.

FamilyLife understands that typical marriage education programs are not sufficient for couples in blended families. Instead issues like ex-spouses, co-parenting, finances and stepparent expectations become unique challenges for them to tackle.

"FamilyLife is delighted that Ron has joined us. Our efforts to help strengthen families will be enhanced by his expertise. We look forward to coming alongside more families by providing even more relevant tools to help them and future generations become stronger," said Dr. Dennis Rainey, president, CEO and co-founder of FamilyLife.

Ron Deal is founder and president of Smart Stepfamilies and provides marriage and family training and family ministry consultation to church leaders. As a licensed marriage and family therapist and licensed professional counselor, Deal has extensive experience in local church and family ministry consulting.

"I am thrilled to be part of this ministry expansion. Blended family ministry is often the most neglected type of ministry to couples and families," said Deal. "This merger with FamilyLife is going to dramatically amplify our ability to bring practical resources to blended families and empower churches to support families in their community."

About FamilyLife:

FamilyLife, the leader in marriage conferences for over 30 years, works in over 75 countries around the world to help to transform lives and restore hope through its marriage getaways, Homebuilders small group studies, radio broadcasts, Hope for Orphans orphan care ministry, published resources and FamilyLife.com. Over 2.5 million people have attended FamilyLife marriage and parenting events, and even more have used FamilyLife resources.

About Smart Stepfamilies:

SmartStepfamilies.com is the world's largest website for blended families and blended family ministries, providing conferences and webinars for couples, ministry leaders and therapists. The organization and Ron Deal's books, video resources and articles are a primary point of referral for remarriage and stepfamily training by many organizations. Leaders such as Dr. Gary Chapman and Gary Smalley have endorsed many of Deal and the organization's resources.

(1) Smart Stepfamilies http://www.smartstepfamilies.com/view/statistics

SOURCE FamilyLife