Divorce, Remarriage, and Blended Families
Evidence-Based Interventions for Helping Kids Cope with Loss, Loyalty, and Family Transitions
- Speaker:
- Steven O'Brien, PsyD
- Duration:
- 6 Hours
- Language:
- Presented in EN, subtitles in EN and FR, handouts in EN and FR
- Copyright:
-
Mar 13, 2026
- Product Code:
- POS055205
- Media Type:
- Digital Seminar
Description
Divorce. Transitioning between households. Remarriage.
For kids, these changes can feel like an earthquake - shaking their sense of security and belonging.
Children often become distressed and dysregulated, struggling to cope with circumstances beyond their control. Anxiety, depression, defiance, and school difficulties can quickly escalate when family conflict becomes chronic.
Parents and stepparents face their own challenges, trying to stay regulated while supporting children through unpredictable transitions. Add in complications like substance abuse, incarceration, or sudden abandonment, and the emotional toll multiplies.
Watch child-family psychologist, Dr. Steve O’Brien, for practical, research-informed strategies to help kids navigate loss, loyalty conflicts, and blended family stressors.
You'll learn how to:
- Build rapport and interview effectively in divorce and blended family contexts
- Provide age-appropriate coping strategies for kids facing chronic conflict or parental health issues
- Improve co-parenting and help blended families integrate
- Use family-focused art, play, and game therapy techniques
- Apply developmentally tailored CBT interventions
- Treat family-related anxiety, depression, and oppositional behavior
- Equip teachers with classroom tactics for distressed children
Empower yourself to guide children through some of life's toughest transitions - with confidence and compassion.
Credit
Program Information
Planning Committee Disclosure - No relevant relationshipsAll members of the PESI, Inc. planning committee have provided disclosures of financial relationships with ineligible organizations and any relevant non-financial relationships prior to planning content for this activity. None of the committee members had relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies or other potentially biasing relationships to disclose to learners. For speaker disclosures, please see the faculty biography.
NOTE: Tuition includes one free CE Certificate (participant will be able to print the certificate of completion after passing the online post-test (80% passing score) and completing the evaluation). Instructional methods will include PowerPoint, didactic lecture, and others.
Continuing Education Information: Listed below are the continuing education credit(s) currently available for this non-interactive self-study package. Program content is reviewed periodically per accrediting board rules for currency and appropriateness for credit. Credit approvals are subject to change. Please note, your licensing board dictates whether self-study is an acceptable form of continuing education, as well as which credit types are acceptable for continuing education hours. Please refer to your licensing board's rules and regulations. If your profession is not listed, please contact your licensing board to determine your continuing education requirements and check for reciprocal approval.
For other credit inquiries not specified below, please contact info@pesi.com or 800-844-8260 before purchase.
Materials that are included in this course may include interventions and modalities that are beyond the authorized practice of your profession. As a licensed professional, you are responsible for reviewing the scope of practice, including activities that are defined in law as beyond the boundaries of practice in accordance with and in compliance with your profession's standards.
For Planning Committee disclosures, please see the statement above. For speaker disclosures, please see the faculty biography.
Earn up to 6.0 CE hours. Please see below, for more details, as credit amounts vary by jurisdiction and profession.
PESI, Inc. is approved by the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association to offer continuing education for counsellors and psychotherapists. PESI, Inc. maintains responsibility for the program. This self-study activity is approved for 6.0 credit hours.
PESI, Inc., #1062, is approved as an ACE provider to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. ACE provider approval period: January 27, 2026 - January 27, 2029. Social workers completing this course receive 6.0 Clinical continuing education credits.
Course Level: Intermediate Format: Recorded asynchronous distance. Full attendance is required; no partial credits will be offered for partial attendance.
Canadian Social Workers: Canadian provinces may accept activities offered by providers approved by the ASWB ACE program for ongoing professional development.
This self-study activity qualifies for 6.0 continuing education clock hours as required by many national and local licensing boards and professional organizations. Save your activity advertisement and certificate of completion, and contact your own board or organization for specific requirements.
This self-study course has been approved by PESI, Inc., as a NAADAC Approved Education Provider, for educational credits. NAADAC Provider #77553. PESI, Inc. is responsible for all aspects of their programming.
This self-study course offers 6.0 continuing education contact hours in the Counseling Services skill group. Full attendance is required; no partial credit will be awarded for partial attendance.
PESI, Inc. is accredited as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation. Nurses completing these self-study materials will earn 6.0 contact hours. Expires: 01/18/2029.
Handouts
| File type | File name | Number of pages | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manual - Divorce, Remarriage, and Blended Families (1.6 MB) | 71 Pages | Available after Purchase | |
| Manual - Divorce, Remarriage, and Blended Families - French (1.6 MB) | 71 Pages | Available after Purchase | |
| Manual - Divorce, Remarriage, and Blended Families - Italian (1.6 MB) | 71 Pages | Available after Purchase | |
| Manual - Divorce, Remarriage, and Blended Families - German (1.6 MB) | 71 Pages | Available after Purchase | |
| Manual - Divorce, Remarriage, and Blended Families - Spanish (1.6 MB) | 71 Pages | Available after Purchase |
Speaker
Steven O'Brien, PsyD Related seminars and products
Steve O’Brien, PsyD, is a clinical psychologist with over 30 years of experience working with children, adolescents, young adults, and families in his Clearwater, Florida practice. He is a respected national consultant for mental health professionals seeking guidance on the treatment of anxiety and mood disorders, ADHD, Autism Spectrum Disorders, and adjustment challenges in divorced and blended families.
Since 2017, Dr. O’Brien has provided continuing education and professional training for mental health clinicians, focusing on evidence-based interventions for anxiety, depression, and neurodevelopmental disorders in youth. He is the author of The Essential Guide to Treating Childhood and Adolescent Anxiety, a clinical manual designed to enhance treatment outcomes.
His integrative-systems approach combines CBT, interpersonal techniques, and exposure/desensitization strategies, all tailored to the developmental needs of young clients and their families. Intensive parent consultation—emphasizing psychoeducation, communication skills, and behavior modification—is a cornerstone of his therapeutic work.
Dr. O’Brien has worked in numerous healthcare environments, including community mental health, psychiatric, inpatient/residential, substance abuse, and medical facilities. He also served as associate professor of child-adolescent studies at the Florida School of Professional Psychology. In addition to his clinical work, Dr. O’Brien is an app developer (Life@Home by Psychtouch.com) and a frequent guest on local news outlets for his expertise on childhood anxiety. Visit obrienpsychology.com for more information.
Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Dr. Steven O'Brien maintains a private practice. He receives a speaking honorarium, recording and book royalties from Psychotherapy Networker and PESI, Inc. He has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Dr. Steven O’Brien is a member of the American Psychological Association and the Florida Psychological Association.
Additional Info
Program Information
Access for Self-Study (Non-Interactive)Access never expires for this product.
For a more detailed outline that includes times or durations of time, if needed, please contact cepepesi.com
Questions?
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Objectives
- Identify developmental manifestations of childhood distress secondary to divorced/blended family stressors.
- Discover effective methods of rapport-building with children and parents/step parents to enhance treatment outcomes for anxious, depressed and oppositional children.
- Utilize semi-structured interview and observational formats for obtaining developmental, emotional and behavioral information about distressed children in divorced/blended families.
- Recognize five typical emotional/behavioral responses in children coping with stressful divorced/blended family dynamics.
- Implement developmentally appropriate cognitive-behavioral techniques with anxious/depressed children facing family transitions.
- Apply individualized behavior management and communication techniques for reducing oppositional behavior in children seeking control.
- Develop family-focused therapy techniques to reduce distress and disruptive behavior in children.
- Recommend classroom management strategies teachers can utilize for responding to children’s highly emotional or disruptive behavior at school.
Outline
CHALLENGES FOR CHILDREN FACING DIVORCE & FAMILY TRANSITION
Multiple Losses, Multiple Reactions
- Divorce Do’s and Don’ts
- How Kids Cope with Parental Missteps
- Reduce Children’s Distress due to Dysfunctional Co-Parenting
- Helping Kids Cope with Parents’ New Relationships
- Divorce-related Grief and Loss
- Differences Between Biological and Step-Relationships
- Through Children’s Eyes: Residential Invaders and Parent Stealers
- Healthier Family Functioning via Management Rather than Resolution
- Guidelines for Smoother Stepparent-Child Relationships
- Guidelines for Child-Focused Family Therapy
Possible "In-Between" Family Scenarios
- Companion-Only Parents
- Parents in Chronic Conflict
- Parent(s) with Chronic Health/Substance Issues
- Incarcerated Parent
- Sudden Parental Abandonment
- Polyamorous Relationships
TREATMENT TECHNIQUES FOR KIDS FACING FAMILY DISRUPTION
Intervention Strategies for Anxious Children
- The 3-R Approach to Anxiety Management
- Daily Relaxation Rituals
- Child-Friendly CBT (No Homework!)
- Family-Focused Play/Art-Infused Therapy
- Transition-Management Skills for Dual Households
- Root Causes of Oppositional/Defiant Behavior
- Defiance as Expression of Anxiety and Depression
- Social-Emotional Behavioral Assessment
- Cooperation and Consequences vs. Compliance and Punishment
- Creative Alternatives to Traditional Behavior Modification
- Effective Rapport Building and Interpersonal Approaches
- Child-Friendly Mood Management Skills
- Game Play Therapy for Frustration Tolerance
- Therapeutic Technologies
- Emotive Communication Skill-Building
- Vindictive/Revengeful Behavior
- Physically Destructive Behavior
- Aggressive/Violent Behavior
- Suicidal/Self-Harming Behavior
- Non-Suicidal Self Injury
- Repetitive Substance Abuse
- Socially Rejected/Excluded Children
- ”BASE” Method for Assessing Childhood Functioning
- Family-Related Stress and Academic/Learning Problems
- How Family Conflict Leads to Defiance at School
- Classroom Management for Disruptive Behaviors
- Special Accommodations for Highly Sensitive Children
- Feedback/Discussion Guidelines with Challenging Parents
- School-Wide Solutions for High-Risk Students
Target Audience
- Counsellors
- Social Workers
- Psychologists
- Psychotherapists
- Psychiatrists
- Therapists
- Marriage and Family Therapists
- Teachers
- Physicians
- School Guidance Counsellors
- Case Managers
- Nurses
- School Administrators
- Addiction Counsellors
- Other Helping Professionals who Work with Children
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