Reviewer John J. Hohn:
John is a frequent contributor to web sites dedicated to writing and
publishing. Raised in Yankton, SD, he graduated with a degree in
English from St. John’s University (MN) in 1961. He is the father
of four sons and a daughter and a stepfather to a son. He and his
wife divide their time each year between Southport and West
Jefferson, NC. To learn more about John FOLLOW HERE
Author: George S. Glass with David Tabatsky
Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing
ISBN: 978-1-62914-431-3
Blending Families Successfully
Author: George S. Glass with David Tabatsky
Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing
ISBN: 978-1-62914-431-3
Blending Families Successfully, by George S. Glass, published in 2014, deserves much more attention than it is getting for all the wisdom brimming between its covers. Dr. Glass is a board-certified psychologist with years of experience in counseling parents and individual clients. In Blending Families, he gets out from behind the desk very quickly and speaks to his readers directly in an authentic conversational tone. The result is a genuinely warm, caring guide through the stormy passages following the collapse of a marriage and all the goes into starting over again from scratch.
The rate at which first
marriages fail has dropped over the recent decade, but the percentage
ending in divorce is still very high when measured against historical
norms. Worse yet, as Dr. Glass points out, second marriages fail at a
greater rate than first marriages. One major contributing reason is
that remarried couples clash over how the children of the new family
are to be guided and raised. Glass begins his examination of the
reasons behind these failures by focusing first on the difficulties
the newly divorced parents face.
Any reader who has lived through divorce will feel right at home with a chapter entitled “How Did I Get Here?” Most will recognize that awful feeling of having lost direction in life and contact with the true self. Glass knows. He shares of his own experience, from the many years he continued as a single parent through to his own remarriage and the blending of the family to include his children and his wife’s, and (yeah, get this) their own new baby. Within a few pages, most readers will very much in touch with the author and sense his presence.
The story isn’t entirely
the author’s, however. The selected episodes and the words Glass
shares from his work with clients are especially poignant. Readers
draw comfort from the realization that others have lived through the
same painful, confusing passages. Non-judgmental and compassionate,
Dr. Glass gives direct advice. No psycho-babble here. Readers are not
left guessing as to what the author meant. The advice is laced with
understanding. Go slowly. Be patient with yourself. Glass knows
current trends and fads.
He offers advice about dating, sleeping over, when to introduce children to a special other, how to manage expenses after the marriage, relations with former spouses. This twice divorced reviewer, thirty years into his current marriage and blended family, found the book full of insight and good useful advice. No matter where you may find yourself on the continuum that begins with trying to save a failing marriage, extents through starting over and from there on to the end of one’s days, Blending Families Successfully belongs on your bookshelf.
To be read, certainly, but also to be retained as a reference, as a guide, as a comfort. Glass is a name that should become synonymous with blending families as Dr. Spock is with raising children. Blending Families Successfully is destined to become a classic. Counselors everywhere should make it available to the clientele.