Most people think that remarriages should have a higher success rate than first marriages.  The facts, however, are that remarriages have a higher failure rate – we don't learn from our mistakes. Research finds that there is good news: we can learn from education and can improve our odds at success and avoid re-divorce by taking marriage education classes.  

People can do anything, even climb Mt Everest – even succeed at a remarriage with kids! – if they know what to expect and how to prepare.  We now have a tremendous amount of knowledge – research-based information that we didn't have just ten years ago about how to help stepfamilies not only succeed, but thrive. 

Visit the Stepfamily resource page for programs you can attend at your congregation or community center and also programs you can buy – watch the DVDs in your living room and follow along in the discussion guide. 

And, realize that you can also TEACH these programs in your community. They're designed to be presented by lay educators – just open the box, put in the DVD, and follow the instructor/leader's guide.You can be sure that your community needs such a program – start one!

Attend the Smart Marriages Conference to learn all there is to know about how to have a stable, sexy, satisfying, successful remarriage or to gain instructor training – to become even more skilled at teaching the courses in your community, or to use the material in your clinical practice.  All conference sessions will be interesting (stepcouples need all the basic marriage skills and information) but each year we feature a track or concentration of sessions focused on Stepfamily and Remarraige programs and issues. The conference is open to all - couples, singles, counselors, clergy, lay eductors - everyone is welcome.  

While approximately 50% of first marriages end in divorce, within five years of divorcing, 89 percent of men and 79 percent of women remarry.  - National Stepfamily Resource Center

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