The Insider-Outsider Trap: Why Blended Families Feel “Stuck” and How to Find Your Groove with Alex Harrison, LCSW

About this episode

This episode explores the challenges faced by blended families and offers insights on navigating the insider-outsider dynamic.

“I feel like I’m failing on all fronts.” “I’m always the one left out.” If you are a member of a stepfamily, you know that the word "step" often carries a heavy weight. Between the Disney stereotypes of evil step-parents and the internal feeling that your family was born from a place of "brokenness," it is incredibly easy to get stuck in a state of high-alert. We try to "manage" the dishes and the schedules, but we often forget to look at the Human Being right in front of us. In this episode of Kids These Days , Dr. Courtney Lynn sits down with Alex Harrison, LCSW—a stepfamily coach and card-carrying member of the "Bonus Mom Club." They peel back the layers of the "Inside-Out" stepfamily experience, exploring why repartnering feels like a redemptive joy for adults but a series of losses for children. Whether you are a "Stuck Insider" feeling pulled in two directions or a "Stuck Outsider" feeling overlooked, this conversation provides the clinical anchors you need to move from chaos to calm. In this episode, we discuss: The "Disney" Narrative: Why we need to acknowledge the "implication of brokenness" baked into the step-parent identity. The Insider-Outsider Dynamic: A deep dive…

People in this episode

Host: Dr. Courtney Lynn

Guest: Alex Harrison

Topics covered

• blended families
• stepfamilies
• parenting challenges
• insider-outsider dynamic
• family dynamics
• emotional well-being

Keywords

• blended families
• step-parent identity
• family dynamics
• emotional challenges
• parenting
• stepfamily coach

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Bonus Mom Club

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