Stepfamily Therapy: A Map in the Wilderness
Sept 25, 2009 - Mark your calendar
Professional counselors workshop (one-day).
Presented by Ron L. Deal, LMFT, LPC.
Hosted by Abilene Christian University, Dept. of Marriage & Family Therapy, University Counseling Center, TAMFT & ABAMFT
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Ron is Founder and President of As For Me And My House Ministries, LLC, which provides marriage and family training and family ministry consulting to church leaders. For over a decade he has specialized in educating stepfamilies and equipping churches to minister to them. He and his wife, Nan, speak on a variety of family topics together including marital communication, parenting, and sexuality (see family seminars). 
Nan serves as Vice President of Ministry Outreach for As For Me And My House Ministries/Successful Stepfamilies and is a freelance voice talent (www.nansvoice.com). Together, they manage a specific arm of As For Me And My House Ministries called Successful Stepfamilies, an education and consulting ministry that empowers stepfamilies toward healthy living and equips churches to minister to the unique needs of stepfamilies. Ron is author of the book The Smart Stepfamily: Seven Steps to a Healthy Family, coauthor with Laura Petherbridge of the forthcoming book The Smart Stepmom: Practical Steps to Help You Thrive (release date Oct 2009), and coauthor with Dr. David Olson of the forthcoming book The Remarriage Couple Checkup (release date Feb 2010). Ron's conference for couples in stepfamilies, Building A Successful Stepfamily, is presented monthly in churches throughout the country. Formerly Ron served as Stepfamily Educational Consultant to Focus on the Family; currently he is a member of the Stepfamily Expert Council for the National Stepfamily Resource Center. Ron is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Licensed Professional Counselor with 20 years experience in local church ministry.
Ron served as a member of the Couple Checkup Research Team (headed by Dr. David Olson, Life Innovations) which conducted the two largest studies of marriage ever accomplished. They studied over 100,000 marriages and remarriages (over 200,000 people surveyed) and examined the qualitative differences between highly satisfied marriages and low-quality marriages. The results of their groundbreaking research for couples are published in the books The Couple Checkup (Olson, Larson, & Olson-Sigg, 2008) and The Remarriage Couple Checkup (Deal & Olson, release date Feb 2010).
Ron's national radio appearances to address the needs of stepfamilies include "Focus on the Family" (and numerous FOTF broadcasts), "FamilyLife Today," "HomeWord" with Dr. Jim Burns, "America's Family Coaches" with Dr. Gary & Barbara Rosberg, "Live the Life" with AACC president Dr. Tim Clinton, "Josh McDowell radio," and many others. National TV appearances include "Reality Talks" with Dr. Kevin Leman, "MarriageToday," and "Marriage Uncensored" in Canada. He has written feature family and ministry articles addressing a variety of family matters for a number of publications and online magazines including Focus on the Family magazine, ParentLife, The Family Room, and Christianity Today. He also writes a monthly article for stepfamilies in HomeLife magazine.
On a regular basis Ron trains therapists, marriage educators, and ministry professionals at conferences including Smart Marriages, the American Association of Christian Counselors World Conference, and the Association of Marriage & Family Ministries conferences. He has spoken at the National Stepfamily Conference, and the Utah and Arkansas Governors' conferences on the family. He and Nan have been married since 1986 and have three boys.
