Jeannette Lofas, Ph.D., LCSW
America’s pioneering authority on divorce, remarriage and children Counselor, Lecturer and Spokesperson President and Founder of the Stepfamily Foundation, Inc. Certified Divorce & Co-Parenting Mediator

In 1995, received the first National Parent's Day Award from President Clinton for
"Your efforts in strengthening step relationships in families across America, and thus contribute to effective parenting."

 

 

Summary:

“My name is Jeannette Lofas and I’ve been there!” 

I’ve started out as an on-air reporter in broadcast news. I traveled the world covering presidents, problems and the arts. After 13 years of working for all three networks: ABC, NBC and CBS, I’ve decided to follow my mentor to Oklahoma City and work for CBS News.

My mentor and news director gave me full authority to report on a wide variety of topics: the governor, politics, war protestors, drugs, and all manner of celebrities. I also did three film reviews weekly and interviewed stars and directors. I was so happy I never took time off. I worked morning, noon and night. After 10 months of no sleep and hard work (that I loved) I got sick!

There was this man in my life who I previously worked for in the film business who kept visiting me in Oklahoma.  He always said, “come leave this all. Marry me and move to Aspen.” At first I gave no thought to his constant phone calls and visits.

After a few more bouts with exhaustion and overwork, I said yes, moved to Aspen, Colorado and married. Bob was the father of four girls, eight to sixteen. I was the mother of one ten year old son. Those girls adored me when I was dating their father. After our marriage they wouldn’t talk to me and nor look at me. They only talked with their father, and they ignored my 10 year old son. I found myself lost in conflict. I was amazed my husband sided with his four girls instead of me. We started arguing.

I called Ruth Roosevelt, who was also in a step situation and asked her to come to Aspen for Christmas. The result was we decided write a book. Basically, that’s how Living In Step was born. Living In Step was the first book ever to describe stepfamily life from each member’s point of view. I decided later on that a book was not enough. As a result, I called friends at Javitz & Javitz, a famous law firm in the State of New York. They incorporated The Stepfamily Foundation in the State of New York as a not for profit educational institution.

I was featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show, Larry King Live, The New York Times, designated “women of the year” by the Ladies Home Journal. I was the keynote speaker at events around the world. In 1995, President Bill Clinton awarded me with Presidential Award for “outstanding efforts to strengthen step relationships across America and thus contribute to effective parenting”.

Curriculum Vitae

Professional History:
Stepfamily Foundation, Inc., - Founder and President, 1975-Present; CBS, NBC, ABC TV –Reporter & Film Critic; Ivan Tors Films - Producer; Whitney Museum NYC- New American Film Series Co Founder; Radio Free Europe - On Air Reporter, US, Europe, Tokyo.  Lofas is a recognized media personality and public speaker.  She has appeared on: The Today Show, Good Morning America, CBS This Morning, Oprah Winfrey, Larry King, and featured in: The New York Times, Vogue, and New York Magazine. Lofas hosts a weekly cable television show, "Family Matters."

Publications:
Living In Step, with Ruth Roosevelt, McGraw-Hill, 1976; How to Be a Stepparent, Nightingale Connant Audio Book, 1986; He's OK, She's OK: Honoring the Differences Between Men & Women, Tzedakah, 1995; Family Rules, Kensington Books 1998. Stepparenting 3rd Edition May 2004, Citadel Books the largest selling book of its kind.

Awards and Speeches:
Keynote Speaker for U.S. Family Service Centers, Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD; Speaker at White House Conference On the Family; Keynote Speech "The State of the Family” given in Heidelberg, Germany for the U.S. Armed Forces in Europe; Speaker at Family Court Judges Association; "The New Family: Step Relationships" Chautauqua Institution; "Women, Remarriage and Money" Financial Women’s Association; Keynote Speaker at the Women's Federation of World Peace; "The 21st Century Family"  NY  Employee Assistance Association; Smart Marriage Conference Presenter, Two Day  Seminar Buenos Aires, Fundacion XXI; All Souls Church Lecture Series; Guest Professor at Long Island University "Counseling the Changing American Family;"  "Woman of the Month" Good Housekeeping Magazine.         

Corporate Consulting:
Merrill Lynch, Pfizer, International Business Machines, AT&T.

Degrees:
Ph. D., Westbrook University; Fordham University, M.S.W., L.C.S.W.; University of Michigan, B.A; University of Geneva, Interpreter's School, French,  German and English; University of Vienna.

Memberships:
Clinical Social Work Association, New York State Society for Clinical Social Work Inc., Association of Family and Conciliation Courts, New York State Dispute Resolution Association, American Society of Clinical Hypnosis, Employee Assistance Professionals Association New York City Chapter, New York Women’s Agenda, National Association for Female Executives.

Programs Completed:
Master Practitioner of Erickson Clinical Hypnosis, Certified EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing),; Week long Seminar with John Gottman, Ph.D., and Howard Markman, Ph.D.; Grief counseling for couples and individuals.

Family Mediation:
Certified Family Mediator child custody, and pre-nuptial agreements. Member of The American Association for Family Conciliation and Courts, the Center for Family and Divorce Mediation. Centers are in New York City and in Eastern Long Island.

***Fluent in German and French: ability to communicate in Spanish and Swedish***


NY State License # R 046954-1

Contact Us:
The Stepfamily Foundation, Inc.
334 Division St.
Sag Harbor, NY 11963
(631) 725-0911

The Stepfamily Foundation, Inc. (NYC),
310 West 85th Street, 1B, New York, NY 10024
(212) 877-3244  

email: stepfamily@aol.com    Web page: http://www.stepfamily.org