An understudied form of child abuse and 'intimate terrorism': Parental alienation

The scene: a bitter divorce, and a custody battle over the couple's 7-year-old son. Awarded full custody, the mother -- perhaps seeking revenge? -- sets out to destroy the son's relationship with his father. The mother tells the son lies about the father's behavior, plants seeds of doubt about his fitness as a parent, and sabotages the father's efforts to see his son. The son begins to believe the lies; as he grows up, his relationship with his father becomes strained.

More >> An understudied form of child abuse and 'intimate terrorism': Parental alienation

Two Classic Cases of Courts Failing Alienated Parents

Usually in my Psychology Today articles I address my specialties—marriage education and self-help for negative emotions.  At the same time, I recently have had a number of clients in my clinical practice who face parental alienation situations.  Their challenges totally tear at my heartstrings, motivating me to write on this subject.  The difficulty is that attorneys, judges, and the mental health professionals who advise them on cases of parental alienation too often lack enough understanding of the phenomenon of alienation to create appropriate outcomes.

This post reprints letters sent to me from two parents who contacted me by email after reading my earlier posts on alienation.  Both of these parents have given me their permissions to reprint their letters. I then respond with an explanatory open letter to each of them.

More >> Two Classic Cases of Courts Failing Alienated Parents

The Hidden Danger For Mothers And Children In Family Court

When Ohio judge Judith Nicely awarded Larry Mason* custody of his nine-year-old daughter and eleven-year-old son, the children locked themselves in the bathroom, held knives to their throats and threatened to kill themselves.

Despite their mother, Rose Mason,* fighting to regain custody, the judge upheld the order, citing the children were “alienated” from their father and needed to re-establish a relationship.

More >> The Hidden Danger For Mothers And Children In Family Court

Part 2: Reunification Therapy After Parental Alienation

After a parent has been wrongfully alienated by the other parent of their children, reunification therapy is the professional approach often used to try to repair the situation and support the mental health of all involved. As we wrote in Part 1 of this series, parental alienation may occur when a parent tries to alienate a child from the other parent without a reasonable basis for doing so.

Parental behaviors that can cause alienation include badmouthing the other parent without reason, blocking communication and contact with the other parent, and in extreme cases, making unsubstantiated allegations against the other parent, including of abuse.

More >> Part 2: Reunification Therapy After Parental Alienation

Study: Family Court not equipped to deal with parental alienation

An Auckland mother says her close relationship with her two sons quickly disappeared when her marriage broke up.

It came as a surprise to her, as she had been their primary caregiver and doted on them. The father had been distant from the kids before they broke up in 2015.

More >> Study: Family Court not equipped to deal with parental alienation

POINT C

I don't know how much better this can be said.


Point C  is a  5 minute fable about a child of divorcing parents, which in 2018 was shared with law schools and judicial and legal associations throughout the United States and United Kingdom. Parents  and professionals  who participate in  hostile  separation or divorce proceedings regarding the "best interests" of a child  may strongly relate to  the story  and message of  Point C.  If you know someone who you feel  may benefit from watching this tale, please share.   For more information about  Point C,  please  visit www.pointcvideo.com.

Appeals court criticizes 'judicially created parental alienation' in case of baby with broken ribs

A state appeals court has accused a Pennsylvania judge of “judicially created parental alienation” and a failure to provide due process when she kept a baby in “protracted foster care” after receiving no explanation for broken ribs and then terminated parental rights.

The judge, Lyris Younge of Philadelphia Family Court, abused her discretion when she refused to place the child known as N.M. in the care of a grandmother, according to the May 4 decision by the Superior Court of Pennsylvania.

More >> Appeals court criticizes 'judicially created parental alienation' in case of baby with broken ribs

Parents are demanding accountability in family court

On Wednesday, April 25, some parents rights groups across the country and internationally commemorated Parental Alienation Awareness Day. The term refers to the unjustified and intentional alienation of a parent from a child’s life, likely by the other parent.


More >> Parents are demanding accountability in family court

Parents urgently warned over consequences of alienating children from other parent

Parents engaging in Doctor Foster-style attempts to alienate children from their other parent during divorce battles could lose contact under a "groundbreaking" trial.

The new approach, devised by the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), is aimed at tackling parental alienation by urging them to consider the "profound" emotional impact on the child.

More >> Parents urgently warned over consequences of alienating children from other parent

Judge Who Detained Kids for Missing Lunch with Dad Faces Hearing

Oakland County Judge Lisa Gorcyca, who has faced a firestorm of criticism over her handling of an acrimonious child custody dispute involving three Bloomfield Hills children, was expected to go before a panel of the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission Monday.

More >> Judge Who Detained Kids for Missing Lunch with Dad Faces Hearing

• 'Nightmare' case prompts Gorcyca judicial misconduct hearing
• Sparks fly at Michigan judge's misconduct hearing

Parental Alienation and Father’s Rights: A Broken System

Parental alienation is victimizing the lives of countless good families—parents and children—all over the world with devastating repercussions. To the alienated parent, it can be a dizzying feeling of helplessness that grips you while frantically searching for answers to stop what is happening.

More >> Parental Alienation and Father’s Rights: A Broken System

Are Some Divorcing Parents Brainwashing Their Children? The Controversial Idea of Parental Alienation

In heated custody battles, a particularly explosive conflict can arise. One parent accuses the other of abusing their child. The accused parent, however, will sometimes say the child was brainwashed into making false accusations.

More >> Are Some Divorcing Parents Brainwashing Their Children? The Controversial Idea of Parental Alienation

Parental alienation should be criminal offence, says group

Parental alienation should be criminal offence, says group

A parent who, following the breakdown of a relationship, attempts to turn their child or children against the other parent should be prosecuted, a support group has said.

Dads often get short shrift in divorces, group argues during Wednesday protest

Dads often get short shrift in divorces, group argues during Wednesday protest

"If there is a divorce and there was no violence, (custody) should be 50-50,” said one man, one of more than 20 protesters outside the Sault Ste. Marie courthouse, across from the Children's Aid Society of Algoma's Queen Street office. “I'm paying and everything … Why should I not see the child?"

Parents forcefully blocked from seeing kids could be abuse

Parents forcefully blocked from seeing kids could be abuse

STOPPING parents from seeing their children could fall under the definition of child abuse if George Christensen gets his way.

The Federal Member for Dawson said he would lobby with Victorian independent Senator John Madigan to have the definition of child abuse widened to include parental alienation.

What Is Parental Alienation and How Can It Affect Custody?

What Is Parental Alienation and How Can It Affect Custody?

Parental alienation syndrome is a psychological term that means one parent is turning the children against the other parent, usually due to a divorce or child custody dispute. The syndrome manifests as the child’s denigration of the other parent, but there is no real justification for it. It results from the other parent’s indoctrination of the child and the child’s own contribution to vilifying the targeted parent.

Parental Alienation Includes Bad-mouthing Your Ex’s Family and Brainwashing Your Child.

Parental Alienation Includes Bad-mouthing Your Ex’s Family and Brainwashing Your Child.

In general, alienation means interfering with or cutting off a person from relationships with others. This can occur in a number of ways, including criticism, manipulation, threats, distorted reporting or control.

Is parent alienation a child protection problem?

Is parent alienation a child protection problem?

Imagine a parent who is so angry or so despises the other parent, that they are prepared to do all they can to ensure that the child or children do not want to have anything to do with the other parent. They begin a campaign to ensure that the other parent is seen for all flaws possible, real, imagined, exaggerated. The child will be told as much as possible and rewarded for efforts to avoid the other parent.

Parent-Child Reunification After Alienation

Parent-Child Reunification After Alienation


Children and parents who have undergone forced separation from each other in the absence of abuse, including cases of parental alienation, are highly subject to post-traumatic stress, and reunification efforts in these cases should proceed carefully and with sensitivity. Alienated children seem to have a secret wish for someone to call their bluff, compelling them to reconnect with the parent they claim to hate; despite strongly held positions of alignment, alienated children want nothing more than to be given the permission and freedom to love and be loved by both parents (Baker, 2010). Yet the influence of the alienating parent is too strong to withstand, and children’s fear that the alienating parent may fall apart or withdraw his or her love holds them back. Research has shown that many alienated children can transform quickly from refusing or staunchly resisting the rejected parent to being able to show and receive love from that parent, followed by an equally swift shift back to the alienated position when back in the orbit of the alienating parent (Fidler and Bala, 2010). Thus while children’s stated wishes regarding parental residence and contact in contested custody after divorce should be considered, they should not be determinative in cases of parental alienation.

Parental Alienation Syndrome : Symptoms and Warnings

Parental Alienation Syndrome : Symptoms and Warnings

Parental Alienation Syndrome is the systematic denigration by one parent with the intent of alienating the child against the target parent. In most cases, the purpose of the alienation is to gain custody of the child and exclude involvement by the target parent. In other cases the alienator wants the target parent out of the way to start a new life, or the alienating parent wants more of the marital money and assets than he/she is entitled to and uses the child as a pawn. The alienating parent hates the target parent and the children become false weapons. These are just a few reasons Parental Alienation occurs in domestic disputes.