In this chapter, we touched on common practices that parents and therapists can use to reverse or at least stop the damage caused by parental alienation. We also explored some common obstacles that confront families going through this process.
Frustratingly, research science remains in its infancy in terms of being able to explain how and why parental alienation occurs and what strategies and tactics should be deployed, under what conditions, to fix things. The good news is that some programs – specifically, Dr. Warshak’s Family Bridges – have shown promise in reversing damage from even severe alienation.
Nevertheless, identifying and solving the knot of problems is neither simple, nor intuitive. Strategies that seem like they should make the situations better – such as cooperating as much as possible with the other parent or “telling the truth and nothing but the truth” to your child can prove surprisingly anemic or even make the situation worse.
The following principles emerge from this discussion:
• Educate yourself. Read blogs, articles and books (like this one) on the topic of parental alienation, so you understand the background and the relevant science and approaches.
• Find great people to support you. For instance, experienced attorneys and therapists who have a successful track record helping targeted parents can offer critical insight and step-by-step ways of engaging your problems.
• Self-manage as well as you can. Believe it or not, you can emerge from this experience feeling hopeful about the future and content about your relationship with your child.
In our next section, we will explore strategies that you can use immediately to make your life better, while you are working to resolve your alienation case.
For skillful, experienced assistance handling your Parental Alienation case, call the Williams Law Group, LLC immediately at (908) 738-8734.
