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Researchers must use more blunt scientific tools to understand the effects of things like Parental Alienation on kids. Many researchers use what are known as “association studies” to try to get this clarity. They compare populations against one another, looking for trends. What similarities can we find among kids subjected to alienation? How do these…

What are the long and short-term effects of parental alienation on the children themselves? Obviously, every child is different, and every alienation situation is likewise unique. The severity of the alienation, its duration, the child’s level of attachment (or lack thereof) to both parents, the child’s relationships with siblings and peers, the child’s overall health…

In 2006, authors Baker & Darnall catalogued 66 behaviors that alienating parents use to convince their children of the wrongness or badness of the other parent. Here are nine examples of these tactics: The alienator interferes with communication between the child and the other parent. For instance, he or she may read and delete your…

Experts often grade alienation along two distinct dimensions. On the “X” axis, we could graph the intensity of the alienation, which might range from mild to severe. On the “Y” axis, we could graph the intentionality of the alienation. Does the alienating parent have control of his or her behavior or not? In 1998, scholar…

As we discussed earlier, children can reject their parents for many reasons, including another parent’s brainwashing. However, sometimes the rejection has little or nothing to do with the other parent. Closely examine your situation to determine what’s actually going on before you take action, legal or otherwise. Here are 6 reasons why your child may…

Prior to Dr. Gardner’s writings about “Parental Alienation,” other scholars noted similar phenomena. Author Wilhelm Reich in his 1949 book, Character Analysis, discussed narcissistic parents who defamed their ex-spouses to win child custody negotiation battles. Writing about alienation in the mid-1980’s, around the time when Dr. Gardner first began discussing it, Dr. Anita Lampel suggested…

In the early 2000s, Dr. Richard Warshak, articulated three components to define Parent Alienation — a somewhat different schema than the one that Dr. Gardner developed. Per Dr. Washak’s heuristic, the following three elements must occur: The alienator engages in a campaign of rejection or denigration of the targeted parent.   This campaign is not…

Dr. Gardner identified eight factors that can contribute to alienation. The alienating parent engages in a “campaign of denigration” against the targeted parent. In other words, PA is not a spouse saying one mean or spiteful remark out of context. The parent has to systematically say or do things to convince your child of your…

No one is born hating another person… People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite. – Nelson Mandela American psychiatrist, Dr. Richard Gardner, coined the term and concept “Parental Alienation System” (PAS) back…

Even under the most amicable circumstances, negotiations over child custody during a divorce can turn bitter, even brutal. It’s one thing to haggle over how to divvy up the living room furniture or the wedding China; it’s another thing entirely to develop a nuts and bolts plan for how to co-parent, split up time and…