F.A.C.T. Information: Parental Alienation More great information is available through F.A.C.T. See our home page at www.fact.on.ca

http://www.fact.on.ca/Info/info_pas.htm

Some of the Literature on Parental Alienation

Rather than just reading the PAS material here, there is now an opportunity to provide YOUR input into the adoption of Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS) into the DSM-V. To read more about this, including a message from Dr. Gardner, please click here. We encourage all of you to write, and encourage others to write, to include PAS in DSM-V.

In this section, we have used to power of hypertext to link the footnote numbers to the footnotes and, where we have the material, to the actual referenced material. It is hoped that this will allow you to follow through the material and get all the information that you are seeking. Please note, references are sometimes made to other files on this system, and sometimes to files on other systems, so you may see other files reloading.

We have also made PDF files for printing if you would like hard copy. The PDF "Portable Document Format" is used by Adobe Acrobat and the program that will let you view and print these files is free and has versions for almost any type of workstation operating system in use. The free program that will allow you to view and print these files, on-line or off, is available from Adobe at http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html.

We also have included on a separate page a not-too-complete list of PAS and PAS related sites that we have found on the net. There are many more sites with information. Let us know of any more good ones and we will add them.

We also beginning a section on legal cases in Canada and around the world that deals with PAS in the courts. This section is just starting, and is far from exhaustive. You can see them on our PAS legal page.

Let us know what you think of our files, or about any problems, by emailing us at webmaster@fact.on.ca.

Finally, because it is not a journal article, the article on Hostile Aggressive Parenting is located further down the list. You can get to it quickly by clicking here.

Much of the material posted here was the result of the considerable knowledge, persistence and hard work of Tom in Los Angeles, USA. Thanks Tom!

Parents Who Have Successfully Fought Parent Alienation Syndrome by A. Jayne Major, Ph.D. from her website www.livingmedia2000.com. This article is a FABULOUS summary of PAS that is very readable and complete. It is, seemingly, only published on her website that is providing information about her parenting course to potential instructors but, because it was so good I have reformatted it and added it to our collection. (It was so good I was ready to sign up for the course!) This document is also available in PDF format.

What you do and don’t do when as a loving parent you are confronted with a severe case of PAS in your child by William Kirkendale. Mr. Kirkendale is a father with a child he has not seen for a considerable length of time, and he has put together a list of some of his DO'S and DONTS that many of us have learned too late. Some of his suggestions, especially about approaching the court or accessing the media, are not particularly appropriate in Canada but the underlying fire is right on target. This material has been reformatted from a web page on www.mall4us.com/parentnPAS.htm. Mr. Kirkendale maintans a web site at www.familycourts.com. This document is also available in PDF format.

Parental Alienation Syndrome: A Review of Critical Issues by Ian Turkat is available in PDF format from the Journal of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, Vol. 18-1, 2002, pp.131-176. (which is available on-line).

Response to Kelly/Johnson Artilce by Richard A. Gardner from Speak Out for Children (a publication of the Children's Rights Council), 17(2):6-10, 2002. This is Gardner's response to the ``Northern California'' group of psychologists to preempt and redefine Parental Alienation (without the Syndrome). This group includes those PhDs who worked with Judith Wallerstein on her work. This is a real threat to the children who have been damaged by the PAS -- the purpose is really to ensure that the abuse of the children can continue pursuant to the ``feminist'' (and not parental) dogma. This document is not yet available in PDF format.

Does DSM-IV Have Equivalents for the Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS) Diagnosis? by Richard A. Gardner (Unpublished Manuscript) Accepted for Publication 2002. This is a very interesting article that outlines the similar, but not the same, disorders actually included in DSM-IV at this point. The article is quite good in explaining the reasons why PAS is indeed a syndrome, and how it is different from other conditions. As a bonus, some of the similar or contributing conditions that impact children, alientators and target parents are outlined -- this is quite important to target parents, and lawyers, involved with an alienating parent. This document is not yet available in PDF format.

The Role of the Judiciary in the Entrenchment of the Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS) by Richard A. Gardner, 2002. This is a great article that points out the faults and contributions of the judiciary in ensuring that alienating parents abuse their children -- all in the mistaken ``best interests'' of someone. This article and the tables referred to within it can be downloaded from Dr. Gardner's website at http://www.rgardner.com/refs/ar11w.html and http://www.rgardner.com/refs/3pastables.html. This document is not yet available in PDF format.

The Empowerment of Children in the Development of Parental Alienation Syndrome by Richard A. Gardner from The American Journal of Forensic Psychology, 2002, 20(2):5-29. This article deals with the empowerment of children suffering PAS by the alienator, therapists, lawyers and the judiciary as a major component of the syndrome. Without addressing the intrinsic contribution of all these adults, supposedly working in the ``best interests of the child'' can we hope to stop the destruction of these children. This document is not yet available in PDF format.

Parental Alienation Syndrome vs. Parental Alienation: Which Diagnosis Should Evaluators Use in Child-Custody Disputes? by Richard A. Gardner from The American Journal of Family Therapy, 30(2):93-115, (2002). Gardner clears the air about the debate between the watered-down, wide ranging ``Parental Alienation'' and the collection of symptoms that identify and define the ``Parental Alienation Syndrome''. For those who think that PA has much at all to do with PAS, this is a `must read'. This document is not yet available in PDF format.

Denial of the Parental Alienation Syndrome Also Harms Women by Richard A. Gardner from American Journal of Family Therapy, 30(3):191-202 (2002). The article discusses impact on children and families by the denial of the condition of PAS. Denial is found by the patient in many medical conditions, but when the practionners deny the disease, there is no hope for the victims. This document is not yet available in PDF format.

Comments on Carol S. Bruch’s Article "Parental Alienation Syndrome and Parental Alienation: Getting it Wrong in Child Custody Cases" by Richard A. Gardner from Family Law Quarterly, 35(3):527-552, 2001. Gardner addresses an article by a "law researcher" in the Family Law Quarterly that really simply rehashes the same tired old "feminist" myths that are trotted out to ensure that the children are not protected from alienation. Bruch's paper is available here in PDF format only. This document is not yet available in PDF format.

Current Controversies Regarding Parental Alienation Syndrome by Richard A. Warshak from American Journal of Forensic Psychology, Volume 19, No. 3, 2001, p. 29-59. An excellent article about PAS, the current attempt to redefine it to talk only of the "alienated child" and not the abuse, and about some of the strange reasons made up by others about PAS. This is a great companion to Dr. Warshak's booklet "Parental Alienation Syndrome in Court" (see the Book Section of the FACT site, or Dr. Warshak's site directly). This is an important paper to read. This document is not yet available in PDF format.

Should Courts Order PAS Children to Visit/Reside with the Alienated Parent? by Richard A. Gardner from The American Journal of Forensic Psychology, 2001, 19(3):61-106. This article is an outline of the futility of not changing access or custody away from an alienating parent. In 100% of the cases that a change in access or custody did occur, the PAS either diminished or disappeared. In 91% of the cases where a change did not occur, the situation did not improve or degenerated even further. "PAS therapy" does not work alone to protect the children, despite the judges wishing it did. Make sure you give this one to your lawyer. This document is also available in PDF format.

Family Therapy of the Moderate Type of Parental Alienation Syndrome by Richard A. Gardner from The American Journal of Family Therapy. 27:195-212, 1999. This article is a GREAT outline of therapy for the moderate case of PAS that deals with the very specific and knitty-gritty things that the courts and the therapists must do if the therapy is to work. This document is also available in PDF format.

Questioning the Mental Health Expert's Custody Report by Ira Daniel Turkat, Ph.D. from the American Journal of Family Law, Volume 7, 175-179 (1993). This article is not specifically about PAS. However, it is an EXCELLENT article to look at when you are selecting an assessor or an expert in a legal case. I wish selecting an expert was easy - this article does give you some suggestions that are extremely relevant. This document is also available in PDF format.

Dr. Richard A. Gardner, M.D., who initially derived the name Parental Alienation Syndrome put out a flyer (also in PDF format to advertise his book The Parental Alienation Syndrome: A Guide for Mental Health Professionals and Legal Professionals (available through his website at http://www.rgardner.com/). The flyer had a number of very interesting and useful attachments that contain some basic information on PAS. The attachments are:

• DEFINITION OF THE PARENTAL ALIENATION SYNDROME (also in PDF format).
• THE PARENTAL ALIENATION SYNDROME IS NOT THE SAME AS PROGRAMMING ("BRAINWASHING") (also in PDF format).
• THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE PARENTAL ALIENATION SYNDROME AND BONA FIDE ABUSE AND/OR NEGLECT (also in PDF format).
• THE PARENTAL ALIENATION SYNDROME AS A FORM OF CHILD ABUSE (also in PDF format).
• "THE PARENTAL ALIENATION SYNDROME DOES NOT EXIST BECAUSE IT IS NOT IN DSM-IV" (also in PDF format).
• "THE PARENTAL ALIENATION SYNDROME IS NOT A SYNDROME" (also in PDF format).
• "PEOPLE WHO DIAGNOSE PARENTAL ALIENATION SYNDROME ARE SEXIST" (also in PDF format).
• THE PARENTAL ALIENATION SYNDROME AND SEX-ABUSE ACCUSATIONS (also in PDF format).
• THE PARENTAL ALIENATION SYNDROME AND "PARENTAL ALIENATION" (also in PDF format).
• DIFFERENTIAL DIAGNOSIS OF THE THREE TYPES OF PARENTAL ALIENATION SYNDROME (also in PDF format).
• DIFFERENTIAL TREATMENT OF THE THREE TYPES OF PARENTAL ALIENATION SYNDROME (also in PDF format).

In addition, he has put out another couple of small pieces of information:

• Addendum I—June 1999 which is meant to be some more up-to-date information on PAS than contained in the 2nd edition,
• Addendum—March 2000 which is meant to be some more up-to-date information on PAS than contained in the 2nd edition, and
• an updated Addendum—March 2000 which is meant to be some more up-to-date information on PAS than contained in the 2nd edition and mentions the Rachael Foundation, and
• Misperceptions versus Facts About Richard A. Gardner, M.D. which is another defensive piece as the result of the false accusations against Dr. Gardner made because they don't like his theory (ironic, isn't it?).

Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS): Sixteen Years Later by Richard A. Gardner from Academy Forum, 2001, 45(1):10-12. This provides a summary of the issues related to PAS as they have evolved over the last 16 years. This document is not yet available in PDF format.

Excerpt from Dr. Rybicki's forthcoming book on Expert Witness Testimony & Forensic Psychology by Daniel J. Rybicki. This looks like it will be a great book. The material covers a lot of material including alienation techniques, susceptable children, the negatives of the diagnosis according to the detractors, and what evaluators should be careful with. A good read. This document is not yet available in PDF format.

Remarriage as a Trigger of Parental Alienation Syndrome by Richard A, Warshak from The American Journal of Family Therapy, 28:229-241, 2000. While this document attempts to deal with some of the specifics of parental alienation relative to remarriage of divorced or separated parties, there is a wealth of information about PAS in general as well, including some discussion of therapies to deal with PAS. This document is available in PDF format.

"Parental Alienation" by Joel R. Brandes from the New York Law Journal, March 26, 2000 provides an interesting look at Parental Alination in New York, where it is supposed to be recognised. This document is not yet available in PDF format. This article was available through the author's website at http://www.brandeslaw.com/parental_alienation.htm, but appears to have been moved.

Articles in Peer-Review Journals on the Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS) by Richard A. Gardner, M.D. is a description of the nature of PAS (mostly the material in the list above) and a compilation of citations by the researcher who introduced the term. This is available through a link to his company, Creative Therapeutics at http://www.rgardner.com/. This particular paper as also been captured into a PDF format (January 6, 2001 version).
On the site, Dr. Gardner also has a list of legal citations indicating times that testimony on PAS has been admitted in the courts of various jurisdictions. The site is set up to allow you to order books, including his The Parental Alienation Syndrome (2nd edition) directly.

Rye Hospital Program For Treating Children Affected by Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS), as published on the website "divorcedfather.com", written by Edward M. Stephens, M.D., provides some information on the diagnosis and treatment of Parental Alienation Syndrome. This article was initially available at http://www.divorcedfather.com/fathers-rights-child-custody/pas-rye.htm, but appears to have been move. The pagehad also been captured, and is available, in PDF format.

Mediation and Parental Alienation Syndrome: Considerations for an Intervention Model by Anita Vestal from the Family and Conciliation Courts Review, Vol. 37, No. 4, October, 1999, p. 487-503. Excellent, and long, paper on parental alienation and mediation. Parents, lawyers and judges should read this. This article is an updated and peer-reviewed version of the article "Perspectives on Parental Alienation, Child Custody and Dispute Resolution Systems," which won the essay award from the American Bar Association (see below). This document is also available in PDF format.

Guidelines for Assessing Parental Preference in Child-Custody Disputes by Richard A. Gardner, MD from the Journal of Divorce & Remarriage, 1999, 30(1/2):1-9. This goes through the Michigan child-custody guidelines with Gardner's opinion and PAS comments throughout. This document is aldo available in PDF format.

Parental Alienation and the Judiciary by Dr L. F. Lowenstein from the Medico-Legal JournalVol.67 Part 3, 1999, p. 121-123. This is a short piece on the problems of the judiciary in solving PAS, their reluctance to that the necessary action, and the results of their lack of judicial action. This document is not yet available in PDF format.

Parental Alienation: Not in the best interest of the children by Douglas Darnall from the North Dakota Law Review, Volume 75, 1999, p 323-364. Excellent and long essay on parental alienation and parental alienation syndrome and the places that lawyers and judges need to fit into the process to help the children. Darnall's book, DIVORCE CASUALTIES: PROTECTING YOUR CHILDREN FROM PARENTAL ALIENATION, that is mentioned in the article can be purchased through the FACT book section. This document is also available in PDF format.

Differentiating between Parental Alienation Syndrome and Bona Fide Abuse-Neglect by Richard A. Gardner from The American Journal of Family Therapy, Volume 27, Number 2, p 97-107 (April-June 1999). Talk about a HOT new article! The article looks at the differences in children, but most specifically adults, under a PAS situation with false allegations of abuse or neglect, and the same where there is true abuse-neglect. Truly makes one wonder seriously about the inducers of PAS. This document is also available in PDF format.

Parental Alienation Syndrome: How to Detect It and What to Do About It by J. Michael Bone and Michael R. Walsh as published in The Florida Bar Journal, Volume 73, Number 3, March 1999, p. 44-48. This new article is meant for lawyers. It provides a higher level look at PAS, provides the indications that a lawyer or judge can use to tell if PAS is present, and deals with the absolute need of the courts to operate swiftly if PAS is detected. A quote from the article: "Any attempt at alienating children from the other parent should be seen as a direct and willful violation of one of the prime duties of parenthood". This document is also available in PDF format.

Alienation And Alignment Of Children by Philip M. Stahl from the California Psychologist, March 1999, Vol. 32, No. 3, p 23ff. An outline of PAS, the his idea of the characteristics of the parents and children, and, to some degree, how treatment methods. The article includes a summary of the milder suggestions for treatment of severe PAS -- including allowing the abuse to continue (the court's general answer). This document is also available in PDF format.

Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS) by L. F. Lowenstein as published in Justice of the Peace, Vol. 163 No. 3, 16 January 1999, p 47-50. This article is meant as a summary for justices in the UK. It concludes reminding judges that: "Any parent who practises PAS must ultimately be dealt with severely by the court. PAS is a kind of brainwashing which leads to suffering for all concerned, either in the short or long-term. Both parents must be viewed as having the right and the obligation to play a vital role on the care, guidance and love provided for their children." This document is also available in PDF format.

Parental alienation syndrome: The lost parents’ perspective by Despina Vassiliou. This is her Masters thesis presented at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The thesis is a qualitative study of the alienated parent's perceptions of their experienes with PAS. This document is not yet available PDF format.

Parental Alienation Syndrome: A Two Step Approach towards a Solution by L. F. Lowenstein as published in Contemporary Family Therapy, Volume 20, Number 4, December, 1998, p. 505-520. This article is from the UK and talks about the advantages to all parties in mediating to prevent PAS, rather than moving straight into the adversarial system. This document is also available in PDF format.

The Burgess Decision and the Wallerstein Brief by Richard A. Gardner from Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, 26(3):425-431, 1998. This article addresses the problems of unrestricted mobility in cases where a parent is inducing PAS -- and the damage done to the children and non-custodial parent. This document is not yet available in PDF format.

MMPI-2 Validty Scales and Suspected Parental Alienation Syndrome as published by Jeffrey C. Siegel and Joseph S. Langford in the American Journal of Forensic Psychology, Volume 16, Number 4, 1998, p. 5-14. An interesting article that looks at tying those who use parental alienation to the responses on the MMPI-2 test (a test often given my assessors to the parents). The material here is of most interest to professionals who administer and read such tests, but it does represent an early stop in identifying problem areas. This article is also available in PDF format.

Alienation Revisted as presented by Mr. Paul Lodge, FCOA, at the Third National Family Court Conference October 20-24 in Melbourse, Australia. This article is conference notes that were initially taken in PDF formation from the conference site. The conference material has moved several times so that a good link is not available. This is conference material, so make some allowances for missing points and references that are not used, please. The original PDF document is available here.

Intervention-guided single case-help and parental alienation syndrome (PAS) as presented by Dr. Werner G. Leitner at the XXI International School Psychology Colloquium held from 31 July - 4 August 1998 in Riga, Latvia, and published in Published in Identity & Self Esteem: Interactions of Students, Family, & Society, eds. S. Sebre, M. Rascevska, S. Miezite, pp. 253-260, Riga: SIA. This article was initially taken from Dr. Leitner's site at http://www.uni-bamberg.de/~ba2gp4/frame.htm, but it appears to have moved. This document is not yet available in PDF format.

Recommendations for Dealing with Parents Who Induce a Parental Alienation Syndrome in Their Children as published by Dr. Richard A. Gardner in the Journal of Divorce & Remarriage, Volume 28(3/4), 1998, p. 1-21. This well laid-out article gives Gardners's suggested course of treatment for dealing with the various levels of PAS and in handling the inducing parent. This article is also available in PDF format.

Parental Alienation Syndrome - A Judicial Response? as published by Dr. Susan Maidment in Family Law, May 1998, p. 264-6. This article gives a quick look at some of the success in dealing with PAS in the UK, but the problem with recognition of PAS by the lower courts despite the law that should make it important. Since PAS cases are apparently rarely reported in the reference cases, this becomes a difficult task. This article is also available in PDF format.

Parental Alienation is Open Heart Surgery: It Needs More than a Band-Aid to Fix It by Kathleen Niggemyer as published in the California Western Law Review, Volume 34, 1998, p 567-589. This article is talks about parental alienation and, while rejecting the work of Garnder and Turkat (although for the wrong reasons, and generally based on the misrepresentations of others) acknowledges that parental alienation exists -- syndrome or not. The author then looks at the U.S. tort (i.e. suing) solutions that are available and indicates that there is not that much that can be done under the "alienation of affection" rules (in Canada the Supreme Court has basically rejected "alienation of affection" as ever being in the law), but indicates that there may be some ability to deal with it under "purposeful infliction of emotional distress." The auther feels that a truckload of therapists (the author is not a therapist) and reporting back to the court annually will make some sort of a difference for how the children deal with severe alienation. This article has also been put into PDF format.

Identifying Cases of Parent Alienation Syndrome--Part I by Leona M. Kopetski as published in The Colorado Lawyer, February 1998, Volume 27, Number 2 p 65-68 (also available in PDF format), and
Identifying Cases of Parent Alienation Syndrome--Part II by Leona M. Kopetski as published in The Colorado Lawyer, February 1998, Volume 27, Number 3 p 61-64 (also available in PDF format)
These articles deal with evidence of PAS that pre-dated Gardners original work and talks about the impact of PAS on children. The final comments on the second part talks about the significance of sexual reproduction, and equivalent psychological nature of this...."If children are allowed free access to these different people, they do not need a perfect parent. It is not individual parental mistakes that harm the development of children. It is the exclusion of these different people that places them in danger....".

The Emerging Problem of Parental Alienation by Caroline Willbourne and Lesley-Anne Cull, as published in Family Law, December 1997, p. 807-8. This document is meant for lawyers and provides an overview of things to look at that indicate parental alienation (though I doubt that lawyers see the children enough to tell) but also talks about the damage done to the children in leaving them in the residential care of the alienating parent.. This document is also available in PDF format.

Management of Visitation Interference by Ira Daniel Turkat, Ph.D. as published in The Judges' Journal (Number 36) of the American Bar Association in the Spring of 1997. This document is meant for judges and is very strong and specific about the types of therapy and the considerations in orders that are required to handle access problems when Parental Alienation Syndrome or Divorce-Related Malicious Mother Syndrome in involved. This document is also available in PDF format.

Summary of the Practice Parameters for Child Custody Evaluation as published on the website of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry as approved in 1997 and published in their Journal. Parental alienation is recognised as the serious problem that it is. This particular page as also been captured in PDF format.

Perspectives on Parental Alienation, Child Custody and Dispute Resolution Systems by Anita Vestal was an award winning essay in the American Bar Association's Section on Dispute Resolution and used to be able to be found, in a less formatted form at http://www.abanet.org/dispute/comwin.html -- but no more it appears. This paper is also available in PDF format. This is a good summary of PAS meant for lawyers and discusses such things as the problems with mediation and joint custody when PAS is involved.

The Spectrum of Parental Alienation Syndrome (Part I) by Deirdre Conway Rand as published in the American Journal of Forensic Psychology, Volume 15, Number 3, 1997. This came from files at Aktive Fedre, a new fathers' group in Norway (with minor cleaning by FACT) and is kept in two pieces due to the size of the HTML file. These files have also been put into a single file in PDF format.
The Spectrum of Parental Alienation Syndrome (Part II) by Deirdre Conway Rand as published in the American Journal of Forensic Psychology, Volume 15, Number 4, 1997. This came from Aktive Fedre as well (with minor cleaning by FACT) and is kept in three pieces due to the size of the HTML file. These files have also been put into a single file in PDF format.
These are excellent articles and deal with not only the psychological aspects of PAS, but the legal process and judicial recognition (mostly in the US) of PAS. We would strongly recommend reading them, and then perhaps distributing them to judges, lawyers, social workers, psychologists, journalists, etc. who deal with, or are interested in, the children of divorce.

Parental Alienation Syndrome: An Age-Old Custody Problem by Michael R. Walsh and J. Michael Bone from the June 1997 issue of The Florida Bar Journal (p. 93-96). This is also available in PDF format. This is an excellent article for officers of the courts and parents in looking at the face of PAS, the problems with dealing with it, and their roles in protecting the children.

Interference with Parental Rights of Noncustodial Parent as Grounds for Modification of Child Custody by Edward B. Borris from the Divorce Litigation, January, 1997. This is a heavily referenced, to US cases, of the handling of alienation and access denial in the United States. A good start when looking for precedents. This document is not yet avilable in PDF format.

Relocation as a Strategy to Interfere with the Child-Parent Relationship by Ira Daniel Turkat, Ph.D. from the American Journal of Family Law, Volume 11, 39-41 (1996). This article talks about the unhealthy relocation of children to interfere with parental contact and identifies some of the risk factors associated with this. A good article to look at for casting some question on relocations. This document is available in PDF format.

Understanding and Collaboratively Treating Parental Alienation Syndrome by Kenneth H. Waldron, Ph.D. and David E. Joanis, J. D. from the American Journal of Family Law, Volume 10, 121-133 (1996). This is an good article and attempts to broaden the discussion of the nature of PAS by examining the alienating parent, the target parent, and the family system, as well as the techniques used in and results of parental alienation. It also discusses the adversarial system, and the roles of the parties if there is truly a concern about protecting the children. -This document is also available in PDF format.

Children's Alignment with Parents in Highly Conflicted Custody Cases by Anita K. Lampel discusses the personality characteristics measured for childer who aligned with a parent (the parent "the child felt provided more empathy and understood the child's age-specific concerns"), nonaligned children, and their parents. In the study about equal numbers (actually a bit more) of the children indicated that father was the "preferred parent". This study was published in Family and Conciliation Courts Review, Vol. 34, No. 2, April 1996, 229-239. This paper is also available in PDF format.

A Therapist's View of Parental Alienation Syndrome by Mary Lund discusses the nature of PAS and the structure of therapy groups that could be used. It was published in Family and Conciliation Review, Vol. 33, No. 3, July 1995. This paper is also available in PDF format.

Divorce-Related Malicious Mother Syndrome by Ira Daniel Turkat as published in the Journal of Family Violence, Volume 10, No. 3, 1995, p 253-264. This article takes a look at a condition involving somewhat acting like a very severe PAS inducer, but with no other mental disorder affecting behaviour. It is interesting to read. This document has also been put into a PDF format.

Parental Alienation Syndrome: A 'Hidden' Facet of Custody Disputes by Lisa A. Cook, who was apparently a law student at the time. This is a award winning paper, the Lieff Award, of the Canadian Bar Association (CBA), a voluntary organisation of lawyers. That particular organisation has been co-opted to represent only feminist and lesbian viewpoints at this point through their LEAF group (Legal Education and Action Fund for Women) with a strong conviction that women should never be accountable. The CBA itself presented its official position that access denial is not a problem, and does not occur in Canada, to the Special Joint Senate/House Committee on Custody and Access. This article takes a look at PAS, and Canadian law, as it was effective at that time. The position of the paper is very much out of sync with the current stance of LEAF and the CBA. I would note that the author concludes:

Thus, to search for a solution to P.A.S. is illusory. P.A.S. is multi-faceted in terms of its onset, development, and outcomes. At this point, awareness of the existence of P.A.S. should be given optimum importance. Although this awareness may not encourage an immediate awareness in alienating parents, it may eventually create an atmosphere wherein parents will not feel the need to alienate. Perhaps this will happen when the legalities surrounding divorce become less alienating -- when the truth is not being sacrificed for 'justice" in custody battles. Only then can the parameters of P.A.S. be fully explored., Only then will custody battles have a chance of becoming custody evaluations.

I would note that Ms. Cook's SIN indicates that she was likely on a student visa at the time, and there is no indication that she is currently practicing law in Canada (at least under that name). Pity. This document has also been put into a PDF format.

Custody and Visitation Interference: Alternative Remedies by Joy M. Feinberg and Lori S. Loeb as published in the AML Journal, Winter 1994, Volume 12, Number 2, p 271-284 (the publication of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers). This article talks about the remedies in the court to the handling of parental alienation syndrome of varying degrees of severity, and to the kidnapping of children. Interestingly, it also talks of the (then) new recouse of tort action (suing for damages in civil court) as another action that can be taken. The article is also available in PDF format.

Child Visitation Interference in Divorce by Ira Daniel Turkat from Clinical Psychology Review, Vol. 14, No. 8, pp. 737-742, 1994. This article sets the structure of the various forms of visitation interference and talks about how the courts and the lack of research have become big problems in contributing to this form of child abuse. The article has also been put into a PDF format.

The Parental Alienation Syndrome: An Analysis of Sixteen Selected Cases by John Dunne and Marsha Hedrick. This was published in the Journal of Divorce and Remarriage, Vol. 21(3/4), 1994. This article looks at sixteen cases that met Dr. Gardner's criteria for Parental Alienation Syndrome. It shows that traditional interventions in these cases were ineffective, and that the only effective treatment included a change in custody of the alienated child. This material is also available in PDF format.

The Detrimental Effects on Women of the Gender Egalitarianism of Child-Custody Dispute Resolution Guidelines by Richard A. Gardner from the Academy Forum Volume 38, Number 1,2 p 10-13 (Spring/Summer 1994), the publication of The American Academy of Psychoanalysis. This article discusses the history of custody over the ages and the possible reasons for the high incidence of parental alienation seen now. The article has also been put into a PDF format.

Parental Alienation Syndrome: A Developmental Analysis of a Vulnerable Population by Joseph L. Price, Ph.D. and Kerry S. Pioske, RN, MS, ANP. This was published in the Journal of Psychosocial Nursing, Vol. 32, No. 11, 1994 p 9-12. This article provides an overview of PAS for nurses and some description of how it fits into psychological framework of the child and the family. This material is also available in PDF format.

The Parental Alienation Syndrome: A Dangerous Aura of Reliability by Cheri L. Wood (no apparent qualifications) as published in the Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review, Vol. 29, p 1367-1415 (1994). This article is the paper usually brought up as some to supposedly "destroy" the concept of Parental Alienation Syndrome. It is interesting to read, especially in light of the collection of material on this site. It presents the concept that Dr. Gardner is the only person who believes PAS exisits. It states that there are no articles about PAS in peer reviewed publications (take a look at the site, there have been more than 50 such articles since 1988 and a number of them from Gardner himself). It purports that there is no empirical data for PAS, while a number of the articles here ARE emprical studies, and some took place even before Gardner coined the term. Well, it is a PAS paper that should be of interest if arguing in court (especially in the US). This material is not yet available in PDF format.

When You Suspect the Worst: Bad-faith relocation, fabricated child sexual abuse, and parental alienation by Carol Holstein Sanders. This was published in the Family Advocate in the Winter, 1993 edition. This article looks at alienation in context of the other common conditions associated with alienating parents using children as weapons against the other parent. This article is a simple and general piece (well, it was written for lawyers) but amply indicates the tie in on Parental Alienation with many other actions often seen on relationship breakdowns. This material is also available in PDF format.

Intractable Access: Is There a Cure? by Ken Byrne and Lawrie Maloney. This was published in the Australian Family Lawyer v. 8(4), 1993, p. 22. This article looks at a particular case of parental alienation syndrome, and the use of supervised transitions in order to overcome the lack of access. This article is also available in PDF format.

Expanding the Parameters of Parental Alienation Syndrome by Glenn F. Cartwright as published in the American Journal of Family Therapy, 21 (3), 205-215 (1993). This is available through a link to his personal site at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. An excellent paper. He seems to have / make use of a site called "P. A. I. N." (Parental Alienation Information Network") at http://www.education.mcgill.ca/pain/ for the disemmination of material. This particular paper as also been put into a PDF format.

Family Wars: The Alienation of Children, Composite case from actual examples by Peggy Ward and J. Campbell Harvey was published in the New Hampshire Bar Journal, Volume 34, No.1, March 1993. A slightly different version, but with the same title, composed all of Newletter #9 (from 1993) of The Professional Academy of Custody Evaluators (PACE) is available through a link to PACE's Web site at http://www.pace-custody.org. This is an excellent and comprehensive paper. The PACE version is available in many different formats across the Web. The PACE verson of this paper has been captured in PDF format, and the New Hampshire paper has been printed in PDF format.

Mediation: Parental Alienation Syndrome by Mary Lund from the Family Law News, the official publication of the State Bar of California Family Law Section, Volume 15, Number 1, in the Spring of 1992. It provides a very brief overview of the issues with lawyers to help them not contribute to the child abuse known as Parental Alienation. This particular paper as also been put in PDF format.

Le syndrome d'aliénation parentale (Parental Alienation Syndrome) by Anne-France Goldwater. This is an article that was originally published in Dévelopments Récents en Droit Familial 1991, P. 121-145, but that was made available through http://www.goldwaterdube.com/ as a Microsoft Word document. There are some other good papers there. Despite the French title, most of this document is in English. It provides a good summary from a Canadian, and specifically a Quebec, legal viewpoint. The Word version of this particular paper as also been put in PDF format.

Legal and Psychotherapeutic Approaches to the Three Types of Parental Alienation Syndrome Families by Richard A. Gardner, M.D.. This article was published in the Court Review Volume 28, Number 1, Spring 1991, p. 14-21, the publication of the American Judges Association. This paper describes the three types of PAS and gives some specific pieces of information that judges, at least judges that care, need to know when coming across PAS in the courtroom. You need to read this one. The paper as also been put in PDF format.

Mental Health Professionals in Child Custody Disputes: Advocates or Impartial Examiners? by Kenneth Byrne and published in the Autralian Family Lawyer, Vol. 6, No. 3, 1991, p.8. This is article looks at the differences in the functioning and conclusions of an advocate and an examiner. This article is not yet available in PDF format.

Custody Disputes Fueling "Parental Alienation Syndrome written about Richard A. Gardner, M.D.. This is a news article was published in the Family Practice News, Volume 20, Number 24, December 15-31, 1990, p 7. The paper as also been put in PDF format.

Preventing Parentectomy Following Divorce by Frank S. Williams, M.D.. This article was the keynote address at the Fifth Annual Conference of National Council for Children's Rights held in Washington DC on October 20, 1990. This paper describes problems with the process and motivations for separation of the children from a parent and talks about some of the preventative actions a parent can take. The paper was taken from the Men's Rights Agency site at http://www.ecn.net.au/~mra/page27b.htm and reformated slightly. This site has considerable amounts of interesting data, and can be accessed through the URL http://www.ecn.net.au/~mra/. The paper as also been put in PDF format.

Brainwashing in Custody Cases: The Parental Alienation Syndrome by Kenneth Byrne, PhD.. This article was published in the Australian Family Lawyer, v. 4(3), 1989, p.1ff. This paper gives a general overview of PAS, and provides lawyers with a list of things to be aware of that may indicate that alienation is taking place. The paper as also been put in PDF format.

Judges Interviewing Children in Custody/Visitation Litigation by Richard A. Gardner, M.D.. This article was published in the New Jersey Family Lawyer, Volume VII, Number 2, August/September 1987, p 26ff. This paper describes the problems that judges have in interviewing children affected by PAS directly, and gives some guidance on the approach and questions that a judge who wants to directly interview the children should take into account. The paper as also been put in PDF format.

Post-Divorce Therapy With Highly Conflicted Families by Anita K. Lampel, Ph.D.. This article was published in The Independent Practitioner Volume 6 Number 3, July 1986, p. 22-26, the Bulletin of the Division of Psychologists in Independent Practice, Division 42 of the Americal Psychological Association. This paper describes the success of conventional techniques on mild cases, but indicates that conventional techniques do not work well on severe cases, and that a change in residency has a much greater chance of working. Some of the improvements are discussed. The paper as also been put in PDF format.

Recent Trends in Divorce and Custody Litigation by Richard A. Gardner, M.D.. This article was published in the Academy Forum, Volume 29, Number 2, Summer, 1985, p. 3-7. This paper, in the journal of The American Academy of Psychoanalysis is the original paper that introduced the term "Parental Alienation Syndrome" and started the debate. The paper as also been put in PDF format.

Understanding and effectively dealing with Hostile-Aggressive Parenting (HAP) [PDF only] is a paper published by Family Conflict Resolution Services. This paper has been of wide-spread interest. HAP as described in a pattern of parenting that encompasses a number of problematic behaviours what would be associated with an alienating parent under PAS who is purposefully seeking to disrupt contact with a parent. The paper seems to be dynamic in its form, and we cannot keep up with some of the changes. The version on this site is currently the May 2004 version. The November 2003 version and February 2003 version are also available.. You may find a more recent version at http://familyconflict.freeyellow.com/General1/RecommendationsHostile-AgressiveParenting.pdf It is interesting in its scope and relatively easy to read.

A Guide to the Parental Alienation Syndrome by Stan Hayward. This is the second edition of Stan Hayward's paper. It provides much more specific information and, in particular, some good UK-oriented information (it is interesting to see how things work/don't work there too). Hayward is the Research Officer at Families Need Fathers, which maintains a website at www.fnf.org.uk. Our copy of the paper is more complete than theirs, so this is a locally stored article. This particular paper is not yet available in PDF format.

A Guide to the Parental Alienation Syndrome by Stan Hayward. This is available through a link to http://www.coeffic.demon.co.uk, the UK Men and Father's Rights page. An excellent paper. This particular paper as also been captured in PDF format.

The Father’s Guide: Coping with Parental Alienation by the Texas Fathers for Equal Rights (T. F. E. R.). This is is a discussion, by fathers, of some of the strategies fathers should consider in re-establishing a relationship with a child who has been alienated but is once again visiting. TFER's seems to have moved, so this page is a copy of the article. This particular paper was captured in PDF format.

Dr. Douglas Darnall, a therapist, expert witness and author in Ohio, has a great collection of information on Parental Alienation - the stages that usually occur before the more serious PAS kicks at his site at http://www.parentalalienation.com/PASdirectory.htm. Information on his book is, of course, there too. There is some useful stuff to consider there. If you are interested, Dr. Parnell was the guest at an on-line chat session at Concerned Counselling on February 3, 1998, and that transcript is available here.

Parental Alienation Syndrome is an article The Family Court Reform Council of America. This is is a discussion of PAS in general. Their home page can be found at http://www.familycourts.com/. This particular page as also been captured in PDF format.

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Some Reported Results of Access Denial and Parental Alienation

Increased suicidal tendencies were found in people who had experienced the loss of the father. Bron, Strack & Rudolph, Univ. of Gottingen, Germany, 1991

Children showed the most behaviour problems if their parents were in a legal conflict and the visitation was not frequent or regular. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 1990

British researchers have found adults who suffer parent loss due to separation or divorce have significantly higher risk of developing agoraphobia withpanic attacks and panic disorder. British Journal of Psychiatry, 1989

Scandinavian research has found a significantly higher number of adults who attempted suicide had lost a parent through divorce in childhood. Acta Psychiatrica, Scandinavia, 1990, 1993

Children who were separated from their father for a period of three months or longer and between the ages of 6 months to 5 years old, suffer a higher risk (2.5 to 5 times higher) of hysteria, emotional disorders and conduct disorder than other children. Indian Journal of Psychiatry, 1988

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Parents Who Have Successfully Fought Parental Alienation Syndrome by Jayne A. Major, Ph.D.

http://www.breakthroughparenting.com/PAS.htm

 

Nothing stirs up passions more than the controversy generated when parents are at war over the custody of a child. 
     A controversy is an issue where evidence on both sides can make a compelling case. It is never black and white, but when people have their emotions aroused, an issue can quickly turn into two polar opposites.

      Fear takes over reason, incomplete facts become evidence, and court calendars become jammed with repeat visits to a judge to try to bring sanity to what is unlikely to ever be sane. On top of this, social movements are promoting one side over another in their clamor for justice. Politicians are lobbied to pass laws to bring order to chaos. Gender wars are fueled and lives are destroyed.

      My exposure to custody wars came from the mothers and fathers attending my Breakthrough Parenting^® classes at The Parent Connection, Inc., an agency that I founded in Los Angeles in 1983.

     Many of the parents in my classes were litigating over child custody. Most said that they wanted to settle the case, but none of them would settle by giving up all access to their child, which seemed to be the only other alternative open to them.

     It was disturbing to see that in many of these cases, the child was behaving outrageously, to the point of cursing one of their parents, and kicking, spitting, and calling them stupid, mean and horrible.

       What can you do when one parent is intractable and vitriolic? What can you do when the child becomes caught up in the fight and starts taking sides? I came to realize that this level of conflict in custody disputes was a fallout from sweeping societal changes.

What has changed?
      In the 1960's and the 1970's, feminists told fathers that they should take a more active role in raising their children. Women were going to work, going back to college and pursuing careers as never before.

     A shift then began, and fathers became more involved in the day-to-day care of their children than was true in previous generations.

     As rigidity about parental roles began to fall away, the tender years doctrine was still in place. This doctrine presumed that by virtue of the fact that a woman was the mother of a child, that she must be the superior parent. In the early 1970's several states passed "no-fault" divorce laws, where anyone who wanted out of a marriage was free to leave. Some have called it the "no guilt laws." There was a proliferation of divorce that was historically unprecedented.

      After a family breakup, many fathers wanted to continue to be involved with the care of their children. Suddenly, they found that they had no legal right to have custody of their children unless the mother agreed to it.

Due to the lobbying efforts of James Cook, founder of the Joint Custody Association, who was caught up in this problem himself, the California legislature successfully passed the first joint custody laws.

Joint custody was widely seen as a better way of handling the evolving problem of how to share child custody. It was believed that it would lead to fewer fights over the custody of children because it was more equal. Other states also passed joint custody laws. These laws helped to level the playing field for fathers.

      The majority of mothers and fathers welcomed joint custody. Others did not. As with any trend, there was a backlash. Child custody became a highly political gender-specific issue. Thus, the ramping up of high-level disputes also began in the 70's.

      In most states the tender years presumption (mother knows best) was replaced with the best-interests-of-the-child presumption of joint custody (the best parent is both parents).

      In the 1980's, courts began to increasingly ignore gender in determining child custody. This removed the automatic allocation of full custody rights to the mother, so she had less time with the children. Instead, the courts looked first at how the custody could be shared, and if that wasn't possible, judicial officers attempted to determine which parent was more interested and better able to attend to the best interest of the child.

      Fathers perceived that they were at a disadvantage because of a bias toward the mother having custody. Because of this, in the 1980's more fathers than ever started showing up at parenting classes to make sure that their skills were state of the art. This is when these issues were first called to my attention.

      Most parents were able to share custody of their children, and they worked out childcare issues in an amicable way.

      A large number of women were even relieved to have fathers share in the childcare, which enabled them to pursue their personal life goals involving their education and career.

      However, when there was not a friendly resolution to custody, fathers found themselves with a greater opportunity to gain joint or primary custodial status by litigating (going to court). The stakes got even higher when the legal system was used to resolve these difficult problems. In extreme cases, the alienation of a child's affection against a targeted parent became a bizarre escalation of the intensity of the conflict.

Who discovered Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS)?
      In association with this growing child-custody litigation, forensic psychiatrist Dr. Richard A. Gardner first identified Parental Alienation Syndrome in the 1980's. He noticed a dramatic increase in the frequency of a disorder rarely observed before, that of programming or brainwashing of a child by one parent to denigrate the other parent.

However, the disorder wasn't just brainwashing or programming by a parent. It was confounded by what Dr. Gardner calls self-created contributions by the child in support of the alienating parent's campaign of denigration against the targeted parent. He called this disorder Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS), a new term that includes the contribution to the problem made by both the parent and the child.

What is PAS?
Gardner's definition of PAS is:
1. The Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS) is a disorder that arises primarily in the context of child-custody disputes.

2. Its primary manifestation is the child's campaign of denigration against a parent, a campaign that has no justification. 

3. It results from the combination of a programming (brainwashing) of a parent's indoctrinations and the child's own contributions to the vilification of the targeted parent.
Excerpted from: Gardner, R.A. (1998). The Parental Alienation Syndrome, Second Edition, Cresskill, NJ: Creative Therapeutics, Inc.

What is the child's part in PAS?
      Gardner notes that the PAS is more than brainwashing or programming, because the child has to actually participate in the denigrating of the alienated parent. This is done in primarily the following eight ways:

1. The child denigrates the alienated parent with foul language and severe oppositional behavior.

2. The child offers weak, absurd, or frivolous reasons for his or her anger.

3. The child is sure of himself or herself and doesn't demonstrate ambivalence, i.e. love and hate for the alienated parent, only hate.

4. The child exhorts that he or she alone came up with ideas of denigration. The "independent-thinker" phenomenon is where the child asserts that no one told him to do this.

5. The child supports and feels a need to protect the alienating parent.

6. The child does not demonstrate guilt over cruelty towards the alienated parent.

7. The child uses borrowed scenarios, or vividly describes situations that he or she could not have experienced.

8. Animosity is spread to the friends and/or extended family of the alienated parent.

In severe cases of parent alienation, the child is utterly brain- washed against the alienated parent. The alienator can truthfully say that the child doesn't want to spend any time with this parent, even though he or she has told him that he has to, it is a court order, etc. The alienator typically responds, "There isn't anything that I can do about it. I'm not telling him that he can't see you."

PAS is an escalation of Parental Alienation (PA)
      Dr. Douglas Darnall in his book Divorce Casualties: Protecting Your Children from Parental Alienation, describes three categories of PA:

The mild category he calls the naïve alienators. They are ignorant of what they are doing and are willing to be educated and change.

The moderate category is the active alienators. When they are triggered, they lose control of appropriate boundaries. They go ballistic. When they calm down, they don't want to admit that they were out of control.

In the severe category are the obsessed alienators or those who are involved in PAS. They operate from a delusional system where every cell of their body is committed to destroying the other parent's relationship with the child.

In the latter case, he notes that we don't have an effective protocol for treating an obsessed alienator other than removing the child from their influence.

An important point is that in PAS there is no true parental abuse and/or neglect on the part of the alienated parent. If this were the case, the child's animosity would be justified. Also, it is not PAS if the child still has a positive relationship with the parent, even though one parent is attempting to alienate the child from him or her.

Which gender is most likely to initiate PAS?
      Gardner's statistics showed that the majority of PAS occurrences were initiated by mothers. Mothers have traditionally had primary custody of children (although before the 20th century it normally belonged to the father), and the mothers usually spend more time with the children.

      In order for a campaign of alienation to occur, one parent needs to have considerable time with the child. However, in recent years increasing numbers of fathers have started instigating PAS, since there are few legal sanctions for doing so.

I've seen several dramatic cases where the father was the alienator.

     In one case, the father had no control over his obsession to trash the mother.

      Numerous professionals told him, including the mother, that he could have shared custody if he would be willing to follow the rules. He didn't have the self-control to do this.

     When he lost custody because of his aberrant behavior, he became a celebrity in the father's rights movement and took his campaign into national circles. No one would know from hearing him speak about his situation that there was serious pathology going on (PAS) or how hard the professionals worked to stabilize it.

     Moreover, in cultures where women traditionally have no tangible rights, alienation by the father can be severe.

     I've met divorcing women who had been prevented from learning how to make a living to support themselves. At the time of separation all access to financial resources were stopped and the children removed from her care. These women reported severe alienation of affection.

     It makes one grateful to have laws that protect human rights and enforce a better way of resolving conflict than a winner-take all approach.

How common is PA and PAS?
      When parents first separate there is often parent alienation. For example, due to the anxiety of the mother, she is likely to say indirectly to a child that he or she is not safe with the father.

       She might say:

"Call me as soon as you get there to let me know you are okay."
"If you get scared, you call me right away. Okay?" 
"I'll come get you if you want to come home."

      Usually this level of alienation dies down after the separating parents get used to changes brought on by the separation and move on with their lives.

However, in rare cases, the anxiety not only doesn't calm down, it escalates. PAS parents are psychologically fragile. When things are going their way, they can hold themselves together. When they are threatened however, they can become fiercely entrenched in preserving what they see is rightfully theirs.

Fortunately only a small percentage end up in this level of conflict.

Why do PAS parents act like they do?
      I believe that PAS parents have become stuck in the first stage of child development, where survival skills are learned.

To them, having total control over their child is a life and death matter. Because they don't understand how to please other people, any effort to do so always has strings attached. They don't give; they only know how to take. They don't play by the rules and are not likely to obey a court order.

      Descriptions that are commonly used to describe severe cases of PAS are that the alienating parent is unable to "individuate" (a psychological term used when the person is unable to see the child as a separate human being from him or herself). They are often described as being "overly involved with the child" or "enmeshed".

      The parent may be diagnosed as narcissistic (self-centered), where they presume that they have a special entitlement to whatever they want. They think that there are rules in life, but only for other people, not for them.

     Also, they may be called a sociopath, which means a person who has no moral conscience. These are people who are unable to have empathy or compassion for others. They are unable to see a situation from another person's point of view, especially their child's point of view. They don't distinguish between telling the truth and lying in the way that others do.

      In spite of admonitions from judges and mental health professionals to stop their alienation, they can't. The prognosis for severely alienating parents is very poor. It is unlikely that they are able to "get it." It is also unlikely that they will ever stop trying to perpetuate the alienation. This is a gut wrenching survival issue to them.

How does the child get involved in PAS?
The targeted parent needs to understand what has happened to what as once an affectionate and loving child who is now unexplainably hostile. Remember Gardner's definition stated earlier, "the disorder wasn't only brainwashing or programming by a parent, but was confounded by what he calls self-created contributions by the child in support of the alienating parent's campaign of denigration against the targeted parent."  It isn't PAS in the severe form of this disorder, unless the child has crossed over and joined up with the alienating parent. The child shares the alienating parent's psychosis. How does this happen?

     At birth, children are totally reliant on a parent, usually the mother, for having all of their needs met. It is part of normal child development to be enmeshed with their primary caregiver, and very young children do not have a separate identity from this caregiver.

     One of the mother's roles is to help the child develop as a separate person, therefore, infancy and childhood become a series of tasks of learning how to become independent. For example, learning to putting oneself back to sleep, eating, toilet training and caring for one's hygiene.

Instead of promoting this independence, the alienating parent encourages continued dependence. The parent may insist on sleeping with the child, feeding the child ("It's easier if I do it"), and taking care of these rites of passage longer than normal child development calls for. This "spoiling" may not feel right to the child, but they do not have enough ego strength to do anything about it.

      A PAS mother can't imagine that the father is capable of planning the child's time while in his care. Therefore, she arranges several things for the child to do while at the father's house. One of the most common ways of doing this is to sign the child up for on-going lessons without permission from the father.

    The parent may even decree whom the child can and cannot see, particularly specific members of the child's extended family on the father's side. The mother desperately wants control over the time when the child isn't with her.

    One of the most unusual situations that I ran into was the father who picked up his sons at 9:00 a.m. on a Saturday for the weekend. He discovered that his very excited boys had their hearts set on going to Disneyland for the day, when this idea had never crossed his mind.

      One theory about why a mother will act this way is that when a father takes his share of joint custody, it is like asking her to give away part of her body. One mother said, "He is going to remove my right arm and take it for the weekend." It feels like the mother has lost a profound part of who she is as a person. She feels fractured, pulled apart.

Why is PAS a double bind for the child?
      When children spend time with the father, and enjoy it, they are put into a double bind. Clearly, they cannot tell the mother that dad treats them well or that they had fun together. They want to bond with the father, but don't dare. They figure out on which side the bread is buttered (who has the power), and their survival needs tug at them. Therefore, children will tell the mother about everything they didn't enjoy about time spent with the father, which will add to her belief that they don't like to be with him. These children feel that they must protect the mother. The same is true when the alienator is the father. The child will avoid expressing their affectionate feelings for the mother to him.

Family volitility
       These are volatile families. The father may have indeed spanked a child, or lashed out at the mother physically or emotionally. An isolated incidence can turn into a holocaust. One father spanked his rebellious child and ended up in jail on child abuse charges, followed by a six week trial to determine his guilt. The jury returned with a not guilty verdict in 20 minutes. The verdict didn't end it as far as the mother was concerned, however.

     The alienating parent's hatred can have no bounds. The severest form will bring out every horrible allegation known, including claims of domestic violence, stalking and the sexual molestation of the child. Many fathers say that there have been repeated calls to the Department of Family and Child Services alleging child abuse and neglect.

     In most cases the investigators report that they found nothing wrong. However, the indoctrinating parent feels that these reports are not fabrications, but very, very real. She can describe the horror of what happen in great detail. Regardless of the actual truth, in her mind, it did happen.

     Most of the alienated fathers that I work with are continually befuddled by her lying. "How can she lie like that?" They don't realize that these lies are not based on rational thinking. They are incapable of understanding the difference between what is true and what they want to be true. A vital part of fighting PAS is to understand the severity of the psychological disturbance that is the source of it.

Intergenerational patterns
      What makes this problem very complicated is that PAS is often intergenerational in dysfunctional families. Almost always the alienator has people within the family who support the alienation. It might be the mother, father or grandparent who encourage fighting. They are likely to support the parent financially or even provide massive amounts of money to fund litigation. This is further proof to the PAS parent that he or she is justified in what he/she does.

When a child is placed in the role of the parent's therapist
      Alienation advances even further when the alienating parent uses the child as a personal therapist. The child is told about every miserable experience and negative feeling about the alienated parent with great specificity. The child, who is already enmeshed with the parent because his or her own identity is still undefined, easily absorbs the parent's negativity. They become aligned with this parent and feel that they need to be the protector of the alienating parent.

What happens to the child when you can't stop PAS?

      Obviously, without anyone to stop the alienation from progressing, the child will become estranged from the alienated parent. The relationship with this parent will eventually be severed. It is doubtful that, without psychological intervention as the child grows, he or she will ever understand what happened.

      The child's primary role model will be the maladaptive, dysfunctional parent. He or she will not have the benefit of growing up with the most well-adjusted parent and all that this parent can contribute to enrich the child's life. Many of these children come to experience serious psychiatric problems.

    Will they ever grow up and realize what happened to them? Without someone who can recognize the syndrome and counsel them about it, it isn't likely that they will ever figure it out. However, there have been exceptions where the child and the alienated parent have been successfully reunified later in life.

How can good intentions backfire?
      Those people who are typically called upon to handle such difficult situations, such as the police, social workers, attorneys or psychologists assume that what the frightened mother is saying is true. These things DO happen. There are men who are seriously disturbed, violent, out of control sexually, and stalk, who are rightfully feared. The mother is very convincing in her desperation and vivid in her descriptions. The clincher is that the alienated child collaborates with the mother by saying, "Yes, I am afraid of my father." "Yes, my father did touch me down there." "Yes, he does beat me." What would you do if you were faced with having to decide how to protect a child in such a situation?

Therapists
      Some therapists don't realize the severity and depth of the problem. In fact, they may unwittingly side with the alienating parent and even testify in court that the child is afraid of the alienated parent. This can be a serious stumbling block in getting an accurate diagnosis. Indeed, it can tip the scale into the alienating parent's agenda and do real damage.

    Our courts, social services and mental health workers are all committed to stop child abuse and neglect when they see it occurring. Unfortunately, in PAS situations a dramatic and loud complaint from the alienating parent often ends up being acted upon without an investigation as to the accuracy of the allegation. This frequently removes the alienated parent from the children and allows the alienating parent considerable additional time to proceed with the alienation.

    By the time all of the evaluations are in place and the case is heard by the court, considerable damage has been done to the child. It is an irony that the very people we turn to for help in such a difficult situation can often be those who most contribute to allowing the on-going abuse and neglect of the child to continue.

What can be done about the problem?

    First, it takes a sophisticated mental health professional to be able to identify that PAS is occurring. Most forensic evaluators such as psychiatrists and clinical psychologists have studied the disorder and are able to recognize it.

    Forensic evaluators diagnose PAS by having the parents take a battery of psychological tests, doing a detailed case history and by observation. They make recommendations as to what to do. After the evaluator has written a report on the family and made recommendations, nothing will happen to resolve the crisis without court intervention.

   The alienated parent has to take the report to a judge who must then be convinced that the child is being alienated and that it is not in their best interest to stay in such an environment.

   It is rare however that judges have any degree of mental health training. They most often learn about PAS from the bench. It usually takes several trips to court to point out how badly a child is being treated before a judge is willing to act.

How are PAS cases resolved legally?
     Judges are inevitably conservative in their orders. Even when the evidence is overwhelming that the alienation is occurring, the court order may still end up saying, "the parents are to make joint decisions about the child's welfare," when this is impossible to do.

    This is further evidence that the judge doesn't understand the magnitude of the problem. The judge in one of the most severe PAS cases I worked on was from the old school. He was tired of having the litigants continue to appear before him. One day he said, "Why don't the two of you go out in the hallway and kiss and make up." This is an example of how frustrating these cases are for judges. Indeed, these are the hardest cases to decide.

      Judges have been slow to place serious sanctions on the alienating parent. If there is no threat of severe fines, jail time or sole custody to the targeted parent, the chances are remote that the out-of-control parent can be stopped.

      It usually takes a dramatic situation where court orders are broken to force the court to change primary custody. Often it is only a matter of time before alienating parents become desperate and their unstable mental health gets the better of them. People in an official position start to recognize the alienating parent as being out of line, and become supportive of the targeted parent.

    In one case, the 9 and 4 year old daughters were abducted and presumed to be on their way to Australia through an underground group that hides women who are victims of domestic violence, often of a sexual nature and where the father is stalking. The girls were missing for 3 months and found in another county where they were waiting for final arrangements to be made before their departure. When the police broke into the house at 3:00 a.m., they found the girls sleeping with their mother. They had been given boy's names, clothes, haircuts and their hair was dyed. They were not allowed contact with anyone outside of their hiding place, not even to go to school. The oldest child had strep throat and the youngest was seriously withdrawn.

      In another case, the mother could no longer convince the social workers, the police or the Court about her allegations. She was known to be unstable because she had "cried wolf" too many times. She abducted her daughter to Utah. She told officials there that the courts where she lived were protecting a proven child molester. The press was called. After she was interviewed; there was a virtual feeding frenzy as the father's photograph and the story was on all the local news networks.

A big part of the problem was that the seven year old girl, said "Yes" when asked if her father had molested her. Even though this had already been disproved by forensic evaluators, she was still confused.

Can the alienation of children be reversed?
As children get older, the alienation can be reversed with proper psychological care. However, it won't work if the alienating parent is not contained. In the last case described above, the mother had severely limited visiting rights. She had remarried and had a new child, however, she still regularly calls the police to report the father for abuse. Presently, the daughter resides with her father, receives weekly therapy and hates the police. She gradually understands how disturbed her mother is.

    In the former case, where the mother was kidnapping the children, she now sees them two hours a month at the Department of Children's Services with a social worker present to monitor everything that she says and does. The girls have also been in extensive therapy and are doing well.

    Since this is among the most severe kinds of abuse of a child's emotions, there will be scars and lost opportunities for normal development. The child is at risk of growing up and being an alienator also, since the alienating parent has been the primary role model.

What is the best way to deal with PAS?
The parents I know who were successful in getting primary custody of their children in a PAS situation shared the following characteristics:

• They completed a comprehensive parenting course such as Breakthrough Parenting, and stuck with it until they rated excellent in the knowledge, skills and methods taught. Their parenting skills became superior.

• They were even-tempered, logical and kept their emotions under control. They never retaliated. A person who reacts in anger is proving the alienator's point that he or she is unstable.
  

• They certainly thought of giving up but never did. No matter how awful the harassment got, they worried about leaving their daughter or son in that environment. They were driven to continue trying to get the court to understand the seriousness of the issues and to change primary custody to them.

• They were willing and able to go to the financial expense of seeing it through.

• They got help from a skilled family lawyer who had experience with parent alienation syndrome.

• They became good at understanding how the courts work and the law as it applied to their case. In many cases, because of excessive expenses, parents even ended up as pro per (called pro se in some states) where they were representing themselves without a lawyer.

• They had a case where a forensic evaluator made a strong statement about the alienation and recommend changing legal and primary custody to the alienated parent. Some parents had to go back to the evaluator to demonstrate that his or her earlier recommendations were not working.

• They persevered in demonstrating that they were rational, reasonable, and had the best interest of the child at heart.

• They provided the court with an appropriate parenting plan that showed how the child would be well taken care of in their care.

• They understood the nature of the problem and focused on what to do about it, even though they and their children were being victimized. (Alienated parents who got caught up in "how terrible it all is" and spent time judging the situation, went under emotionally.)

• They didn't live a victim's life.

• They were proactive in seeking constructive action.

• They avoided adding to the problem. One father expressed it like this: "I don't know how to make it better with the mother, but I do know how to make it worse." He was one of the most successful parents I met in fighting the PAS problem because he stayed in the role of the peacekeeper.

• They kept a diary or journal of key events, describing what happened and when.

• They documented the alienation with evidence that was admissible in court.

• They always called or showed up to pick up their children, even if they knew that the children won't be there. This was often very painful, but then they could document that they tried, when the alienator alleged that this parent had no interest in the child.

• They focused on enjoying their children's company and never talked to their children about their case. They always took the high road and never talked badly about the other parent to their children. They absolutely never showed a child any court orders or other sensitive documents. They didn't let the children overhear inappropriate conversations on the telephone.

• They didn't violate court orders. They paid their child support on time and proved that they could live within the letter of the law.

• They were truly decent, principled people. It was obvious that they loved their children.

Conclusion

   PAS cases are notoriously difficult to figure out, even for professionals in the field of divorce.

    Once the syndrome is discovered, it is even harder for the professionals to figure out what to do about it.

    It is important for alienated parents to be supported by compassionate people while going through this difficult time.

   PAS is never easy, but there is plenty of hope for those who take the high road and follow what worked for other PAS parents as shown above.

Jayne Major, Ph.D.

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Take The Following Actions Now
If You Are In A PAS Case:

PAS Action #1: Complete a comprehensive parenting course such as Breakthrough Parenting, and stick with it until you rate excellent in the knowledge, skills and methods taught. Your parenting skills will become superior, which is what you need to be able to deal with the challenges of alienation.

The Breakthrough Parenting 2-page personal Letter of Completion also helps give the judge, as well as all family professionals involved, confidence that you are able to support your children effectively in the new, more stressful situation of a divided family.

This is especially important if you have already been falsely accused of being a "clueless" or even "dangerous" parent.

If local classes are not available in your area, or if you have to complete a comprehensive course in less than 10 weeks, the Breakthrough Parenting Advanced Parenting Home Program, which uses the same materials as the live classes, but you complete them on your own with live phone coaching from a Certified Breakthrough Parenting Instructor and a super-clear program. You read a very lively textbook with great illustrations and numerous powerful real-life examples from Breakthrough Parenting families. You learn how these parents were able to quickly solve difficult problems with their children, then complete a unique workbook that helps you quickly get real skills for dealing with problems in your own family. This program really works even in difficult PAS situations, and parents love it.

When you have finished your workbook and sent it in to us, we set up a Review and Coaching Session with you over the phone. On completion, we send you a 2-page detailed Letter of Completion that we guarantee will be accepted by any Family Court in the U.S. or Canada, or you get a 100% refund of what you paid!

In a PAS case, the Breakthrough Parenting Advanced Parenting Program is also vital for properly preparing you for a Custody Evaluation. If you don't speak the language family professionals use, and you don't acquire some new, higher skills for this new situation, you can easily end up with a negative evaluation, resulting in limited supervised visitation instead of what could have been full custody. Yes, the difference can be that great.

PAS Action #2: Provide the court with a "comprehensive parenting plan" that shows how the child will be well taken care of in your care. Most parenting plans are not comprehensive enough, which in PAS cases ends up costing thousands of dollars in legal fees, not to mention months or years of unnecessary aggravation.

PAS Action #3: Keep a diary or journal of key events, describing what happened and when.

For this key PAS action, you'll find everything you need to know in the Creating A Successful Parenting Plan book and CD-ROM. These super-clear materials show you how to quickly create what is legally called "a comprehensive parenting plan," and it explains the meaning of the many important choices you have to make, choices that are uniquely personal.

Getting your understanding through this material is much more efficient than having your family lawyer explain it one hour at a time.

The template on the Companion CD-ROM allows you to very quickly build your own plan on your computer (PC or Mac), in a format that is ready to present to your family lawyer for review, or to file with the court if you are forced to represent yourself (unfortunately common in PAS cases). With this material, you will have a maximally complete plan upfront.

In a hostile PAS case, this can save you a lot of money, as the other parent is often continuously looking for ways to make trouble. Many parents just put into the plan what they can think of at the beginning, plus what their lawyers suggest to add at that time, which is only what they know about in your family situation.

Then six months later the other parent says, "You didn't put in anything about xxx!" and the judge is forced to call the parties in again, usually at a cost of $3,000-$6,000 in legal fees, and that's each time. Many PAS parents end up financially devastated by this. After a while they are unable to defend themselves in court, and they lose custody of their children.

If, on the other hand, the parenting plan is truly comprehensive from the beginning, it will be very difficult or even impossible for the other parent to claim that anything was missed up front.

Family court judges have to deal with omissions, but they do not care much for requests for changes for change's sake.

The Creating A Successful Parenting Plan book also describes how to document everything that happens in a way that it can be used effectively for your PAS case.

The PAS Special Package

The quickest way to get everything you need to deal with parental alienation effectively is to order the famous PAS Special Package. It is a complete package at a substantial discount over getting the parts separately, and contains the following:

1. How To Stop Parental Alienation: A Handbook for Parents and Family Professionals

Written by Bjorn Ahlen, Co-Founder of Breakthrough Parenting, this is a handbook for dealing with PAS. It is not an analysis of PAS and its causes, but solid, practical information on how to deal with every aspect of a PAS case, based on many years of experience with helping PAS parents across the U.S., Canada, and overseas. No wishful thinking, no grandstanding, no opinions about what "should" work, just thoroughly field-tested strategies.

The Handbook shows you how to present your case in a way that it will be heard properly. You learn how to handle critical communications issues with custody evaluators, family court judges, mediators and Guardians Ad Litem (GALs), to make sure they get a clear picture of the alienation in your family.

This Handbook can save you many thousands of dollars in legal fees, not to mention many months or even years of harrassment and alienation. ($47.00 separately)

2. Creating A Successful Parenting Plan Book and CD-ROM

Super-Clear Book that's been sold by professional referral for more than 10 years + Template CD-ROM for PC/Mac + Phone Support for any unusual questions. It helps you quickly show the judge that you are the serious parent who really understands what's best for your children, allows you to be very specific about what you are asking for, and finally allows you to nail everything possible to the floor boards, so that it becomes more difficult for the alienating parent to go back to the judge to add things later at great expense. ($39.95 separately)

3. Breakthrough Parenting Advanced Parenting Home Program

Individual Coaching with a Certified Breakthrough Parenting Instructor, Super-Clear Materials, and a Letter of Completion for Family Court

What this package does for you:

1. You will be able to quickly understand and speak using the correct terminology used by family professionals in court. When parents use everyday language to describe the PAS problems in their family, it frequently comes across as "adult whining," and even serious complaints are often disregarded by the courts for this reason.
2. You will be able to understand the psychological problems involved in PAS cases, and you will learn how to effectively deal with them.
3. You will learn how to reduce your stress. If you don't have any strength left, how are you going to fight? Our methods have been proven effective for thousands of parents in difficult cases
4. You will learn how to undo the "brainwashing" of your children, and how to communicate effectively with them regardless of their age (even teens...!), so that you can guide them and support them through this difficult time, even reconnect with them after a long, forced absence.
5. You will quickly understand all the choices you have to make in what is legally called a "comprehensive parenting plan."
6. You will learn how to use a parenting plan to protect yourself from foreseeable future legal expenses if your ex should become unhappy after your divorce is finalized, whether it's 3 months later, or 6 months, 9 months, or a year or more. This is a very common source of great expense in PAS cases.
7. You will find everything explained with exceptional clarity, and many real-life examples from families we have helped (only the names have been changed).
8. Your own satisfaction is 100% guaranteed. If you are not totally satisfied with how this unique package works to help you connect with your children and save you big money on legal expenses, just return the materials within 30 days for a 100% refund.

Click here to get the very best PAS Action Materials,
plus detailed help to create a Preventative Comprehensive Parenting Plan,
plus Individual Parent Coaching, plus a Letter of Completion for Family Court,
all for only $247.00 for a short time.

The whole package costs less than what most people pay for a single hour of legal fees (and you can save a lot of those with this package).

You get a 30-day Unconditional 100% Money Back Guarantee, backed by our A+ (highest) rating with the Better Business Bureau.

You'll quickly know what to do to move your case forward, and you'll see clearly how to help your children get out of the parental alienation in the shortest time possible!ˆ

More than 98% of incoming orders are shipped within 24 hours, and overnight FedEx is available, as is First Class Air Mail shipping to Canada, Mexico, UK, Australia, NZ, and other countries.

 

If you have questions about what we can do for you, call us at +1 (310) 207-9977.