Dec 6, 2016
Adrian Wilson-Smith
Dec 6, 2016
We largely think of Christmas as a time of families coming together, but this isn't the case for many.
Parental alienation PA or PAS - Parental Alienation Syndrome is the unwarranted or illogical rejection of a parent, by a child, where there was previously a normal, warm, loving relationship.
It describes a set of strategies that one parent uses to undermine and interfere with a child's relationship with his or her other parent. This often but not always happens when parents are engaged in a contested custody battle. There is no one definitive set of behaviours that constitute PA but research with both parents and children has revealed a core set of alienation strategies, including criticising the other parent, limiting contact with that parent, erasing the other parent from the life and mind of the child forbidding discussion and pictures of the other parent for instance , forcing the child to reject the other parent, creating the impression that the other parent is dangerous, forcing the child to choose, and belittling and limiting contact with the extended family of the targeted parent.
Parents who try to alienate their child from his or her other parent convey a three-part message to the child:
There is no one definitive set of behaviours that constitute parental alienation but research with both parents and children has revealed a core set of alienation strategies:
Adrian Wilson-Smith