Recommended treatments for “parental alienation syndrome” (PAS) may cause children foreseeable and lasting psychological harm

@article{Dallam2016RecommendedTF,
  title={Recommended treatments for “parental alienation syndrome” (PAS) may cause children foreseeable and lasting psychological harm},
  author={Stephanie J. Dallam and Joyanna L. Silberg},
  journal={Journal of Child Custody},
  year={2016},
  volume={13},
  pages={134 - 143}
}
ABSTRACT The coercive and punitive “therapies” recommended for children diagnosed with parental alienation constitute an ethical minefield and are especially inappropriate when used on children who have already been traumatized. Forced reunification against a child’s will and without taking into consideration the child’s point of view and emotional well-being, can be expected to reinforce a sense of helplessness and powerlessness in an already vulnerable child. Such “treatment” can be expected… Expand
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Parental Alienation Syndrome: What Health Care Providers Need to Know
Abstract The consequence of emotional strain on children has been documented along with the connection between deleterious life experiences and undesirable future health trajectories. The emotional… Expand
Are intensive parental alienation treatments effective and safe for children and adolescents?
  • J. Mercer
  • Psychology
  • Journal of Child Custody
  • 2019
Abstract Strong claims have been made for the possibility of diagnostic discrimination between children who refuse contact with a nonpreferred divorced parent due to parental alienation (PA) created… Expand
Parental Alienation ( Syndrome )-A serious form of psychological child abuse
Induced parental alienation is a specific form of psychological child abuse, which is listed in DSM-5, the current Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association (APA),… Expand
Family court ordered “reunification therapy:” junk science in the guise of helping parent/child relationships?
ABSTRACT This Commentary addresses the issue of the ethics of mental health professionals recommending or doing what family courts and some others are calling “Reunification Therapy.” This is often… Expand
Examining Parental Alienation Treatments: Problems of Principles and Practices
  • J. Mercer
  • Psychology
  • Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal
  • 2019
When children of high-conflict divorced parents prefer one parent and resist or refuse visitation with the other parent, some authors have spoken of this situation as parental alienation (PA). PA… Expand
Valid and invalid ways to assess the reason a child rejects a parent: The continued malignant role of “parental alienation syndrome”
  • Roy Lubit
  • Psychology
  • Journal of Child Custody
  • 2019
Abstract Despite widespread rejection of Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS), some custody evaluators use the presence of its components to invalidate abuse allegations and blame the preferred parent.… Expand
Parental Alienating Behaviors: An Unacknowledged Form of Family Violence
TLDR
The result of this review highlights how the societal denial of parental alienation has been like the historical social and political denial of abuse in many parts of the world (e.g., child abuse a century ago). Expand
Risks and Realities of Working with Alienated Children
Involvement in custody cases that include accusations of parental alienation—whether as an evaluator, expert witness, lawyer, judge, therapist, provider of a specialized intervention, or… Expand
Parental Alienation: In Search of Common Ground For a More Differentiated Theory
The concept of parental alienation (PA) has expanded in popular usage at the same time that it remains mired in controversy about its scientific integrity and its use as a legal strategy in response… Expand
Concepts, Controversies And Conundrums Of “Alienation:” Lessons Learned In A Decade And Reflections On Challenges Ahead
There have been significant advances in understandings and practice related parent–child contact problems (PCCPs), with a growing consensus about some issues and continuing controversy about others.… Expand
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References

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Abstract Over the past three decades, parental alienation syndrome (PAS) has been proposed to explain behaviors by a child who refuses to spend time with a parent and actually denigrates that parent… Expand
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