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… 
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Parental Alienation Syndrome: What Health Care Providers Need to Know

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…

Parental Alienation ( Syndrome )-A serious form of psychological child abuse

The article gives a condensed overview of parental alienation, summarising its definition, the symptoms and the various levels of severity, and describes some major alienation techniques and possible psychosomatic and psychiatric effects of induced parental alienation.

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…

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…

Parental Alienation: A Serious Form of Child Psychological Abuse and a Worldwide Health Problem, that Affects Children and Victim Parents all Over the World

This presentation gives a condensed overview of parental alienation, summarising its definition, the symptoms and the various levels of severity, and describes some major alienation techniques and possible psychosomatic and psychiatric effects of induced parental alienation.

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.…

Weaponizing Clinical Mental Health in Family Justice Courts: Ethical and Legal Minefields

In child custody litigation, parents engage in complex and iterative patterns of conflict. These patterns may include allegations of interpersonal violence, addiction, mental health disorders, and…

Parental Alienating Behaviors: An Unacknowledged Form of Family Violence

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).

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…

References

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