PASG 2019 conference

Registration for the 3 day conference audience

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Welcome at day 1

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Contemporary parental alienation (PA) theory resulted from a convergence of influences from family therapists, research on the suggestibility of children, child custody evaluations, court clinics, psychological testing, and hardcore psychosocial research. As an organization, the Parental Alienation Study Group (PASG) values this diversity. We also value the ability of scientific knowledge to come together from several directions toward a coherent PA theory, with agreement on all the basic principles and most of the details. We also value debate and legitimate scholarly discussion, which is necessary to clarify areas of possible disagreement. For example, PASG members may not agree on the best interventions for different levels of severity of PA. We may not agree on the importance of state legislatures adopting a preference for shared parenting in child custody disputes. As an organization PASG values the integration and collaboration of individuals from a wide variety of backgrounds, education, and current roles, including mental health professionals, legal professionals, targeted parents, adult children of PA, and child and family advocates. We hope that all the participants in PASG 2019 will experience these values first hand, which means listening to a diversity of opinion—including disagreement and debate—balanced with a good deal of consensus and collaboration.

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In this presentation, Sandra Moon Dancer will describe the ways in which targeted parents’ voices will be heard throughout the conference, including having individuals affected by parental alienation share their personal stories. This presentation will introduce this conference’s new approach to integrating and focusing on the lived experiences of targeted parents and their families who are the inspiration for the conference.

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Bob Lowden is a grandfather whose daughter lost her two daughters to Psychological Abuse/Parental Alienation and the quagmire of the court system. Through this experience Bob found a divide exists between an innocent perception of justice and the reality of what his family experienced. Bob will share his family’s journey through Department of Child Services and beyond. His family was overwhelmed by the situation, starting with a false abuse narrative, CPS workers “believing the children”, and under qualified therapists continually “validating” whatever the children said. Unfortunately, there are thousands more sharing this experience, with its diverse identifiers that are counter initiative to traditional solutions. Effective techniques must be identified and methodologies discussed for use in contacting legislators and judiciary recognizing they are overwhelmed with problems asking for attention. It is important to provide our story and PA information to these officials. During the last two years of his 4 year journey Bob has made some progress in this area including meetings with individual state legislators and testifying to an Indiana legislative committee concerning changes required in the Department of Child Services to improve training and qualifications of caseworkers. Recently Bob was invited to a meeting with the new Indiana State Director of Department of Child Services that included the Deputy Director of Operations and the DCS Legislative Director. Unfortunately it is difficult to measure success of these actions but the act of helping others on this journey helps us have purpose.

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Not all children who reject a parent are alienated. It is essential for proper management and treatment of cases of child alignment that alienated children be identified and differentiated from estranged children. Dr. Baker will review the four-factor model for identifying parental alienation from estrangement. According to the model, children should be considered alienated only when all four factors are present: (1) there was a prior positive attachment between the child and the now rejected parent (2) the rejected parent did not engage in abuse or neglect or seriously deficient parenting (3) the favored parent engaged in multiple parental alienation behaviors, and (4) the child exhibits most if not all of the behavioral manifestations of alienation. Dr. Baker will present the science underlying the elements of the model and the model itself. In doing so she will draw on research in a variety of fields including memory, attachment, child development, child maltreatment. She will highlight what we know and do not know about parental alienation and identify areas for future research.

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Family systems therapy is the treatment of choice for all degrees of alienation—when its principles and interventions are precisely adhered to. The child psychiatrists who founded family therapy intervened to disrupt the “triangulation” that they had observed by decisively challenging the enmeshment between the child and the co-opting/triangulating parent to marginalize and denigrate the child’s other parent. Sound familiar? The fundamental objective of family therapy is healthy family functioning—applicable to all degrees of alienation! Healthy family functioning includes appropriate family hierarchy, growth-promoting family and individual boundaries for children at various developmental stages, civil and respectful communication among family members. Behavioral changes are required. Unfortunately, most therapists who provide reunification therapy have not been trained in family systems therapy nor, in particular, how to apply this model to alienation cases. And these therapists are further misinformed about how to handle a mildly alienated child who is being programmed by a severe, obsessed alienator. What is an alienated parent to do? What is the alienated parent’s lawyer to do? The purpose of this presentation is to describe how clinicians can and should: (1) rely on the mutual therapeutic interventions common to all degrees of alienation (2) expeditiously make an informed estimate as to the severity of the alienation. (3) use the Patient’s Bill of Rights to hold the therapist accountable for effective treatment. And (4) use the failure of traditional models to get a court order for effective treatment.

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Family systems therapy is the treatment of choice for all degrees of alienation—when its principles and interventions are precisely adhered to. The child psychiatrists who founded family therapy intervened to disrupt the “triangulation” that they had observed by decisively challenging the enmeshment between the child and the co-opting/triangulating parent to marginalize and denigrate the child’s other parent. Sound familiar? The fundamental objective of family therapy is healthy family functioning—applicable to all degrees of alienation! Healthy family functioning includes appropriate family hierarchy, growth-promoting family and individual boundaries for children at various developmental stages, civil and respectful communication among family members. Behavioral changes are required. Unfortunately, most therapists who provide reunification therapy have not been trained in family systems therapy nor, in particular, how to apply this model to alienation cases. And these therapists are further misinformed about how to handle a mildly alienated child who is being programmed by a severe, obsessed alienator. What is an alienated parent to do? What is the alienated parent’s lawyer to do? The purpose of this presentation is to describe how clinicians can and should: (1) rely on the mutual therapeutic interventions common to all degrees of alienation (2) expeditiously make an informed estimate as to the severity of the alienation. (3) use the Patient’s Bill of Rights to hold the therapist accountable for effective treatment. And (4) use the failure of traditional models to get a court order for effective treatment.

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The purpose of this presentation is to share an experience of survival and healing as an adult child of parental alienation. Joe Rabiega will discuss the two lives he has led. For the first 20 years he was in a constant 24/7 survival struggle as his father’s “seek and destroy” weapon against his mother, her relatives, and her friends. His father truly was a cult leader who demanded that his son pledge allegiance and loyalty to him while taking out a gun and threatening suicide. The second part of his life (the past 22 years) started when he met his current wife and began the process of breaking free from his father’s control and abuse

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Dr. Cara Koch briefly narrates her personal story of 43 years of alienation, followed by sharing some aha! moments in her journey of inner healing after discovering the term parental alienation when she was 32 years into it. Through a major paradigm shift she was able to overcome years of shame, fear, despair, rejection and stark emptiness that caused her to lose her sense of purpose. She reveals how she overcame her persistent depression and came to understand the nature of PA and why her son erased her from his life. She has not totally given up hope that their relationship will be healed, but she is no longer holding her breath for that to happen. 

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Among professionals who specialize in child alignment, it is well known that many aspects of PA are highly counter-intuitive. Examples include how to distinguish alienation from estrangement, how to identify hybrid cases, and how to treat alienated children. Other examples abound. What’s more, the use of the word counter-intuitive is more than a warning for professionals (and others) to be careful. Rather, it is a warning that no matter how careful professionals might be, those who do not specialize in this area will almost always make major errors—often catastrophic errors—with respect to diagnosis, causation, treatment, and prognosis. This is true not only for the mental health professionals who evaluate, manage, and/or treat such cases but also for the legal professionals who evaluate, manage, and/or litigate them. This presentation will highlight some of the most common counter-intuitive issues and related errors. 

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The debate is over: There is no doubt that parental alienation exists. The detractors continue to create a smokescreen of “controversy” both in professional literature and in courts. But an overwhelming number of family courts around the country have accepted the notion of parental alienation and have acknowledged it as a significant factor in their decisions modifying custody and/or providing other appropriate intervention. Regardless of how one labels the phenomenon—call it parental alienation, “brainwashing,” or “programming”—American family courts have come to a conclusion that whether or not a psychological “syndrome” exists, parental alienation clearly does. As a New York trial judge recently wrote: “Anybody old enough to drink coffee knows that embittered parties can and do manipulate their children.” This presentation will provide an overview of how American courts have wrestled with the concept of parental alienation and how the judges, when presented with proper and compelling evidence, have ordered appropriate interventions including but not limited to a change of custody, specialized mental-health intervention programs, financial sanctions, and even incarceration in most serious cases.

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As a targeted parent, Parental Alienation is a confusing experience to say the least. However, as with many conditions, going from recognizing the symptoms and understanding what they mean to being able to take action can be quite a journey. Knowing that this family dynamic is a thing and has a name is the first step. However, the journey doesn’t end when the realization sinks in that the majority of family services and legal processes cannot readily help the situation. This presentation is about one father’s journey to understand what was happening so rapidly to his family so he could attempt manage and hopefully counter the Parental Alienation dynamic occurring. Without the help of those services and systems which were completely ignorant or impotent to deal with the problem, this father describes the emotions experienced and explains how he worked to empower himself and ultimately reunite with his now fully adult children.

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In this panel, each of the parental alienation specialists who presented earlier in the day will be available to answer questions from the audience. Throughout the day, the audience will be provided with index cards to write their questions on and selected questions will be presented to the panelists.

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Welcome on day 2

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The field of parental alienation continues to evolve—scientifically, clinically, and legally. As it matures, professionals who specialize in this area have come to understand that many aspects of this phenomenon are not as straightforward as they might seem, especially to those who lack a deep understanding of the many counter intuitive issues. Indeed, warnings by specialists that the field is “profoundly counter-intuitive” (“highly” does not do it justice) are typically misunderstood—mistaken for reminders to “be careful,” as if one can safely tiptoe through a minefield by treading lightly. This misses the scientific point that if a discipline is counter-intuitive that means one should not rely on intuition—including professional intuition—unless it is highly-sophisticated, specialist-level intuition, coupled with proper scientific analysis. That is all the more true in fields such as mental health and law that often invoke simplistic heuristic thinking (“Back off and they’ll come to you”) and deficient models such as the High Conflict Model (“If only these parents loved their children as much as they hate each other”) for understanding complex clinical problems. Indeed, when dealing with alienation, those who rely on intuition are likely to make serious errors. Although this is becoming well-known with respect to the clinical issues, it is less well-known with respect to the legal issues. Consequently, this presentation will focus on a number of legal issues that are likely to be profoundly counter intuitive to even the best attorneys unless they specialize in the legal aspects of parental alienation and related matters.

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Targeted parents are challenged daily by significant emotional, legal, financial, physical and complex personal hurdles. How can targeted parents maintain the strength, focus and stamina required to address these ongoing challenges? This presentation will offer an overview of the four bodies of consciousness: mental, emotional, physical and spiritual. Awareness of these four aspects, and the essential practical skills they provide, enable targeted parents to hold the vision of well-being for themselves and their family, and to be the bridge for their children to a balanced and healthy life.

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Due to the numerous counter-intuitive issues arising in alienation cases, one profoundly deleterious result is “unwitting professional collusion with the alienating parent,” thereby exacerbating the alienation--often beyond repair. Non-specialists in alienation are particularly susceptible to becoming co-opted by the alienating parent, who presents well, while the alienated parent, who is a trauma victim, may present poorly. This problem cannot be overstated. We have experienced all too many cases in which a mental health professional had contributed to “a climate of fear, hatred, and terror” that lead to a substantial negative impact on the relationship between the child and alienated parent and supported the child’s “refusal and resistance to parenting time with good, loving, and safe parents.” This panel will provide tips to alienated parents and to their lawyers about how to negotiate the anti-therapeutic “triangulating trap.” Real case examples will be presented in which 3rd party collusion resulted in catastrophic results, such as “the death of one or more family members.” “Manufactured family scripts” incorporating bizarre, fabricated, and sadistic revisionist history that effectively cooped the professional will be discussed.

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The aim of this presentation is to summarize the outcomes of three research projects completed in the Family and Interpersonal Research Lab at the University of Tasmania.  These projects consist of an international sample of alienated children, parents and grandparents who described in detail their experience of parental alienation.  All three generations described themes of grief and loss, mental health difficulties, family violence and interactions with services that have little understanding of their plight. Some of the challenges faced by researchers in the lab and our solutions to these challenges will also be described.

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"Estimating the prevalence of parental alienation is challenging because not all children who are exposed to parental alienating behaviors become alienated (Harman et al., 2019). The purpose of the current study was to determine the proportion of adults who indicate being alienated from a child using three national on-line panels that are representative of adults from the United States (two polls) and Canada (one poll), and to determine the mental health impact of parental alienating behaviors. Results from the first two polls indicate that the prevalence of parents who feel they are being alienated from their children is higher than originally estimated: 35.5% (of 273) in the U.S. and 32% (of 397) in Canada. Using another means of assessment for the third poll, we found that 39.1% (of 594) of parents in the US are the non-reciprocating targets of parental alienating behaviors, which is over 22 million parents and confirms previous estimates that did not differentiate between reciprocating and non-reciprocating parents (Harman, Leder-Elder, & Biringen, 2016). Of these, 6.7% of the parents had children who were moderately to severely alienated, which is at least 1.3% of the US population. We also found alienated parents had greater levels of depression, trauma symptoms, and risk for suicide. Discussion will center on the ramifications of these findings for researchers and practitioners, and the need to differentiate between families in which parental alienating behaviors are reciprocal (typically resulting in loyalty conflicts) versus non-reciprocal (typically resulting in parental alienation).

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"Shame is one of the most effective tools in the alienator’s toolbox. It has the power to annihilate self-esteem, reduce independent thought and action, destroy capacity for decision-making and isolate family members from each other. It also is an efficient tool, for once the alienator introduces shame, victims begin to shame themselves, allowing the alienator to withdraw from the scene while the victim self-destructs. Even more impressive, shame is an invisible weapon, because it is usually not recognized as a cause of violence or acknowledged as especially harmful. Thus, shame is the alienator’s perfect tool. In the framework of a family violence model of parental alienation, shame is a behavior with no equal in its ability to control, manipulate and silence. Both professionals and laypersons will benefit from understanding its role as a master alienation strategy. This presentation will: • Introduce and define the concept of shame. • Show how shame functions as a critical weapon of family violence. • Explain how shame and its effects can be identified by children and parents, as well as by clinicians and legal professionals. • Explain an effective clinical approach for eliminating shame and its powerful effects on family members.

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"One of the most frequent criticisms of parental alienation (PA)—even by believers in the concept—is that “the lack of consensus on the definitions of alienation and the use of varying non standardized measures limit the ability of researchers to conduct methodologically sound research in this area.” In this workshop, proposed definitions for the following terms will be presented and discussed: parental alienation theory; parental alienation; alienating behaviors; mild, moderate, and severe levels of parental alienation; mild, moderate, and severe levels of alienating behavior. Also, the Five-Factor Model for the identification or diagnosis of parental alienation, which consists of: (1) the child manifests contact refusal; (2) the presence of a prior positive relationship between the child and the now rejected parent; (3) the absence of abuse or neglect or seriously deficient parenting on the part of the now rejected parent; (4) the use of multiple alienating behaviors on the part of the favored parent; and (5) the exhibition of many of the eight behavioral manifestations of alienation by the child. Attempts will be made to reach consensus regarding the terminology and definitions."

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False allegations of child abuse create significant challenges in cases of suspected parental alienation. Helping triers of fact overcome these challenges involves assisting them in understanding what the science says about (1) how fictitious allegations of abuse can be created within an alienating parent-child relationship, (2) how false memories of abuse can be induced in children who are exposed to alienating strategies and brainwashing techniques, (3) what happens to children when Courts fail to resolve abuse allegations in a timely manner, and (4) what forms of intervention Courts can take to stop the formation and maintenance of false allegations of abuse. This presentation unpacks the empirical scientific literature and relevant case law concerning false memory induction of abuse in alienated children as well as the techniques most frequently used by alienating parents to manufacture false narratives of abuse that casts them in the role of rescuer, the target parent in the role of villain, and the alienated child in the role of victim.

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Alienating behaviors have become more prevalent within families going through separation and divorce. The child may distance or reject a parent due to one parent influencing the child against the other. The literature may suggest a need for specialized treatment protocols for rejection cases, but empirically supported models are difficult to find; therefore, many utilize their own clinical methods. It has been common to diagnose and pathologize parents engaging in these alienating behaviors, but it is believed here that this brings about defensiveness, which is detrimental to reunification. The goal of Beneficently-Enhanced-Agency Reunification (BEAR) Therapy is to bring together and facilitate quality contact-time between child and parent, maintaining the respect and dignity of all parties, while minimizing the need for defensiveness, through the avoidance of terms with negative connotations. “Beneficence” is doing good for the parties and is a fundamental ethical principle for Mental Health Professionals. Treating the parties with respect and dignity, with no fault and no blame, the therapist beneficently guides the family down a path that avoids the need for adjudication. “Agency” as used here, is the ability of a family to take responsibility for itself, make appropriate choices in the child’s best interest, form consensual agreement to better the current circumstances, and take the initiative to act on those choices. Whereas Agency is empowering for the family, deferring to a court is dis-empowering. The most severe cases, where neither BEAR Therapy nor any other therapy can help, may ultimately require environmental modification through court order.

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Raising children is about building a legacy, but what happens when a high conflict divorce or separation involves one parent trying to alienate the child from the other parent? It is often said by parents engaging in alienation behaviors, “I am doing this for the kids,” but what if that is not true? How should the targeted parent respond when confronted with the fact that their child is being hurt and misused? Is there a path where both parents can focus again on the legacy after a broken relationship? This presentation will focus on forgiveness as the road that leads to the healthy future of alienated children and, if  implemented correctly, can be a tool used to improve all relationships. The experience of being a targeted parent is a difficult one in which to have forgiveness. One of the greatest challenges, and opportunities, of being a targeted parent is to reconcile with the hurts and violations that the alienating parent has caused others. This presentation will explore the importance of forgiveness in parental alienation and how forgiveness can be applied as an example for our children. 

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A survey study was conducted in which close to 400 mental health professionals with experience with phsyically abused children answered a series of questions about the actions and attitudes of abused children towards their maltreating parents. This presentation will present two sets of analyses. In the first, the items on the survey will be looked as either attachment-enhancing or attachment-disrupting and analyses will be presented to address the hypothesis that abused children will be more likely to exhibit attachment enhancing than attachment-disrupting behaviors. In the second set of analyses, the hypothesis will be tested that abused children do not exhibit the 8 behavioral manifestations of parental alienation. The findings are presented in the context of child maltreatment theory in which abused children become "bonded to the abuser" and in light of the four-factor model of parental alienation.

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Alienators win custody of children most of the time. This workshop will teach attorneys and targeted parents how specialized parental alienation coaches increase their chances to retain their custody and emotional relationships, while also saving money by reducing the number of court dates. Targeted parents are being attacked and are in a family crisis. This trauma and enormous stress are disabling due to fear, hurt, outrage, and bewilderment. Alienators have many advantages as they have been preparing for this battle for years, they perceive their life as dependent on winning, they don’t recognize or care about damaging the children (or the other parent), and they don’t follow any rules. Alienators are effective at setting up traps and tricking targeted parents to react in ways that strengthen the legal case against them (including restraining orders and criminal charges) and strengthen and solidify the children’s loyalty contract against them. Coaches assist with social science research, client management, teaching smart responses and proactive strategies to counter the alienator’s tactics and narratives that cause the children’s hurtful and hateful rejection, and create “negative advocate” therapists, school officials, extended family, neighbors, and other professionals. Coaches assist in trial strategy, and relevant evidence identification, collection, and formatting. Parental education helps with coping and for the processes of forensic evaluations, parent coordination, litigation, and testimony. Winning child access in court is only half the battle, coaches also help prevent the indoctrination of the child to reject a parent they love--winning the heart and mind too.

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There are several reasons why traditional reunification therapy is contraindicated for treatment of severe cases of parental alienation and most moderate cases. One fundamental reason is that the alienating parent, who is the cause of the alienation, is usually let off the hook while attention is paid only to the symptom--“the relationship problem” between the child and the alienated parent. Such an approach is rarely, if ever, successful. Each panelist in this presentation will discuss an intervention tool intended to hold the alienating parent accountable for having caused the alienation and which requires the alienating parent to make prompt, remedial behavioral changes.

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If a targeted parent has a child under the age of 18 there is a chance that they will or have gone to court at some point to defend their parenting time, fight for a fair custody arrangement, and/or make the case that their family is affected by parental alienation. Being on the witness stand is a unique experience that requires a specific set of skills that many targeted parents have not been trained in. The court has its own highly specific set of rules and guidelines that need to be followed and which can often interfere with the targeted parent making their case as best they can. In this panel, legal professionals will explain some principles of being an effective witness and will help prepare targeted parents for the direct and cross examination process.

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In this group discussion we will explore what the pressing issues are for the field.

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PA and high conflict custody cases are complicated by the interactions with non-family actors who can wield enormous influence on outcomes. Sorting out truth from fiction and managing the processes and influences of these key players is essential in ensuring a favorable outcome to the case. This paper will examine the typical and atypical roles played by others and provide practical and legal (procedural and substantive) guidance on how to manage these processes. Areas of focus include: children's counsel, child protection authorities, police, parenting coordinators, therapists, and custody evaluators.

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The panel members will give a brief presentation on their experiences in dealing with PA cases in their respective jurisdictions: Belgium, United Kingdom, Germany, and Sweden. Their presentation will discuss the unique challenges and opportunities that confront the professionals—social workers, mental health professionals, judges—when dealing with PA cases in these European jurisdictions. The panel will open the floor for questions and / or discussion following their presentation.

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Treatment approaches that attempt to reconnect alienated parents with their children sometimes create this through an effort to effect changes by means of monitoring it so that it will start to occur and continue to evolve. Try to imagine a therapeutic approach that induces “spontaneous” change in parents, following which children reestablish a relationship with their target parent, without the effort or supervision of either parent, professionals or courts. We have recently started to develop an approach to treat alienated parents using principles from systemic and strategic therapy, and from a philosophy that places “relational ethics” at the center of therapy. Our assumption is that difficulties between a child and its targeted parent are not related to this dyad, but rather express the unresolved conflict between the divorced couple. In light of this, we do not deal at all with the relationship between target parent and child, but start immediately to confront the unresolved marital conflict. Our approach makes extensive use of confrontational questions, paradoxes, absurdities, stories and metaphors. In co-therapy we confront couples with the unethical use of their children to avenge or punish the other parent. We find that since starting to treat families this way, our treatments have become lighter, more creative, and much more effective. In a number of cases, we succeeded in renewing a relationship spontaneously within a few days. This presentation will provide an overview and numerous examples of this technique.

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There is a growing body of research concerning parental alienation in the severe range, but there is relatively little research beyond descriptions of the behavioral characteristics of children considered to be in the mild or moderate range of parent rejection. Resetting the Family was founded in order to promote the science and research on mild/moderate parent rejection or alienation, as well as to create educational programming based upon what we understand to date about parents and children for whom it has been determined that the parent rejection is in the mild to moderate range. The program is educational for both parents and children and utilizes a variety of modalities that focus on perception, problem-solving, critical thinking skills, and new skills acquisition.  

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Effective treatment is further complicated by the frequent pattern of false allegations of child harm or abuse that are typically alleged in alienation cases. Two highly skillful therapists will share their unique, effective interventions (or the active ingredients) of their therapeutic interventions. One panelist will introduce differential assessment protocols that will enable discovery of why the child is rejecting. Interventions will be identified that will bring about the best outcomes for the child by challenging the pathological enmeshment between the alienating parent and child. In other words, the audience will learn techniques that disrupt the dysfunctional family dynamics of boundary violations, identification with the aggressor, and pathological splitting. Another panelist will present a method that will assist therapists to mitigate criticism and impeachment of their findings and opinions. This method--the video recording of interviews and the treatment--serves numerous purposes. The method: eliminates the claim of clinician subjectivity, facilitates assessment and insight, enables more effective follow-up sessions, mitigates therapeutic stagnation, substitutes for the elusive paper trail, and provides incontrovertible support for the clinician.

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Targeted parents will have an opportunity to join the clinical track for this panel discussion of the active ingredients of various clinical approaches to working with alienation cases.

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In this presentation/demonstration a brief history of the Daubert ruling will be provided along with a discussion of the key elements of a Daubert hearing . Examples of how to answer questions pertaining to the scientific foundation of parental alienation theory will be offered. There will be opportunity for the audience members to practice and to get feedback from the presenter about how to handle particularly challenging questions on the stand.

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Judge (Retired) Philip Marcus of the Jerusalem Family Court will present on a pilot scheme that is currently in practice in the Tel Aviv Family Court for cases where PA has been alleged. Judge Marcus will discuss how these cases are not only referred to a specialist judge in a fast-track mode, but also enjoy unique features, including expedited deadlines for responsive pleadings and a hearing, reversal of burden of proof (where the alleged alienator has to prove that contact failure is a result of the alienated parent’s conduct), judicial fact-finding on the presence of PA, immediate intervention and remedial steps when required, and last but not least, sanctions for non-compliance with court orders. The presentation will show how the scheme works and how it results in savings of court time and expense for the parties, by using case management techniques without changing court rules.

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"Alienating parents often are not alone in their campaign to undermine the relationship between a child and the target parent. Frequently, they procure the assistance of mental health professionals to further their goals. Sometimes, this triangulation of professionals may take place without the professional ever truly knowing what has happened and are duped into believing they are “protecting” a child from a dangerous parent. The harm an uninformed and manipulated mental health professional can cause to a target parent’s case is tremendous, particularly with fact-findings who are not well-versed in the complex and far-reaching strategies employed by alienators. This workshop will provide guidance for counsel of target parents who may be confronted with a mental health professional supporting the alienator’s agenda (regardless as to whether that support is intentional or unintentional). An uninformed mental health professional working alongside the alienator – if left unchecked – can cause irreparable harm to a case, particularly if the therapist is savvy enough to use a buzzword such as “best interest” in his or her recommendations. Development of strategies for discovery of records, handling claims of privilege to shield records from the target parent, and weaving that information into useful examination are tools necessary for counsel to have in order to effectively engage an adverse mental health professional.

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The targeted parents who presented their personal stories during Day 1 will comprise the panel and the audience will have an opportunity to ask them questions about their experience as targeted parents, what they learned along the way, what advice they have to support others in  meeting the challenges of being a targeted parent and how to create new opportunities moving forward.

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Conducting a parental alienation assessment can be a daunting task for clinicians because of the lack of a standardized process. This workshop will introduce a standardized model that incorporates the General Acceptance criteria for diagnosing parental alienation. Incorporating the work of Clawar & Rivlin, Gottlieb, Baker, Gardner, Miller, and others, this model includes a new online assessment tool that provides a step-by-step process for conducting a research-based alienation assessment and generating a customization report.

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In this study we examined whether regular divorces can be distinguished from high-conflict divorces by measuring the intensity of emotions that divorced parents report when thinking about their ex-partner. We recruited two groups of parents; n = 136 in a regular divorce, and n = 191 in a high-conflict divorce. Based on the existing literature, we predicted that parents in high-conflict divorces experience more intense emotions than parents in regular divorces; especially emotions that motivate social distancing (contempt, disgust, anger, hatred, and rage) and emotions that impair self-regulation (fear, shame, guilt, and sadness). Given that some of the data were nested within couples, we conducted multilevel modelling analyses and found our hypothesis confirmed. Next, we examined the relation between emotions of divorced parents and co-parenting concerns and found a significant interaction effect between divorce group (regular vs. high-conflict divorce) and co-parenting concerns, but only so on social distancing emotions. Parents in a high-conflict divorce reported more co-parenting concerns than parents in a regular divorce, but the interaction showed that this was surprisingly so especially when social distancing emotions were low. These findings suggest that measuring the intensity of social distancing emotions may serve as an early screening tool, identifying parents at risk for a high-conflict divorce, and through this baseline, repeated measures may also serve as follow-up for determining the effectiveness of interventions. Future longitudinal research, may provide insight in the causality and direction of the association between social distancing emotions and co-parenting concerns."

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The Parental Acceptance-Rejection Questionnaire (PARQ) is a widely used measure of a child (or adult child’s) experience with each parent. The measure has been used throughout the world to capture the extent to which a child experiences loves and acceptance from each parent. Scores on the PARQ measure have been found to be reliable and valid through hundreds of studies of children and adults in the US and abroad. This presentation will provide some basic information about the composition and use of the PARQ measure as well as a brief presentation of how the measure has been used in research specifically in the field of parental alienation. In one such study, the PARQ was administered to alienated children, neglected children, children in intact homes, and children of divorce. In that study the PARQ was used to measure splitting (the extent to which a child idealizes one parent and demonizes the other). The findings strongly supported the notion that alienated children would exhibit higher rates of splitting than children in any of the other three groups including children who were neglected by a parent. The presentation will also explore and discuss ideas for future studies in the field of parental alienation in which the PARQ measure would be a valuable tool.

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The problems with the family court system are known to many, especially families affected by parental alienation. Favored parents lie in court, many professionals are uncaring and/or ineffectual, restraining orders and allegations of abuse can be used as weapons not shields. Often, the courts make everything worse instead of better. In this panel, ten suggestions for improving the family court process are offered as practical and doable things targeted parents and their advocates can be asking for right now, using better business practices and without the requirement to pass major legislation's in each state.

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Sandra Moon Dancer will lead discussion groups with the purpose of gathering key feedback from all participants. Targeted parents will reflect, share and identify themes and new insights gained throughout the conference, to then be shared with the full audience on Day 3.

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In this group discussion, the moderator will lead the participants in large and/or small group activities to help identify how to attract and engage the next generation of researchers and funders to the field.

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This session will allow the participants to ask a panel of attorneys questions that haven't been addressed over the course of the day.

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Research reveals that adult alienated children suffer in very unique ways--ways that include a strong chance of becoming alienated from their own children. The interminable pain follows adult-child victims from a traumatic alienated childhood into a traumatic adulthood--a seemingly endless trans-generational trauma repetition. As helping professionals, unique, creative skills are needed in order to meaningfully serve this “special population.” This panel discussion will focus on 1) the “learning skills to live with acceptance and peace” from the perspective of an alienated child who tragically became alienated from her own children and grandchildren and now runs a support program; 2) a complex, here and now, non-self-judgmental treatment approach to healing adult victims of alienation by a clinician who was an alienated child; 3) the healing and reintegration of the “split state of mind” of the adult child victim of alienation by a therapist with 30 years’ experience working successfully with reunification of children.

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Movie: Erasing Family

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Day 3 willl open with brief presentation from each of the four tracks which were the focus of Day 2 (research, clinical, legal, and targeted parents).

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Three leaders of PA support groups (New Jersey, California, and Colorado) will share their experiences, highlighting the challenges and opportunities for those seeking to provide support to targeted parents.

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"Two hundred fifteen years ago, the first case resembling parental alienation (PA) was fought out in the courts of England. Child psychiatrist Richard Gardner published his first paper on alienation syndrome in 1985. Since Gardner’s contribution, there have been hundreds of peer-reviewed articles, chapters in scholarly books, presentations at professional meetings, But in the last twenty-five years a meme has developed that PA does not exist, and if it does, expert testimony about it cannot pass Frye, Mohan or Daubert. How do we reconcile this contradiction? One way to do that is to look at the legal opinions of hundreds of courts regarding this topic. The purpose of this study was to ascertain the scope and treatment of PA cases in the United States. Do the courts in the United States find the construct PA material in high-conflict cases? Is the construct PA found to be relevant in high-conflict custody cases? Is expert evidence on the construct is deemed material, probative, relev discussed at all or merely mentioned? To answer these and related questions, a study was conducted to gather all cases in the US in which PA was mentioned, following explicit inclusion/exclusion criteria. This presentation will present the results of the analyses of the selected cases."

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Parental alienation professionals from abroad will discuss their experiences with dealing with PA cases and other legal and mental health professionals.

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The early history of parental alienation scholarship was driven by the contributions of specific individuals, whose work occurred during 1985-2005.  This panel discussion features these early writers and researchers or, in some cases, their surrogates.  In roughly chronological order, each panel member will briefly relate their role in the developing understanding of parental alienation.  The panel will consist of:  Richard A. Gardner, M.D. (represented by Demosthenes Lorandos, Ph.D., J.D.); Barry Bricklin, Ph.D.; Wilfrid von Boch Galhau, M.D.; David L. Levy, J.D. (represented by Mark D. Roseman, Ph.D.); John Dunne, M.D.; and Olga Odinetz, Ph.D.  There will be an opportunity for the panel members to talk among themselves and to answer questions from participants of the conference.

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Parental alienation is a widespread family problem that effects children, parents, and extended family members. The effects of parental alienation are long-term and can be devastating for the both the child and the family as well as the large society. Despite its prevalence and negative impact, there have been significant challenges in drawing attention to the problem that is commensurate with its scope and impact. This panel will explore some of those challenges and will highlight opportunities for moving forward. strategies to more effectively communicate with the media and general public will be discussed, and case studies will be presented.

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For three decades, research on parental alienation has discussed a range of aspects of this phenomenon including what it is, how it arises and how it affects children or parents in the short and long term. There has been debate too about the term itself, how to define it and about its relationship to other better-known concepts. Although academics involved in this field tend to be unusually passionate or even evangelical about it and about raising public awareness, what seems to have been largely lacking is agreement as to a coordinated, strategic approach that focuses on the best ways to minimize or eliminate parental alienation. This presentation provides a preliminary overview of the relative success of different ways of dealing with Parental Alienation - from reunification programs to specialist conferences to educational programs - to create a list of the most (and the less) effective strategies for conquering this insidious form of psychological abuse. In attempting to consider relative effectiveness, factors such as the numbers of individuals reached or impacted and the resilience or retention of that impact are examined. The presentation will make the case that much greater coordination and much better communication are needed if the most successful strategies are to be adopted and effectively implemented.

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