Adult Children Of Parental Alienation Syndrome Breaking The Ties That Bind

An examination of adults who have been manipulated by divorcing parents. Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS) occurs when divorcing parents use children as pawns, trying to turn the child against the other parent. This book examines the impact of PAS on adults and offers strategies and hope for dealing with the long-term effects.

The dramatic increase in the number of child-custody disputes since the seventies has created an equally dramatic need for a standard reference work that examines the growing social problem of children who develop an irrational hatred for a parent as the result of divorce. The International Handbook of Parental Alienation Syndrome: Conceptual, Clinical, and Legal Considerations features clinical, legal, and research perspectives from 32 contributors representing eight countries, building on the work of the late Dr. Richard Gardner, a pioneer in the theory, practice, diagnosis, and treatment of Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS). This unique book addresses the effects of PAS on parents and children, discusses issues surrounding reconciliation between parent and alienated child, and includes material published for the first time on incidence, gender, and false allegations of abuse in PAS. Content highlights examines PAS and the roles of family members, the criminal justice system, and the need for public awareness and policymakers to respond to PAS. Descriptive statistics on 84 cases are given, and the factors affecting reconciliation between the child and target parent are listed. The mild, moderate, and severe categories of PAS are explored, and the psychological consequences of PAS indoctrination for adult children of divorce and the effects of alienation on parents are researched. The role of medical reports in the development of PAS, sexual abuse allegations, and future predictions on the fate of PAS children are many of the clinical considerations in this book. The legal issues concern PAS in American law, criticisms of PAS in courts of law, protecting the fundamental rights of children in families, family law reform, International PAS abductions, and the legal requirements of experts giving evidence to courts. The impact and implications of PAS are immense, and no other single source provides the depth and breadth of coverage of the topic than the clinical and forensic chapters in this book.

A guide for parents whose adult children have cut off contact that reveals the hidden logic of estrangement, explores its cultural causes, and offers practical advice for parents trying to reestablish contact with their adult children. “Finally, here’s a hopeful, comprehensive, and compassionate guide to navigating one of the most painful experiences for parents and their adult children alike.”—Lori Gottlieb, psychotherapist and New York Times bestselling author of Maybe You Should Talk to Someone Labeled a silent epidemic by a growing number of therapists and researchers, estrangement is one of the most disorienting and painful experiences of a parent's life. Popular opinion typically tells a one-sided story of parents who got what they deserved or overly entitled adult children who wrongly blame their parents. However, the reasons for estrangement are far more complex and varied. As a result of rising rates of individualism, an increasing cultural emphasis on happiness, growing economic insecurity, and a historically recent perception that parents are obstacles to personal growth, many parents find themselves forever shut out of the lives of their adult children and grandchildren. As a trusted psychologist whose own daughter cut off contact for several years and eventually reconciled, Dr. Joshua Coleman is uniquely qualified to guide parents in navigating these fraught interactions. He helps to alleviate the ongoing feelings of shame, hurt, guilt, and sorrow that commonly attend these dynamics. By placing estrangement into a cultural context, Dr. Coleman helps parents better understand the mindset of their adult children and teaches them how to implement the strategies for reconciliation and healing that he has seen work in his forty years of practice. Rules of Estrangement gives parents the language and the emotional tools to engage in meaningful conversation with their child, the framework to cultivate a healthy relationship moving forward, and the ability to move on if reconciliation is no longer possible. While estrangement is a complex and tender topic, Dr. Coleman's insightful approach is based on empathy and understanding for both the parent and the adult child.

An examination of adults who have been manipulated by divorcing parents.

Surviving Parental Alienation provides parents who have been ostracized from their children with understanding and validation through personal accounts and expert analysis. Offering insight and advice, the authors guide the "targeted" parent through the issues and challenges and help them better manage their experiences.

Parental Alienation: The Handbook for Mental Health and Legal Professionals is the essential “how to” manual in this important and ever increasing area of behavioral science and law. Busy mental health professionals need a reference guide to aid them in developing data sources to support their positions in reports and testimony. They also need to know where to go to find the latest material on a topic. Having this material within arm’s reach will avoid lengthy and time-consuming online research. For legal professionals who must ground their arguments in well thought out motions and repeated citations to case precedent, ready access to state or province specific legal citations spanning thirty-five years of parental alienation cases is provided here for the first time in one place. • Over 1000 Bibliographic Entries• 500 Cases Examined• 25 Sample Motions in MS Word Format* *Note: The eBook version contains the additional supplemental materials in PDF format only. It does not contain the MS Word formatted sample motions.

This guidebook pulls together for the first time the best thinking in the field today about different approaches for working with these families. It is written by and for mental health professionals who work directly with alienated children, targeted parents, and families affected by parental alienation.

Broken relationships between adult children and their parents is a widespread phenomenon. While the parent-child attachment relationship is of critical importance for the child in the early years of life, the parent-child relationship continues to be a source of great importance over the course of the individual’s life span for both the child and the parent. For adults and adult children who are estranged/alienated from each other, the pain and dissatisfaction never fully go away. Despite the prevalence of the problem of ruptured relationships, there are few resources available for mental health professionals working with this population. This book provides a tool for clinicians to turn to when they are working with adult children and their parents seeking to resolve conflict, improve communication, and enhance their relationships.