If you are divorced and living apart from your child, the situation must be challenging. Having to juggle your schedule as well as the schedule of your child can be challenging and you probably have to put a lot of effort into making it work so that your child’s best interests are always fulfilled.
Another thing that may make a difficult situation positively excruciating is if your ex-spouse has manipulated your child to the point where your child does not want to see you. That is called parental alienation.
Parental alienation is painful and unfair
When it comes to always acting in the best interests of your child, if the other parent has managed to alienate your child from you, that is not in the best interests of your child. In general, most children need two loving parents who are always there for the child, no matter where they live (with the child or with visitation rights). Because children are vulnerable and often susceptible to hearing (and believing) negative comments about the other parent, it is probably pretty easy for the other parent to alienate the child from you.
As painful as it is if you have a similar situation in your life with your child, once you have been able to get through the emotional pain, you will need to see past that and make sure that you do what is best for your child. In theory, both parents want to have a solid, loving, supportive relationship with their child. However, in the real world, the bitter feelings that one or both parents have sometimes trump doing the right thing.
Does parental alienation have long-term effects on my relationship with my child?
Parental alienation can be extremely harmful to you relationship with your child and the dynamic between you and your ex-spouse may contain a tremendous amount of conflict that is ongoing. If you are constantly dealing with that level of conflict and hostility, it is impossible that it will not affect your child as well. One thing that makes it even more insidious is the fact that parental alienation is often subtle so you don’t see it coming before it becomes a serious issue.
Seeking legal counsel to resolve parental alienation
If your child’s other parent has alienated your child from you, the advice of a Michigan parental alienation lawyer may help you to resolve the issue much less painfully and much more quickly than you could do on your own. Although you are divorced, you still wish the best for everyone involved. That is especially true for your child, who deserves a happy life with two loving parents who always put their child first.
