It is natural for a child to feel hurt and angry at one or both parents following a divorce. But what is not normal is for one parent to gatekeep the child or even try to poison the child against the other parent. In extreme cases, parental gatekeeping can be...
Family Law
How the Hague Convention deals with international abduction
We are all familiar with the horror stories of children being kidnapped by strangers, but the truth is that most child abductions are committed by someone the child knows, typically a parent. This scenario often comes up in the context of a custody battle between...
Do personality disorders lead to parental alienation?
There are a lot of factors that contribute to parental alienation. A false belief that the other parent poses a threat to the child, a disdain for the other parent and mental health issues can all play a role. However, those aren’t the only issues that can lead to...
Who is likely to engage in parental alienation?
By now, many people have heard of parental alienation syndrome, which is behaviors or strategies that one parent uses against another to turn a child against them. Although parental alienation syndrome is common, it does not happen in every custody case, even those...
Domestic violence can become parental alienation
It may come as a surprise to many, but only about 10% of domestic violence abuse survivors experience relief from that abuse after they leave. Indeed, domestic violence (DV) abuse continues for years, sometimes even decades. One way that DV abusers continue that abuse...
Four ways to build your parental alienation case
There’s no doubt that parental alienation is harmful to children. And countless children across the country are subjected to this abusive behavior on a daily basis. Perhaps the most tragic part of this reality is that most parents who are the target of alienation feel...
A therapist’s opinion in a custody case is not gospel truth
In high-conflict custody cases, many parents will hire a therapist to give an opinion to the court about their children’s best interests. Sometimes, the therapist may only see the child a couple of times before giving the court an opinion. In other cases, treatment...
Ways that parental alienation can harm children
Our national blog focuses on the various aspects of child custody, both nationally and internationally. One such topic is parental alienation syndrome. Indeed, one reason some blog posts focus on three possible negative effects of PAS and this blog will go over...
False allegations can impact your relationship with your child
Child custody issues can be bitter in a messy divorce. Your ex may try to vie for your child’s attention to the point that they make false allegations about you to your child. For example, your ex may try to convince your child you do not love them or may even try to...
Three ways parental alienation can harm children
Parental alienation post-divorce is sadly, all-too-common. Nevertheless, it can significantly harm a child mentally and emotionally as well as erode the parent-child relationship. The following is a brief overview of three ways parental alienation can harm children....