Category Archives: child abuse

Blowback For Divorce Poison! Mother Jailed, Ordered to Pay $84k, and Stripped of Custody

Spain is a wonderful place to visit. World-class museums, unique architecture, distinctive cuisine. Welcoming to tourists. But not so hospitable to parents who lodge false abuse accusations to win custody. In a stunning ruling rarely seen on this side of … Continue reading

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Parental Alienation’s Tragic Legacy of Shame, Guilt, & Remorse

A woman lamented to advice columnist extraordinaire, Carolyn Hax: “I’m so ashamed. I don’t even know how to make it up to my mom, who through all of this always told me she still loved me, even with all the … Continue reading

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Removal from An Alienating Parent Not a “Last Resort”

“The court must be alert to early signs of alienation. . . . It is emphatically not necessary to wait for serious, worse still irreparable, harm to be done before appropriate action is taken.” Continue reading

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Backlash Against Parental Alienation: Denial and Skepticism About Psychological Abuse

A boy wrote a letter to his mother telling her that she belonged in a mental institution, that she was nothing to him, that she was nothing but a screw-up, that she was sick, selfish, that he wanted to have … Continue reading

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“It really seems pretty obvious.” – BBC radio presenter on parental alienation as child abuse

BBC’s award-winning radio commentator, Jane Garvey, talked to Sarah Parsons, Principal Social Worker at Cafcass, and to Joanna Abrahams, a solicitor who specializes in cases of parental alienation. Regarding the recent Cafcass statement that parental alienation is child abuse, Garvey … Continue reading

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UK Agency Denounces Parental Alienation As Child Abuse

Behavior by one divorced parent that attempts to undermine a child’s relationship with the other parent—what I call “divorce poison”—has been denounced as child abuse by the chief executive of the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) … Continue reading

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What Courts Can Do About Parental Alienation

Last February I was honored to be invited to Victoria, British Columbia to film segments as a guest on the leading talk show produced in Canada: Family Matters. The show is hosted by Justice Harvey Brownstone who is actually a … Continue reading

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Teaching Children to Hate

Two common divorce scenarios: You thought your marriage was on solid ground, until you discovered your spouse’s affair. You file for divorce, and blame the end of your marriage on your spouse’s infidelity. Or, you knew your relationship was fraught … Continue reading

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Divorce Court: Mopping Up the Mess

Most people never have their day in court. They have no need. They commit no crimes. They avoid lawsuits. And they never testify at a trial. Most of us never even serve on a jury, despite being summoned every few … Continue reading

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Children Don’t Always Say What They Need

When training judges about parental alienation cases I emphasize that a child’s stated wishes may be a poor index of the child’s best interests. Children do not always want what is best for them. What they say they want is … Continue reading

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