A Therapist's View of Parental Alienation Syndrome

Abstract

Cases in which a child is resisting contact with a parent may or may not fit Gardner's theory of Parental Alienation Syndrome, which emphasizes the psychopathology of the “alienating” parent. Explanations may also include the child's coping with intense conflict and the “rejected” parent's skill with the child Whatever the cause, improvement usually involves legal and therapeutic intervention.

Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS) in the Netherlands

“…To Gardner's credit, he has made PAS widely known. Some empirical support for his opinions certainly exists, but it applies mainly to case studies of some individuals (Lund, 1995;Rybicki, 2001). In Europe there are Dutch fathers, for instance, who support the existence of PAS, as something they have experienced themselves (Zander, 1999).…”

“…He also identified criteria to judge the process of alienation in its most serious manifestationas a pathological syndrome (Rybicki, 2001). He also drew the attention of the justice administration to this phenomena and he urged them to combine a therapy intervention with a judicial order, always with the aim of maintaining the contact between the non-resident parent and his (or her) child (Lund, 1995). According to Gardner's definition, PAS is a disorder that primarily occurs during a legal battle for parental custody in the adversary system.…”

Síndrome de alienación parental

“…Por otra parte, la lenta respuesta de los tribunales pidiendo más evaluaciones y pericias a los niños para determinar si es verdadera o falsa la acusación de maltrato o abuso, puede ir contribuyendo a ahondar las creencias del niño sobre lo que ha vivido 19,20 . No hay que olvidar que el tiempo está del lado del padre alienante: a más tiempo transcurre, más se profundiza la alienación.…”

Mental health of children from divided families.

“…Acute interference refers to access being denied either verbally or through actions, such as being away from the home when the child is scheduled to be picked up. Parental alienation syndrome is a theory developed by Richard Gardner to explain the manipulation o f a child by a parent in an attempt to put the child against the other parent when he or she is unable to tolerate separation from the child, and usually when there is high parental-conflict (Lund, 1995;Cooke, 1995;Turkat, 1994;Cartwright, 1993). Gardner (cited in Turkat, 1994) indicates that a parent may directly or subtly try to put the child against the other parent through various methods such as unconscious programming, or "brainwashing" as described by Bone and Walsh (1997).…”

“…Because there is often a link found between high parental stress and the numbers o f mental health symptoms in children (Black & Stevenson, 1995), interventions that have a positive impact on parent's functioning are found to be beneficial to children o f divorce. Lund (1995) Mediation helps children in some cases (Black & Stevenson, 1995), and mediation advocates sometimes propose law reform that would include mandatory mediation (Mandhane, 1999). While cooperative, rather than competitive, mediation can be "compatible with female values" o f a non-adversarial method o f resolving conflict and meeting individual needs and interests, mediation also prompts concerns for feminists (Mandhane, 1999;Maxwell, 1992).…”