Thursday, August 9, 2012

Parental Alienation

I just left 2012 Advanced Family Law seminar in Houston. 

The book by Dr. Richard Warshak from Dallas Texas is in its 25th printing is apparently the world's best selling book on parental alientation.  It's entitled DIVORCE POISON: HOW TO PROTECT OUR FAMILY FROM BAD-MOUTHING AND BRAINWASHING.  HarperColins, 2002/2010.  It's been published in 6 languages. 

Dr. Warshak has appeared on many television shows in the US and around the world on this topic. 

Advanced Family Law Seminar paper paper on Managing Severe Cases of Parental Alienation covered a new treatment area I was unfamiliar with regarding parental alienation --  Family Bridges: A Workshiop for Troubled and Alienated Parent-Child Relationships.  It's a 4 day educational and experimental program that assists families in making a safe transition and adjustment to court orders that bring the children and their rejected parent together and suspend contact with the favored parent for an extended period.  The workshop usually takes place in a resort setting.  The goal is a successful reunification with the alienated parent and the child with the help of Family Bridges staff. 

There is also a PBS documentary titled, WELCOME BACK PLUTO: UNDERSTANDING, PREVENTING, AND OVERCOMING PARENTAL ALIENATION, that is now on DVD. One college professor shows this 80 minute DVD to her class.  It produced profound reactions to her students from divorced families.  The professor reported that many students had noticed for the first time some form of parental alienation and that many of these students felt empowered to contact their alienated parent.