Parental Alienation takes place where one parent seeks to convince a child or children into believing the other parent does not love them, is a bad person, and/or is someone they don’t want to spend time with anymore. This type of brainwashing can create a set of abusive behaviors and destroy the children’s relationship with the other parent. Unfortunately, this also is harmful to the children’s emotional health. This type of psychological manipulation amounts to bullying a child to choose between two parents on the basis of who pretends to be their savior and is denigrating the other parent.
Parental alienation does not necessarily take place all at once. It can be a slow process of educating a child to hate, dislike or be afraid of the other parent. Parental alienation creates the impression in the child they are being mistreated by a parent who is actually nothing more than a loving, well intended parent who has not done anything wrong.
The Abuser and Their Tactics
There are a variety of tactics, techniques or methods abusers tend to use when they are alienating their child against the other parent. This is list of some of these techniques:
- Emphasize the flaws and negative aspects of the other parents relationship with the child.
- Demean the parent in front of the child.
- Suggest that parent doesn’t really care or love the child.
- Ask the child to spy on the other parent.
- Prevent the child from talking about the other parent, playing with toys the other parent gives them or utilizing anything the other parent provides for the child when they return home.
- Teach the child to fear the other parent.
Elliot S. Schlissel is a divorce lawyer who has been helping clients in all aspects of matrimonial and family law from more than 45 years. Elliot and his team of Family Law Attorneys help their clients throughout the metropolitan New York area
