Awareness around Parental Alienation

Parental Alienation is being increasingly recognised globally as child psychological abuse with some countries implementing legislation making parental alienation a criminal offence.

Within the psychological and psychiatric literature parental alienation is becoming increasingly recognised for example,  The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders published by the American Psychiatric Association (DSM-V, 2013) provides a number of themes such as Child affected by Parental Relationship Distress among others to understand the relational dynamics of parental alienation on pages 716,718 and 719. On May 25, 2019, the World Health Organisation published their International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11). This. provides us with an index citing parental alienation as a “child – care giver relational problem”.

During September 2018, the Child and Family Court Advisory Service (CAFCASS) in the UK acknowledged parental alienation. They have published pathways for their staff to identify and navigate cases of Parental Alienation.

Parental Alienation is often thought to have emerged in the 1980’s however, informed practitioners will acknowledge that Parental Alienation first emerged in the clinical and academic literature in 1949. Indeed, Albert Einstein (1914) is probably the first to have used the term “Alienation” when he wrote about his relationship with his children after his marriage breakdown.

Therefore, it seems timely that this platform be provided as a support and a resource to professionals, young people and parents so that, they can make informed choices and decisions when faced with the phenomenon of Parental Alienation.

What is the next step? Educate Yourself on Parental Alienation!