🎓 Clinically Affirmed: Parental Alienation is Child Abuse
Parental Alienation isn’t just a “custody issue.” Leading psychologists and psychiatrists around the world have clinically recognized it as a severe form of child abuse—psychological, emotional, and developmental. Here’s what the experts have to say:
🔹 1. Dr. Richard A. Gardner
- 🧠 Forensic Psychiatrist
- 🧾 Coined Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS)
- ⚠️ “A parent who programs a child to reject the other parent is engaging in emotional abuse.”
- 📘 Author of The Parental Alienation Syndrome: A Guide for Mental Health and Legal Professionals
- ✅ Pioneer of the concept, widely referenced despite debate over PAS label
🔹 2. Dr. Craig Childress
- 🧠 Licensed Clinical Psychologist
- 📣 “This is not a custody dispute. This is child psychological abuse.”
- 🧩 Connects PA with narcissistic-borderline pathology
- 📑 Advocates attachment-based models of alienation
- 🔬 Provides clinical protocols and guidance for reunification
🔹 3. Dr. Amy J.L. Baker
- 🧠 Developmental Psychologist & Researcher
- 📖 Adult Children of Parental Alienation Syndrome (2007)
- ⚠️ Long-term effects include depression, trust issues, identity disturbance
- 🧬 “Alienation is a form of emotional abuse with deep psychological consequences.”
- 🛠 Offers strategies for healing and co-parenting with alienating exes
🔹 4. Dr. Jennifer Harman
- 🎓 Associate Professor of Psychology, Colorado State University
- 🔥 “Parental alienation is not high conflict—it’s abuse by proxy and family violence.”
- 📈 Treats PA as a public health and domestic violence issue
- 🎙 Gave powerful TEDx Talk: Parental Alienation is Family Violence
🔹 5. Dr. William Bernet
- 🧠 Forensic Psychiatrist, Vanderbilt University (Emeritus)
- 📘 Co-editor of Parental Alienation, DSM-5, and ICD-11
- 🚨 Proposed Parental Alienation Disorder for DSM inclusion
- ⚠️ “Alienating behaviors cause mental harm and should be seen as psychological abuse.”
🔹 6. Dr. Linda Gottlieb
- 🧠 Family Therapist, Former CPS Worker
- 🚨 “Alienation should be treated with the same urgency as sexual abuse.”
- ⚖️ Promotes court-ordered reunification therapy and strong legal remedies
- 💔 Sees alienation as a trauma-driven distortion of reality
🧭 Why This Matters
Parental Alienation destroys a child’s ability to love and trust. It is emotional child abuse—and every system that ignores it becomes part of the harm. Justice demands we call this what it is: abuse, not parenting.
✊ #Justice4Adri
💔 #ParentalAlienationIsAbuse
🔎 #ProtectOurChildren