In most cases, parental alienation backfires, with the child struggling with feelings of loss and resentment towards both parents. Removing the other parent from their life causes the child to feel isolated and neglected, instilling feelings of insecurity.
Parental alienation does not protect a child's interests—it places them in peril. When a parent's behavior threatens not only your well-being, but also your child's, it is worth doing everything in your power to fight back. If your ex is engaging in such tactics, you should explore every legal option at your disposal.
Can the alienation of children be reversed? As children get older, the alienation can be reversed with proper psychological care. However, it won't work if the alienating parent is not contained.
Gaslighting is especially common in cases involving parental alienation, but it can be used in plenty of other situations as well.
The severe effects of parental alienation on children are well-documented—low self-esteem and self-hatred, lack of trust, depression, and substance abuse and other forms of addiction are widespread, as children lose the capacity to give and accept love from a parent.
This can lead to an increased vulnerability to mental health disorders such as depression, anxiety, eating and feeding disorders, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and other psychosomatic disorders [15]. These difficulties can persist even when alienated children reunite with the targeted parent [16].
Guilt. Most participants felt the Alienating Parent made them feel guilty. They also felt guilty about the ways they treated the Target Parent, even though they knew they weren't to blame. Grieving the loss of the relationship with the Targeted Parent.
Narcissistic parental alienation syndrome occurs when a parent with narcissistic traits attempts to maliciously alienate their child from an otherwise loving parent. This is often accomplished by attacking the other parent's character in front of the child.
Narcissistic Parental Alienation syndrome refers to the process of psychological manipulation of a child by a parent to show fear, disrespect, or hostility towards the other parent. Very often, the child can't provide logical reasoning for the difference in their behaviour towards both parents.
Parental Alienation Syndrome is common because it is an effective device for gaining custody of a child. Through systematic alienation, one parent may slowly brainwash a child against the other parent. The parent involved in such alienation behavior then may gain the misplaced loyalty of the child.
It has been estimated that 95 percent of alienated children reconcile and only 5 percent do not. From clinical experience and anecdotal stories, there are similarities among the cases.
The effect of alienation is dramatic on children. Children become overwhelmed, anxious, depressed, and confused. These children often develop an unhealthy sense of entitlement that leads to social alienation and behavior problems.
PA is a mental condition in which a child-usually one whose parents are engaged in a high-conflict separation or divorce-allies strongly with one parent (the preferred parent) and rejects a relationship with the other parent (the alienated parent) without legitimate justification.
Alienation from a parent contradicts one of the fundamental principles of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth), that children have the right to have a meaningful relationship with both of their parents. This, right, of course, is in the absence of significant risk concerns to a children's safety and wellbeing.
The most common personality disorders that lend themselves to parental alienation are narcissistic personality disorder, sociopaths, borderline personality disorder, and antisocial disorder.
A narcissistic parent will often abuse the normal parental role of guiding their children and being the primary decision maker in the child's life, becoming overly possessive and controlling. This possessiveness and excessive control disempowers the child; the parent sees the child simply as an extension of themselves.
It is no wonder then, that children of narcissists very often become narcissistic themselves, having 'learned' narcissism from their very own beginnings. In developing 'work arounds' to appease their narcissistic parent, they are actually wiring these patterns into their brains as normal.
Alienated children typically appear rude, ungrateful, spiteful, and cold toward the targeted parent, and they appear to be impervious to feelings of guilt about their harsh treatment. Gratitude for gifts, favors, or child support provided by the targeted parent is nonexistent.
Without someone who can recognize the syndrome and counsel them about it, it isn't likely that these children will ever figure it out. However, there have been exceptions where the child and the alienated parent have been successfully reunited later in life.
Yes, with appropriate intervention and support, parental alienation can be reversed. This may involve counseling, therapy, and/or mediation to help rebuild the relationship between the targeted parent and the child.