The Association for Family and Conciliation Courts (AFCC) published a document – entitled Guidelines for Court-Involved Therapy (2010) – that defines and outlines court-ordered therapy as different and distinct from traditional psychotherapy. The Guidelines were intended to serve several purposes: to assist members of AFCC and others who provide treatment to court-involved children and families, to assist those who depend on mental health services or on the opinions of MHPs impromoting effective treatment and assessing the quality of treatment services, and to assist the courts to develop clear and effective court orders and parenting plans (p. 1).
In a comprehensive overview of the literature on alienation and mental health professional intervention, Fidler and Bala (2010) concluded that “counseling or psychotherapy tend to be suitable for mild and some moderate cases.” Facing the taxonomic three levels of PA – mild, moderate, and severe – Birnbaum & Radovanovic (1999) and Warshak (2010a) argue for several tiered options of court-ordered therapy. Conventional therapy, they say, is most likely to be effective in early stages with less severe problems and when the alienating parent and child are likely to cooperate.
In any of these levels of severity, MHPs must be prepared for what they will hear from the alienators. Kopetski, Rand, and Rand (2006) listed the primary justification for alienation in each case they studied. They identified 19 different justifications, including: separation anxiety, the child being fearful of the other parent, the child not needing a father, child abuse, spousal abuse, and the child being older and having a right to refuse visits. Some cases involved allegations of child abuse along with other kinds of justifications, such as the mother alleging separation anxiety and sex abuse or the father alleging that the mother was emotionally unstable and neglected the children. There were several cases in which more than one type of child abuse was alleged.
Rumors seemed to occur in every case that Kopetski and her colleagues studied. Rosnow and Foster (2005) explained, “People have a tendency to spread rumors that they perceive as credible (even the most ridiculous stories), although when anxieties are intense, rumormongers are less likely to monitor the logic or plausibility of what they pass on to others.” While rumors are usually untrustworthy and are not ordinarily passed on, Rosnow and Foster found that they are virulent when the person who repeats them “is motivated by some ulterior or devious personal objective.”
MHPs who treat children of divorced parents must remember that many children who participate in court-ordered therapy do so with overt resistance and reluctance. Parents who support or accept their children’s rejection of the other parent usually lack motivation to participate in therapy when the professed goal is to heal the damaged parent-child relationship. Also, therapists are often persuaded by alienated children’s compelling borrowed scenarios. Therapists must understand the power of the alienating parent in economically controlling the continuation of the therapy. An alienating parent may abruptly cease treatment due to spurious reasons, for example, saying the child did not feel comfortable with the therapist. The therapist must be careful to assess false allegations that appear to be justified.
MHPs who begin this work must also be ready to stop it as well. Donner (2006) explained that family therapy, co-parenting counseling, parent education, and cognitive-behavioral therapy may be insufficient to modify the complex behavior of alienating parents. Donner wrote that these parents are unable to think beyond their own needs and may harbor unconscious desires to hurt their children.
Birnbaum, R., & Radovanovic, H. (1999). Brief intervention model for access-based postseparation disputes: Family and court outcomes. Family and Conciliation Courts Review, 37, 504
Donner, M. B. (2006). Tearing the child apart: The contributions of narcissism, envy, and perverse modes of thought to child custody wars. Psychoanalytic Psychology, 23, 542-551.
Fidler, B. J., & Bala, N. (2010). Children resisting post-separation contact with a parent: Concepts, controversies, and conundrums. Family Court Review, 48(1), 10-47.
Kopetski, L. M., Rand, D. C., & Rand, R. (2006). Incidence, Gender, and False Allegations of Child Abuse: Data on 84 Parental Alienation Syndrome Cases. In R. A. Gardner, S. R. Sauber & D. Lorandos (Eds.), The International Handbook of Parental Alienation Syndrome: Conceptual, Clinical and Legal Considerations (pp. 65-70). Springfield, IL: Charles C Thomas Publisher.
Rosnow, R. L., & Foster, E. K. (2005). Rumor and Gossip Research. Psychological Agenda, 19(4).