Parental alienation is manipulation of a child in hopes of damaging their relationship with their other parent. It’s a more commonly utilized tactic than many people realize, and the ramifications can be devastating.
Of course, parental alienation can negatively impact a child’s relationship with their other parent, and it may even lead to a custody modification that restricts the other parent’s time with their child, but alienation can also cause extensive emotional and psychological trauma in your child if it goes unaddressed.
What are the signs of parental alienation?
If you want to prevent or stop parental alienation, then you have to know how to spot it. Here are some signs that may be indicative of your child being manipulated:
- They present with unwavering support for their other parent, regardless of the circumstances.
- Your child incessantly and harshly criticizes you and your family, oftentimes without justification.
- The other parent tells your child lies about you or shares intimate and embarrassing details about your relationship with the other parent.
- Your child makes statements using language that doesn’t align with their age.
- The other parent keeps you uninformed about what’s going on with your child.
- Your child is led to falsely believe that you don’t love them or that you don’t want to spend time with them.
How can you stop parental alienation?
If you’ve seen some of these signs of alienation, then you’re probably wondering what you can do to stop it. It’s probably going to take legal action in the form of a custody modification, but you’re going to need evidence to support your arguments.
Your testimony, statements from your child, written communication with the other parent, testimony from friends and family members, and expert testimony from a mental health professional can all be helpful.
So, be diligent and thorough, knowing that you can build an effective argument to protect your child and your relationship with them.
