The 25th of April is Parent Alienation Awareness Day, a day that is celebrated all over the world with the intention of bringing more attention to the issue of parental alienation.
The term “parental alienation” refers to “behaviour by a parent (or an adult a kid trusts, such as a grandparents, aunt, uncle, etc.) that might generate estrangement in the connection between a child and a parent.” This behaviour could be conscious or unconscious.
Different phrases, such as “Hostile Aggressive Parenting” or “Psychological and Emotional Injury or Abuse,” are also used to refer to these behaviours. The behaviour that is shown can be minor and fleeting, but it also has the potential to become excessive over a protracted period of time.
Any kind of behaviour that a child exhibits as a result of being alienated from a parent who is very much loved can be harmful for a child and could have potentially life-long consequences if the behaviour of both the child and the parent, guardian, or caretaker is not recognised and effectively addressed.
Bringing attention to the alienation of parents Peterborough
The goal of Parental Alienation Awareness Day Peterborough is to educate adults so that they can recognise warning signs that either they or others are acting in a manner that could have an effect on the children in their care and to raise awareness among caretakers about the potential negative effects that this behaviour could have on the children in their care.
In the majority of cases, one caretaker will seek to turn a kid against another caretaker, frequently with the intention of convincing the child that they desire to permanently exclude the other parent from their lives. This is an example of parental alienation.
The following are examples of behaviours that are frequently shown by parents:
- continual denigration of the other person
- avoiding as much contact as possible with the other
- prohibiting the kid from having any communication with the other parent
- causing the child to believe that the other parent does not love them or care about them
- The youngster is subjected to either indirect or direct pressure to disapprove of the other parent.
This behaviour can be conscious or unconscious, and it may be driven by the impulse to exact revenge on the other parent for actions that they feel contributed to the end of their connection with their child. However, in the long run the detrimental influence on the child, which the parent may or may not recognise, finally results in the youngster being the victim of this behaviour.
Karen Woodall, a psychotherapist, author, trainer, and researcher, has the following to say:
“I feel that we have reached the stage where it is beginning to be broadly recognised the harm that is caused to children who endure induced psychological splitting as a result of their parents’ divorce or the separation of their families. My work in the legal system, with social workers, and with individuals who were alienated as children in many parts of the world enables me to see indications that the dynamics that are harmful to children are being increasingly recognised. When we realise that the racket that is being made about the label “parental alienation” originates from those who use primal defences in day-to-day life, we are able to put an end to the “noise” that has been created as part of the campaign surrounding this issue. This “noise” has been created in an intentional attempt to normalise behaviours that are causing harm to children. When we realise that the noise is a projection, we grasp the intention and the underlying reasons, and when we refrain from participating with those things, we watch as the noise disappears.
It is common knowledge that delays in gaining access to family courts in order to reach an agreement about visitation rights can have the unintended effect of sowing the seeds of estrangement. It is imperative that all individuals who work with families, such as judges, attorneys, social workers, health visitors, counsellors, mediators, and other family services provided by the voluntary and community sector, receive adequate training to recognise the early warning signs of child abuse and neglect in order to protect the children in their care.
It is of the highest essential that parents who are going through a divorce have access to early intervention family support services such as family Mediation Peterborough in order to achieve initial agreement on co-parenting arrangements. These programmes include information on child development and early intervention.
Learn more about how Family Mediation Peterborough may help parents talk with one another in a secure setting so that they can negotiate and come to an agreement on a co-parenting plan that puts the needs of their children first.
Statistics on parental alienation and child abduction
In family court, almost 200 children lose touch with a parent on a daily basis. That equates to one out of every three kids who end up never speaking to or seeing their estranged parent again after their parents divorce or separate.
