Parental Alienation: How to Understand and Address Parental Alienation Resulting from Acrimonious Divorce or Separation

L. F. Lowenstein | English, 2007

Parental Alienation is a significant contribution to debates on the effects of family breakdown. Drawing on international research, the book discusses the problems for parents and children when parental alienation occurs. It identifies the signs of parental alienation syndrome (PAS). Concerned with the important task of seeking to remedy PAS, author L.F. Lowenstein’s basic principle is that both parents have the right and the responsibility to guide their children appropriately. The book recognizes children need to be protected from the consequences of being alienated from a parent, and that both parents need to be treated fairly by the system. He also addresses the role of the judiciary, where both the experts and the courts need to help parents resolve their differences to safeguard the welfare of their children. Parental Alienation addresses the important issues of mediation and of treatment, including how to identify and treat accusations of abuse, and it discusses the therapeutic methods required in PAS and the psychological assessment/treatment of pathologically induced alienation.