When getting divorced, learning to recognize examples of parental alienation is crucial. Parental alienation doesn’t just affect your personal relationship with your child, but it also can weigh heavily on the outcome of child custody battles you have with your former spouse.
According to a 2010 report on parental alienation in the American Journal of Family Therapy, an estimated 1 percent of all U.S. children and teens succumb to parental alienation. To keep your child from becoming a statistic, make sure you can detect alienation so you and your legal team can work to put a stop to it.
Examples of Parental Alienation
Parental alienation can manifest itself in many ways. In some cases, it may be intentional as a way to spite you, turn your child against you or gain an upper hand in child custody cases; in others, it could be accidental.
Despite the intentions, there are some universal examples of parental alienation to look for:
- The other parent encroaches on your time with the child, often by picking up the child early, dropping him or her off late or denying you visitation altogether. The other parent also may call excessively or drop by unannounced.
- Your child uses words or phrases that mimic the other parent when blaming you for things like the divorce.
- Your ex interferes with your communication with the child, such as not putting you through on the phone or discarding mail or other communication you send to the child.
- Your child feels the need to choose between you and the other parent.
- The other parent uses your child to deliver messages or spy on you.
- Your child knows intimate details of your divorce and situations personal to you and the other parent.
- The other parent acts hurt or betrayed anytime the child acts positively toward you.
- Your child refuses to communicate with you.
Fighting Back with a Child Custody Attorney
If you think your former spouse is using parental alienation to influence your custody case, you may require legal help. Call (888) 584-9614 to speak to a child custody lawyer at Warren & Migliaccio in Richardson, TX today about your case and the examples of parental alienation you’ve recognized.
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