Parental Alienation

Written by: Reina Connelly

Parental alienation is a salient issue that impacts the fabric of society. According to Scott Gleeson, a USA Today Reporter, defines parental alienation as a manipulative tactic used by parents to alienate another parent or guardian's access to the minor. This form of estrangement increases the child's refusal to form a relationship with the victim of parental alienation. It is important for mental health clinicians to understand parental alienation through the context of family systems. It is a long-held belief within the psychotherapy and counseling field that within parental alienation cases, the child always aligns with the more competent and better parent. However, research has disproven this and has even stated that children can express strong emotions about parental alienation cases. However, minors might not feel these emotions internally. Therefore, it is important for mental health practitioners and student therapists to understand parental alienation.