THERAPEUTIC WORK WITH ALIENATED CHILDREN AND THEIR FAMILIES

In: Family court review: publ. in assoc. with: Association of Family and Conciliation Courts, Band 39, Heft 3, S. 316-333

Abstract

This article describes goals and strategies for family‐focused counseling and therapy when children are alienated from a parent after separation and divorce. The confidential intervention takes place within a legally defined contract and is based on a careful assessment of the dynamics of the multiple factors that contribute to the alienation and how the chil?s development is affected. Strategies for forming multiple therapeutic alliances with often reluctant, recalcitrant, and polarized parents are discussed together with ways of helping the child directly.