Divorce is difficult for everyone under the best of circumstances. When you cannot communicate well with your ex-spouse, it affects the children you share and child custody issues. Sometimes, it even takes an uglier turn when one parent tries to distance a child from the other parent.
Here is some information from Psychology Today about parental alienation.
Why parental alienation occurs
Often, parental alienation begins before the divorce is put into motion. In fact, if your former partner is the alienating parent, he or she has probably been doing this since the time your child was young as a way of having his or her own needs met.
This behavior becomes more pronounced during the dissolution of the marriage. Once your relationship becomes troubled enough that the divorce process began, the alienator pushes your child even further into the role of caretaker for the adult. Over time, your child begins to adopt the way the alienator views matters and the negative light in which he or she portrays you.
How to stop parental alienation
There are a variety of means available to break this behavior. Sometimes, therapy is enough to reverse this damage. This would probably include individual therapy for you, your ex and your child. Plus, family therapy for you and your child would be extremely beneficial to heal many wounds.
You might be in a situation where the alienating parent refuses to address the issue and get help. Be sure to document any actions you are taking and conversations you may have. If your child is not seeing you, you might seek supervised visitation as a first step. And, you may need to get a court order to compel your child to live with you so you can restore your relationship with him or her.
