When you’re facing a child custody dispute, your child’s other parent is bound to levy allegations against you and your parenting abilities. Although some of these accusations might be based on misconstrued facts, others are founded on outright lies. Parental alienation may be occurring if you feel like your child has suddenly started harshly and unfairly criticizing you, or the other parent is keeping you from having meaningful contact with your child.
What is parental alienation?
Parental alienation is a manipulation tactic where your child is driven to believe false and harmful things about you, spurred on by the other parent. This manipulation can occur in several ways, too, including by telling your child lies, sharing intimate details with your child about your relationship with the other parent, and gatekeeping your contact with your child in an excessively restrictive way.
If left unaddressed, parental alienation can cause extensive harm to your child and your relationship with them. It can leave them with psychological harm and false beliefs about you, and it can lead to a tense and restrictive relationship with them. So, if you suspect that your child is being manipulated, then now is the time to act.
How can you stop parental alienation?
A simple conversation with the other parent probably isn’t going to work. Instead, may have to take legal action, whether that be by filing a rule to show cause to try to have the other parent held in contempt for violating an existing court order or filing a motion to modify the existing custody order.
If you seek to modify custody, you’ll have to present evidence that shows the modification is in the child’s best interests. But how do you do that? Here are some tips that might prove beneficial in your case:
- Use written communications: Text messages and emails might demonstrate your unsuccessful attempts to communicate and spend time with your child, and they might show how your child’s other parent has talked poorly about you while in your child’s presence.
- Witness testimony: Witnesses can testify as to your bond with your child, but they can also specify how the child’s other parent has manipulated your child against you. Just be prepared for them to come under attack by the other parent and do what you can to find corroborating evidence.
- Seek an expert opinion: If your child has a mental health professional or if they undergo an examination, then you might be able to use that mental health professional to speak to how parental alienation tactics have caused harm to your child’s emotional and psychological well-being. Your child might also share more information about alienating behaviors to this professional than they ever have to you, thereby giving you more evidence to work with.
- Request a custody evaluation: In a lot of custody cases, the court wants some sort of unbiased opinion on the custody issues at hand. In these instances, the court, or one of the parties, may request a comprehensive child custody evaluation where your bond, parenting skills, and abilities are assessed. This evaluation culminates in a written report with a formal opinion.
Don’t allow parental alienation to harm your child
Some experts consider parental alienation to be a form of child abuse. To avoid harm to your child, you need to take quick action, but also do so in a way that’s supported by the evidence. If you want to learn more about how to do that, then consider reading more about parental alienation and what you can do to stop it.