With special guest:
- Amanda Sillars
Sometimes good can come from the most horrific events in a person’s life.
Amanda Sillars is our guest in this program and Amanda has experienced extreme parental alienation both as a child and a targeted parent. Her reaction has been to become an energetic campaigner against parental alienation which affects so many children and parents in our community.
Amanda’s story started when she was 11, watching TV at home when she was abducted by a parent and taken to a foreign land where she would be cut off from everything and every person she knew in her young life except the abducting parent. From there eventually followed a painful reunion in Australia before she lost her mother to suicide, a death she puts down to the catastrophic effects of parental alienation on a targeted parent.
Back in Australia Amanda married and had two children she loved dearly before another nightmare arrived. Her own children were taken from her after the marriage split.
The good that has flowed from all these terrible events is that Amanda has established a charity, the Eeny Meeny Miney Mo Foundation and is a director of Parental Alienation Australia. In that role Amanda is organising Parental Alienation Awareness Day Australia for 12 October which hopefully will develop into an annual event. And while many parents and children will benefit from the work Amanda is doing in her charity the good news for Amanda is that she has reunited with one of her children and delights in having him back in her world again.
We will follow Amanda as she builds awareness of parental alienation by whatever name the condition is called, extreme alignment being one.
Parental alienation is a worldwide problem and in the United States another mother has put her feelings into writing a song about it. Janis Vaile’s song is Icicles: I will wait for you. Listening to this song is a special treat as is hearing from Amanda.
If this program has raised any concerns for you the following helplines may assist.
Beyond Blue Youth: 1300 224636
Kids Helpline: 1800 55 1800
Beyond Blue: Support 1300 224636
Dads in Distress: 1300 853 437
Mums in Distress: 1300 853 437
Amanda Sillars
Amanda Sillars has experienced parental alienation as a child, losing her mother Nola in 1993 as a result of alienation and the legal system. She has also experienced parental alienation as an adult with her own two children but happily Amanda reunited with her son in 2015.
Amanda is dedicated to educating, raising awareness and providing resources about parental alienation and promoting family court reform.
Amanda is passionate about putting the rights and needs of children first: “No child should ever be put in a situation where they are cut off from a loving parent or made to choose between parents.”
Based in Queensland Amanda created the Parental Alienation Australia Facebook page & private group, providing a place for more than 600 alienated mums and dads to come together and support one another: “No one should travel this journey on their own.”
Amanda is the Founder and a Director of the Eeny Meeny Miney Mo Foundation. Her strong advice: “Never stop loving your children, never give up.”
Song selection by our guest: The Rose by Bette Midler