The Parental Alienation Syndrome

With special guest:

• Linda Gottlieb Kase
  … in conversation with Bill Kable
  

In today’s program we go to New York to find out the latest on the way Parental Alienation is treated by the Courts and by therapists internationally. While Parental Alienation Syndrome (or PAS) still appears to be a controversial topic in Australia there is no difficulty in recognising this evil for what it is in the USA.

In Linda Gottlieb Kase’s book she describes 56 alienated children and 32 alienated parents from her experience in practice. In these studies there are more mothers being the alienators with fathers being the target but this is put down to the syndrome being opportunistic rather than any particular propensity of either sex. In the USA as in Australia the mothers get a greater share of time with the children awarded by the Courts and accordingly their opportunity to alienate the children is also greater. Interestingly Linda Gottlieb Kase says that if fathers were awarded more time with their children it is likely that they would be more likely to be the alienators.

In discussing treatment options the bad news is that Parental Alienation is generally irreversible without Judicial and therapeutic intervention. Only a very small number of alienators stop spontaneously. When a therapist intervenes to bring the targeted parent back into the life of the child it is described as like travelling into the Twilight Zone. The child seems like a different person, bringing to mind the child in The Exorcist.

The good news is that once there is that judicial intervention, therapy can act very quickly and after just four sessions the previously good relationship between parent and child can be restored.

Linda Gottlieb Kase answers some important questions for us. What motivates a parent to alienate the child of the relationship? What is the difference between mild, moderate and severe parental alienation? Does mild alienation lead to severe? Most importantly, what can alienated parents do? Should the focus be on treating the alienated child, the alienator or the targeted parent?

In this interview Linda Gottlieb Kase demonstrates why she has become an international expert.

Even if you think you know the topic, it is guaranteed that you will learn something new from this show. Don’t miss it.

Linda Gottlieb Kase

Linda Gottlieb Kase is a qualified Social Worker and Family Therapist who has benefitted from training with the world leaders in the field of Family Dynamics and Family Systems, in particular Salvador Minuchin MD the world renowned and highly respected child psychiatrist and a founder of the Family Therapy movement.

After Linda had treated more than 500 children in her private practice who were victims of Parental Alienation she developed an expertise in diagnosing and treating this highly dysfunctional family dynamic.

Linda was inspired by her experience to write her book The Parental Alienation Syndrome: A Family Therapy & Collaborative Systems Approach to Amelioration and has a website with loads of free material at www.turningpoints4families.com Linda has given numerous interviews on radio and television and conducts workshops for professionals in the field.

Note: This program is an encore presentation of the one aired on 30 Apr 2015.

Podcast (mp3)