These are presentations we have chosen as a few of the top presentations we have had over the past 9 years. Some of these you have asked to be replayed. Others may never had the opportunity to hear or view them. Please note that we will not be adding all presentations now to this web page. This is just a select group.
We are certain these presentations will help both the professionals involved in the world of alienation as well as the alienated family members themselves.These presentations give much education and support regarding alienation in many different facets.
Please also note the cost of the replay is for 1 time and must be listened to in one sitting.
We are certain these presentations will help both the professionals involved in the world of alienation as well as the alienated family members themselves.These presentations give much education and support regarding alienation in many different facets.
Please also note the cost of the replay is for 1 time and must be listened to in one sitting.
First, the main purpose of the conference was to provide participants-including parents, grandparents, mental health professionals, attorneys, and others -with a conceptual framework and useful tools with which to make sense of, and deal with, alienation and other relevant topics such as estrangement and enmeshment.
Second, our main focus was on evidence-based practices. Given the flood of misinformation about parental alienation from so many sources, this conference should provide some much needed relief. Among other things, we will discuss how to distinguish between science and ideology, science and pseudoscience, true controversies and pseudo-controversies, and so on.
Third, from a forensic and legal perspective, we emphasized how to deal with clinical issues, clinical evidence, and clinical experts in court. As you can see from the flyer, we have an extremely knowledgeable and well-credentialed group of presenters.
Fourth, the conference was designed to appeal to both lay people (most notably alienated parents and grandparents) and professionals (especially mental health and legal professionals).
And fifth, we believe you will not only find it practical, but enjoyable. We hope that you can purchase the replay for an extreme amount of knowledge and support. This was an incredible conference. Our presenters were at "the top of their game" in these presentations! It was an incredible conference for everyone.
"Anticipating and Defending Against the Inevitable Courtroom Attacks on Parental Alienation and your Case"
Robert Hoffman, P. L. L. C.
"Introduction to Alienation Science: Core Concepts and Common Controversies"
Colleen Murray, Ph. D, LPC, Sandra Aguilar, MA, LPC-S, NCC, Steven Miller, M. D.
Mental Health Panel Discussion: "Helping Courts to Understand Alienation"
Moderator: Colleen Murray, Ph. D, LPC
Panel Members: Caitlin R. Burgess, JD, MA, LMFT, Steven Miller, M. D.
"Relevant Research: What Does the Science Say?"
Jennifer Harman, Ph. D, Steven Miller, M. D.
"Miscellaneous Forensic and Legal Issues"
Steven Miller, M. D., Robert Hoffman, P. L. L. C.
Legal Panel Discussion: "Battle Scars Earned and Lessons Learned from the Front Lines: Common Oversights Lawyers, Alienated Parents/Grandparents and Expert Witnesses Make and how to Master These Challenges"
Moderator: Colleen Murray, Ph. D, LPC
Panel Members: Ashish Joshi, LL.M, Robert Hoffman, P. L. L. C.
"Memories: An Indispensable Co-Therapist in Reunification Therapy"
Linda Gottlieb, LMFT, LCSW-R
"What if the Alienating Parent has a Personality Disorder?"
Steven Miller, M. D.
"How to Pass a Daubert Hearing Regarding Parental Alienation"
William Bernet, M. D.
"Parental Alienation in American Family Courts: Common Fallacies and Pitfalls"
Ashish Joshi, LL.M
"Pruning the Family Tree: the Plight of Grandparents who are Cut-Off"
Carol Golly, Ph. D, LCSW, RPT-S
"The Do's and Don'ts of Treatment for Parental Alienation"
Linda Gottlieb, LMFT, LCSW-R
Please note by checking the "I agree button here, you understand you do not have permission to record these presentations or share with others. You also have purchased a 1 time playback. These are property of Family Access- Fighting for Children's Rights. We also have submitted copyrights for each of these calls. Once registered, please email me at familyaccessinnc@aol.com with the number you are calling in on and I will give you your instructions. Thanks!
Reverend Dr. John Killinger
" NEVER GIVE UP HOPE—LIFE ISN’T WORTH LIVING WITHOUT IT"
One of the most terrible losses any of us ever experience is the loss of hope. Dr Killinger himself admits that his own hope for reconciliation with his son and his family had been pretty battered after 15 years of not seeing him or any of his grandchildren, though they lived only 30 or 40 minutes away from him. In an effort to rise above his own sadness and loneliness, he became involved in the plight of other grandparents in a similar situation. Dr. Killinger published three volumes of letters he wrote to his grandchildren in the hope that someday, when they were older and their parents could not confiscate or destroy the letters, they would be able to read about our affection for them and our sadness that we were missing the opportunity of being with them during their young, impressionable years. He has also tried to assist Elaine and Family Access in any way he could, and he has been on the board of Alienated Grandparents Anonymous for many years, responding to letters and emails from many distraught parents and grandparents. But he has to admit that he had almost lost hope of ever reconciling with his own son or getting to know his four grandchildren while they are still children. If his son would not come to see his mother Anne as she was dying nine years ago, he could not expect him to have any pity on his old father before his own death.
Dr. Killinger will be presenting to us on the necessity of hope in our lives, even when things aren't working out very well with our children and grandchildren. He will let us know about and describe a very special event that just took place in his life. An event that left him "gobsmacked". He will describe in detail for us this event. He will speak to us about life being better when there's at least a grain of hope in it. This will be an event that you absolutely do not want to miss and have klennex nearby.
Dr. John Killinger, noted author, minister, and professor, has pastored eight churches, including the First Congregational Church of Los Angeles and Marble Collegiate Church in New York City, and has taught at such major universities as Vanderbilt, Princeton, and Chicago. His wife Anne was the author of A Son Is a Son Till He Gets a Wife: How Toxic Daughters-in-Law Destroy Families, the book that spawned the alienated parents and grandparent movement in America. He himself has written more than 70 books, including three volumes of From Poppy with Love: Letters from a Grandfather to the Grandchildren He Isn’t Allowed to See. He has appeared on numerous radio and TV programs across the U.S., and served for many years as a special seminar leader for chaplains in all branches of the American Armed Forces.
One of the most terrible losses any of us ever experience is the loss of hope. Dr Killinger himself admits that his own hope for reconciliation with his son and his family had been pretty battered after 15 years of not seeing him or any of his grandchildren, though they lived only 30 or 40 minutes away from him. In an effort to rise above his own sadness and loneliness, he became involved in the plight of other grandparents in a similar situation. Dr. Killinger published three volumes of letters he wrote to his grandchildren in the hope that someday, when they were older and their parents could not confiscate or destroy the letters, they would be able to read about our affection for them and our sadness that we were missing the opportunity of being with them during their young, impressionable years. He has also tried to assist Elaine and Family Access in any way he could, and he has been on the board of Alienated Grandparents Anonymous for many years, responding to letters and emails from many distraught parents and grandparents. But he has to admit that he had almost lost hope of ever reconciling with his own son or getting to know his four grandchildren while they are still children. If his son would not come to see his mother Anne as she was dying nine years ago, he could not expect him to have any pity on his old father before his own death.
Dr. Killinger will be presenting to us on the necessity of hope in our lives, even when things aren't working out very well with our children and grandchildren. He will let us know about and describe a very special event that just took place in his life. An event that left him "gobsmacked". He will describe in detail for us this event. He will speak to us about life being better when there's at least a grain of hope in it. This will be an event that you absolutely do not want to miss and have klennex nearby.
Dr. John Killinger, noted author, minister, and professor, has pastored eight churches, including the First Congregational Church of Los Angeles and Marble Collegiate Church in New York City, and has taught at such major universities as Vanderbilt, Princeton, and Chicago. His wife Anne was the author of A Son Is a Son Till He Gets a Wife: How Toxic Daughters-in-Law Destroy Families, the book that spawned the alienated parents and grandparent movement in America. He himself has written more than 70 books, including three volumes of From Poppy with Love: Letters from a Grandfather to the Grandchildren He Isn’t Allowed to See. He has appeared on numerous radio and TV programs across the U.S., and served for many years as a special seminar leader for chaplains in all branches of the American Armed Forces.
Please note by checking the "I agree button here, you understand you do not have permission to record these presentations or share with others. You also have purchased a 1 time playback. These are property of Family Access- Fighting for Children's Rights. We also have submitted copyrights for each of these calls. Once registered, please email me at familyaccessinnc@aol.com with the number you are calling in on and I will give you your instructions. Thanks!
BRIAN LUDMER, B. COMM, LLB
"Structuring a Reconciliation Therapy Intervention"
Given the pervasive failure of therapeutic interventions in the context of high conflict divorce (and parental alienation), the continued unstructured referrals of families by the Courts to therapy is problematic.
Brian's presentation will focus on how to structure a therapeutic or psychoeducational intervention while the children are still also living primarily or perhaps exclusively with the favoured parent.
Even if successful (because the family system requires a temporary timeout for the favoured parent), there may be much learned and crucial reports obtained from this process, which will embolden the Court to order a protective separation of the children.
Further, if progress is made, it can also inform the Court about longer-term remedies and expanded parenting time, building on the more recent successes.
Brian Ludmer is a Canadian attorney whose practice focuses on cases involving high conflict custody battles, denial of parenting time and parental alienation, as well as high net worth financial disputes. He is also a business and securities law attorney with over 32 years of experience.
Brian is the Legal Column Editor and Writer for the bi-monthly newsletter of the Parental Alienation Study Group, an organization of professionals and others interested in the area with members world-wide.
Brian is a frequent speaker for Family Access and is widely quoted in multiple media sources on family law issues. Brian has spoken at the first International Conference of the Parental Alienation Study Group in Washington in October 2017, for the Canadian PA Forum -a three-day conference – in 2009 and for PAAO, the Children’s Rights Council, the Canadian Equal Parenting Coalition and other organizations across Canada and the United States. Brian was also a featured speaker at the first Annual Conference of the European Association of PA Practitioners in London UK in August 2018. Brian has also been speaking to the Ontario Canada hospital network on PA Diagnosis and Therapy.
Brian works as special counsel with US and Canadian attorneys and mental health professionals to assist targeted parents and grandparents. He has assisted in cases across Canada, the US.and overseas.
Brian’s book: The High Conflict Custody Battle, which he co-wrote with Dr. Amy Baker and Dr. Michael Bone in 2015, is a resource that has been of assistance to countless families.
Brian’s cases often involve custody disputes over parenting time. Brian’s cases have set important jurisprudence on the field of family law disputes, equal parenting and parental alienation.
Brian has been an advocate for a rebuttable presumption of equal shared parenting as a solution to most high conflict parenting disputes. Brian is a co-founder of Lawyers for Shared Parenting, and an active member of several family rights organizations. He is the legal advisor to the Canadian Centre for Equality. In that capacity Brian drafted a detailed submission on a rebuttable presumption of equal shared parenting to the Justice Committee of the Canadian House of Commons and was an invited witness into its November 2018 hearings on Bill C-78, a current proposal to amend Canada’s Divorce laws. Brian anticipates making a similar presentation to the Canadian Senate when it considers the Bill in the Spring of 2019.
Previously, Brian was the principal drafter of Bill C-560, a 2014 private members’ Bill introduced in the Canadian Federal Parliament to reform family law, which made it to second reading at the time.
Given the pervasive failure of therapeutic interventions in the context of high conflict divorce (and parental alienation), the continued unstructured referrals of families by the Courts to therapy is problematic.
Brian's presentation will focus on how to structure a therapeutic or psychoeducational intervention while the children are still also living primarily or perhaps exclusively with the favoured parent.
Even if successful (because the family system requires a temporary timeout for the favoured parent), there may be much learned and crucial reports obtained from this process, which will embolden the Court to order a protective separation of the children.
Further, if progress is made, it can also inform the Court about longer-term remedies and expanded parenting time, building on the more recent successes.
Brian Ludmer is a Canadian attorney whose practice focuses on cases involving high conflict custody battles, denial of parenting time and parental alienation, as well as high net worth financial disputes. He is also a business and securities law attorney with over 32 years of experience.
Brian is the Legal Column Editor and Writer for the bi-monthly newsletter of the Parental Alienation Study Group, an organization of professionals and others interested in the area with members world-wide.
Brian is a frequent speaker for Family Access and is widely quoted in multiple media sources on family law issues. Brian has spoken at the first International Conference of the Parental Alienation Study Group in Washington in October 2017, for the Canadian PA Forum -a three-day conference – in 2009 and for PAAO, the Children’s Rights Council, the Canadian Equal Parenting Coalition and other organizations across Canada and the United States. Brian was also a featured speaker at the first Annual Conference of the European Association of PA Practitioners in London UK in August 2018. Brian has also been speaking to the Ontario Canada hospital network on PA Diagnosis and Therapy.
Brian works as special counsel with US and Canadian attorneys and mental health professionals to assist targeted parents and grandparents. He has assisted in cases across Canada, the US.and overseas.
Brian’s book: The High Conflict Custody Battle, which he co-wrote with Dr. Amy Baker and Dr. Michael Bone in 2015, is a resource that has been of assistance to countless families.
Brian’s cases often involve custody disputes over parenting time. Brian’s cases have set important jurisprudence on the field of family law disputes, equal parenting and parental alienation.
Brian has been an advocate for a rebuttable presumption of equal shared parenting as a solution to most high conflict parenting disputes. Brian is a co-founder of Lawyers for Shared Parenting, and an active member of several family rights organizations. He is the legal advisor to the Canadian Centre for Equality. In that capacity Brian drafted a detailed submission on a rebuttable presumption of equal shared parenting to the Justice Committee of the Canadian House of Commons and was an invited witness into its November 2018 hearings on Bill C-78, a current proposal to amend Canada’s Divorce laws. Brian anticipates making a similar presentation to the Canadian Senate when it considers the Bill in the Spring of 2019.
Previously, Brian was the principal drafter of Bill C-560, a 2014 private members’ Bill introduced in the Canadian Federal Parliament to reform family law, which made it to second reading at the time.
Please note by checking the "I agree button here, you understand you do not have permission to record these presentations or share with others. You also have purchased a 1 time playback. These are property of Family Access- Fighting for Children's Rights. We also have submitted copyrights for each of these calls. Once registered, please email me at familyaccessinnc@aol.com with the number you are calling in on and I will give you your instructions. Thanks!
MARK MOSK, Ph.D
"Clinical Issues in Parental Alienation: Reunifying with Adult and Minor Children"
The emotional impact on parents and grandparents that have become alienated from their children and grandchildren, respectively, can be devastating. Targeted parents frequently are unaware that the often subtle and devious alienation process is occurring in the first place until it is too late, and they then find themselves firstly trying to understand what and how this has taken place and secondly struggling to cope with their undermined parenting role and separation from their loved ones. The psychological dynamics involved in alienation and its aftermath are not well understood and currently are undergoing rigorous research. This presentation will address three key clinical issues:
(1) recognition of behavioral dimensions of alienation efforts and tactics to suppress that process,
(2) therapeutic strategies to help emotionally cope with the loss of once healthy relationships, and
(3) critical elements to foster successful reunification with both alienated unemancipated and adult children.
Dr. Mosk completed his doctorate in clinical psychology in 1982 and began his career as a clinical and research psychologist at the UCLA School of Medicine. He has been providing customized professional services to help and guide individuals undergoing transitional periods in their lives, organizations experiencing significant changes, and parties involved in lawsuits. As an independent practitioner, Dr. Mosk has treated thousands of patients with a broad range of behavioral health disorders, and he has served as a forensic evaluator and expert witness for over three decades, having conducted over 1,200 mental health evaluations in child custody, workers’ compensation, disability, and immigration matters. He is the coauthor of the clinical decision-support tool, Functional Capacity Assessment Profile, and he continues to develop the Parenting Profile Assessment System that helps define and assess normative parenting behavior, including parental alienation. In parallel, Dr. Mosk has been advising private and public sector companies on organizational, clinical, and business-related issues for over 30 years. He has served on the faculty of several institutions, is a thought leader and well published, and he has lectured extensively on a wide variety of healthcare topics.
The emotional impact on parents and grandparents that have become alienated from their children and grandchildren, respectively, can be devastating. Targeted parents frequently are unaware that the often subtle and devious alienation process is occurring in the first place until it is too late, and they then find themselves firstly trying to understand what and how this has taken place and secondly struggling to cope with their undermined parenting role and separation from their loved ones. The psychological dynamics involved in alienation and its aftermath are not well understood and currently are undergoing rigorous research. This presentation will address three key clinical issues:
(1) recognition of behavioral dimensions of alienation efforts and tactics to suppress that process,
(2) therapeutic strategies to help emotionally cope with the loss of once healthy relationships, and
(3) critical elements to foster successful reunification with both alienated unemancipated and adult children.
Dr. Mosk completed his doctorate in clinical psychology in 1982 and began his career as a clinical and research psychologist at the UCLA School of Medicine. He has been providing customized professional services to help and guide individuals undergoing transitional periods in their lives, organizations experiencing significant changes, and parties involved in lawsuits. As an independent practitioner, Dr. Mosk has treated thousands of patients with a broad range of behavioral health disorders, and he has served as a forensic evaluator and expert witness for over three decades, having conducted over 1,200 mental health evaluations in child custody, workers’ compensation, disability, and immigration matters. He is the coauthor of the clinical decision-support tool, Functional Capacity Assessment Profile, and he continues to develop the Parenting Profile Assessment System that helps define and assess normative parenting behavior, including parental alienation. In parallel, Dr. Mosk has been advising private and public sector companies on organizational, clinical, and business-related issues for over 30 years. He has served on the faculty of several institutions, is a thought leader and well published, and he has lectured extensively on a wide variety of healthcare topics.
Please note by checking the "I agree button here, you understand you do not have permission to record these presentations or share with others. You also have purchased a 1 time playback. These are property of Family Access- Fighting for Children's Rights. We also have submitted copyrights for each of these calls. Once registered, please email me at familyaccessinnc@aol.com with the number you are calling in on and I will give you your instructions. Thanks!
LORETTA MAASE, M. A., LPC-S
"Three Ways Qualified Mental Health Professionals can Assist Parents, Grandparents, and Their Attorneys"
As a mental health provider who specializes in parent alienation assessment and treatment, Loretta Maase is regularly contacted by parents from around the United States looking for help in understanding the tremendously complex issues of parental alienation affecting their families. Even though there is an abundance of research available that clearly defines parental alienation – what it is and what it looks like when it’s happening to your family – it can still be a daunting task for parents to apply the wealth of knowledge available today to their personal situations. We have diagnostic tools that have been used for over 25 years. However, without having access to trained, qualified professionals in local communities parents often feel that there’s no way out of their particular situations.
To help parents understand their options, Loretta Maase will discuss three ways that qualified mental health professionals can help alienated parents and their attorneys apply the parental alienation science available to us today:
· Provide comprehensive but generic (non-case specific) testimony to educate the court about parental alienation and estrangement (research, science, controversies, professional organization support, diagnostics, etc.). Attorneys are then able to ask the MHP a series of hypothetical questions based on the facts of your case.
· Provide case-specific file review/assessment of your case with disclosure statement. No court order required.
· Provide court ordered parental alienation and estrangement assessment based on information from both parents, interviews of all parties, etc., with comprehensive report and testimony.
Loretta. Maase, LPC-S specializes in working with high-conflict divorce/custody cases and is currently working as a Therapist, Parent Alienation/Estrangement Assessment and Treatment Specialist, and Child Custody Evaluator. Ms. Maase has a background in assessment and treatment of Parent Alienation, having studied extensively with Ms. Linda Gottlieb, Dr. Steven Miller, Dr. Amy Baker, and more. Ms. Maase is the Director of Turning Points for Families-Texas, in association with Linda Gottlieb and the highly successful Turning Points for Families program in Long Island, NY.
As a mental health provider who specializes in parent alienation assessment and treatment, Loretta Maase is regularly contacted by parents from around the United States looking for help in understanding the tremendously complex issues of parental alienation affecting their families. Even though there is an abundance of research available that clearly defines parental alienation – what it is and what it looks like when it’s happening to your family – it can still be a daunting task for parents to apply the wealth of knowledge available today to their personal situations. We have diagnostic tools that have been used for over 25 years. However, without having access to trained, qualified professionals in local communities parents often feel that there’s no way out of their particular situations.
To help parents understand their options, Loretta Maase will discuss three ways that qualified mental health professionals can help alienated parents and their attorneys apply the parental alienation science available to us today:
· Provide comprehensive but generic (non-case specific) testimony to educate the court about parental alienation and estrangement (research, science, controversies, professional organization support, diagnostics, etc.). Attorneys are then able to ask the MHP a series of hypothetical questions based on the facts of your case.
· Provide case-specific file review/assessment of your case with disclosure statement. No court order required.
· Provide court ordered parental alienation and estrangement assessment based on information from both parents, interviews of all parties, etc., with comprehensive report and testimony.
Loretta. Maase, LPC-S specializes in working with high-conflict divorce/custody cases and is currently working as a Therapist, Parent Alienation/Estrangement Assessment and Treatment Specialist, and Child Custody Evaluator. Ms. Maase has a background in assessment and treatment of Parent Alienation, having studied extensively with Ms. Linda Gottlieb, Dr. Steven Miller, Dr. Amy Baker, and more. Ms. Maase is the Director of Turning Points for Families-Texas, in association with Linda Gottlieb and the highly successful Turning Points for Families program in Long Island, NY.
Please note by checking the "I agree button here, you understand you do not have permission to record these presentations or share with others. You also have purchased a 1 time playback. These are property of Family Access- Fighting for Children's Rights. We also have submitted copyrights for each of these calls. Once registered, please email me at familyaccessinnc@aol.com with the number you are calling in on and I will give you your instructions. Thanks!
SUSAN HEITLER, Ph.D
"Conflict Resolution: A Core Competency for Coping with Alienation"
In her 45 years of treating with anxiety, depression, anger, rage, and other types of emotional distress, clinical psychologist Dr. Susan Heitler has consistently found that conflicts lie at the core of these and other emotional states. Whether we refer these as bumps in the road, issues, problems, upsets, dilemmas, decisions, fights, or injustices, all of these circumstances can be regarded as conflicts. Whenever you have something you want that you are not getting, or something that you don't want that you are getting, that is a life conflict.
Ordinarily, psychotherapists attempt to provide people in conflict with insights, approaches, and techniques to better manage their conflicts. One of the most promising of those approaches is collaborative conflict resolution. In simple terms, that is a semi-structured approach to manage conflict through dialog, understanding, compromise, and other methods. Unfortunately, however, alienators—especially determined alienators—will usually not agree to participate in collaborative conflict resolution. For one thing, such a collaboration is not consistent with their true goals. For another thing, they may lack the psychological and emotional capacity to do so. For a third thing, if they agree to participate, they tend to undermine and sabotage the process.
By contrast, such skills can prove invaluable to targeted parents and grandparents who must not only deal with one or more alienators, but must also interact with other family members, attorneys, teachers, therapists, parenting coordinators, custody evaluators, guardians ad litem, courts, and others—as well as the alienated children themselves who, except in mild cases, are often disruptive and seldom shy about it.
This presentation is designed to provide practical skills to parents, grandparents, and others who must deal with parental and grandparental alienation. In addition, it is designed to provide some practical techniques for harnessing your inner resources in order to resolve conflicts in a “win win” way while strengthening your ability to handle life's challenges with enhanced confidence and a sense of well-being.
Specific Topics and Questions
1. What are some examples of situations in which collaborative conflict resolution can be helpful—or even lead to a “win win” situation?
2. What are the three steps of conflict resolution?
3. How are conflict resolution and problem-solving similar? How are they different?
4. What are the most important communication skills for collaborative conflict resolution?
5. What are the most important anger management and impulse control skills to keep conflict resolution on track?
6. What are the most common mistakes people make when participating in semi-structured conflict resolution?
Susan Heitler, PhD, is a clinical psychologist. Formerly of Denver, she currently lives in Israel. She has written over a dozen blogposts for psychologytoday.com to educate the general public and psychotherapy professionals about alienation. For a list of these articles, scroll down in the alienation section of her therapyhelp.com website.
In her clinical work, her blogposts on psychologytoday.com (which have attracted over 23 million reads), and her books, Dr. Heitler focuses in particular on how people deal with the conflicts in their lives.
Her book From Conflict to Resolution was the first to bring understandings of the art of win-win conflict resolution into the general psychotherapy literature. In addition, she has written a useful workbook for the general public entitled The Power of Two. Related to the workbook, her website features a module called PowerOfTwoMarriage.com that teaches collaborative communication, anger management, and conflict resolution—skills that sustain both personal well-being and positive family relationships.
Susan Heitler, Ph.D.
1410 Grant St., Denver, CO 80203 303 388-4211
and Raanana, Israel
Email: drheitler@gmail.com
Books, on Amazon Websites: prescriptionswithoutpills.com, therapyhelp.com
Marriage education program: http://poweroftwomarriage.com
Blog on PsychologyToday: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/resolution-not-conflict
TEDX Talk: Lift Depression with these 3 Prescriptions-Without-Pills
In her 45 years of treating with anxiety, depression, anger, rage, and other types of emotional distress, clinical psychologist Dr. Susan Heitler has consistently found that conflicts lie at the core of these and other emotional states. Whether we refer these as bumps in the road, issues, problems, upsets, dilemmas, decisions, fights, or injustices, all of these circumstances can be regarded as conflicts. Whenever you have something you want that you are not getting, or something that you don't want that you are getting, that is a life conflict.
Ordinarily, psychotherapists attempt to provide people in conflict with insights, approaches, and techniques to better manage their conflicts. One of the most promising of those approaches is collaborative conflict resolution. In simple terms, that is a semi-structured approach to manage conflict through dialog, understanding, compromise, and other methods. Unfortunately, however, alienators—especially determined alienators—will usually not agree to participate in collaborative conflict resolution. For one thing, such a collaboration is not consistent with their true goals. For another thing, they may lack the psychological and emotional capacity to do so. For a third thing, if they agree to participate, they tend to undermine and sabotage the process.
By contrast, such skills can prove invaluable to targeted parents and grandparents who must not only deal with one or more alienators, but must also interact with other family members, attorneys, teachers, therapists, parenting coordinators, custody evaluators, guardians ad litem, courts, and others—as well as the alienated children themselves who, except in mild cases, are often disruptive and seldom shy about it.
This presentation is designed to provide practical skills to parents, grandparents, and others who must deal with parental and grandparental alienation. In addition, it is designed to provide some practical techniques for harnessing your inner resources in order to resolve conflicts in a “win win” way while strengthening your ability to handle life's challenges with enhanced confidence and a sense of well-being.
Specific Topics and Questions
1. What are some examples of situations in which collaborative conflict resolution can be helpful—or even lead to a “win win” situation?
2. What are the three steps of conflict resolution?
3. How are conflict resolution and problem-solving similar? How are they different?
4. What are the most important communication skills for collaborative conflict resolution?
5. What are the most important anger management and impulse control skills to keep conflict resolution on track?
6. What are the most common mistakes people make when participating in semi-structured conflict resolution?
Susan Heitler, PhD, is a clinical psychologist. Formerly of Denver, she currently lives in Israel. She has written over a dozen blogposts for psychologytoday.com to educate the general public and psychotherapy professionals about alienation. For a list of these articles, scroll down in the alienation section of her therapyhelp.com website.
In her clinical work, her blogposts on psychologytoday.com (which have attracted over 23 million reads), and her books, Dr. Heitler focuses in particular on how people deal with the conflicts in their lives.
Her book From Conflict to Resolution was the first to bring understandings of the art of win-win conflict resolution into the general psychotherapy literature. In addition, she has written a useful workbook for the general public entitled The Power of Two. Related to the workbook, her website features a module called PowerOfTwoMarriage.com that teaches collaborative communication, anger management, and conflict resolution—skills that sustain both personal well-being and positive family relationships.
Susan Heitler, Ph.D.
1410 Grant St., Denver, CO 80203 303 388-4211
and Raanana, Israel
Email: drheitler@gmail.com
Books, on Amazon Websites: prescriptionswithoutpills.com, therapyhelp.com
Marriage education program: http://poweroftwomarriage.com
Blog on PsychologyToday: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/resolution-not-conflict
TEDX Talk: Lift Depression with these 3 Prescriptions-Without-Pills
Please note by checking the "I agree button here, you understand you do not have permission to record these presentations or share with others. You also have purchased a 1 time playback. These are property of Family Access- Fighting for Children's Rights. We also have submitted copyrights for each of these calls. Once registered, please email me at familyaccessinnc@aol.com with the number you are calling in on and I will give you your instructions. Thanks!
BILL EDDY, LCSW, ESQ
"How to Deal with High Conflict People and High Conflict Situations"
High conflict people tend to display repetitive patterns of behavior that include: 1) preoccupation with blaming others; 2) lots of black-or-white, all-or-none thinking; 3) emotional dysregulation and/or unmanaged emotions; and 4) extreme behaviors or threats. They tend to have traits of one or more Cluster B personality disorders, which means that they have an enduring pattern of inner experience and interpersonal dysfunction which tends to involve family members including children, parents and grandparents. That often includes vindictive, domineering, and intrusive behavior, for example, a tendency to violate interpersonal boundaries. This presentation will first focus on understanding these high conflict personalities, which often include alienating behaviors with their children. We will then focus on four general tips for dealing with any high conflict person, an approach that is called the CARS Method®: Connecting, Analyzing, Responding and Setting Limits. This module will also include “BIFF” communications in writing (where BIFF stands for Brief, Informative, Friendly and Firm), based on Mr. Eddy’s most recent book published in November 2020: BIFF for CoParent Communication: Your Guide to Difficult CoParent Texts, Emails and Social Media Posts. At the conclusion of the presentation, participants will be familiar with a number of practical techniques for dealing with high conflict and other types of difficult people – including those who engage in parental alienation and other abusive behaviors.
Bill Eddy is a family therapist, family lawyer and family mediator. As both an attorney and a therapist, he is internationally known and in high demand for his expertise in dealing with high conflict personalities, giving seminars to organizations about personality disorders all over the world.
Bill is the lead author of Splitting: Protecting Yourself While Divorcing Someone With Borderline or Narcissistic Personality Disorder with Randi Kreger, and also the author of Don’t Alienate the Kids: Raising Resilient Children While Avoiding High Conflict Divorce.
Eddy is the Training Director for High Conflict Institute and speaks around the world to lawyers, judges, therapists and others on dealing with high conflict personalities in legal disputes. He developed the New Ways for Families® method for managing high conflict separations and divorces in family courts with parent training in basic conflict resolution skills that reduce alienation and other extreme behavior. He has handled approximately 50 family court cases involving alienation as a lawyer or high conflict consultant. www.HighConflictInstitute.com.
High conflict people tend to display repetitive patterns of behavior that include: 1) preoccupation with blaming others; 2) lots of black-or-white, all-or-none thinking; 3) emotional dysregulation and/or unmanaged emotions; and 4) extreme behaviors or threats. They tend to have traits of one or more Cluster B personality disorders, which means that they have an enduring pattern of inner experience and interpersonal dysfunction which tends to involve family members including children, parents and grandparents. That often includes vindictive, domineering, and intrusive behavior, for example, a tendency to violate interpersonal boundaries. This presentation will first focus on understanding these high conflict personalities, which often include alienating behaviors with their children. We will then focus on four general tips for dealing with any high conflict person, an approach that is called the CARS Method®: Connecting, Analyzing, Responding and Setting Limits. This module will also include “BIFF” communications in writing (where BIFF stands for Brief, Informative, Friendly and Firm), based on Mr. Eddy’s most recent book published in November 2020: BIFF for CoParent Communication: Your Guide to Difficult CoParent Texts, Emails and Social Media Posts. At the conclusion of the presentation, participants will be familiar with a number of practical techniques for dealing with high conflict and other types of difficult people – including those who engage in parental alienation and other abusive behaviors.
Bill Eddy is a family therapist, family lawyer and family mediator. As both an attorney and a therapist, he is internationally known and in high demand for his expertise in dealing with high conflict personalities, giving seminars to organizations about personality disorders all over the world.
Bill is the lead author of Splitting: Protecting Yourself While Divorcing Someone With Borderline or Narcissistic Personality Disorder with Randi Kreger, and also the author of Don’t Alienate the Kids: Raising Resilient Children While Avoiding High Conflict Divorce.
Eddy is the Training Director for High Conflict Institute and speaks around the world to lawyers, judges, therapists and others on dealing with high conflict personalities in legal disputes. He developed the New Ways for Families® method for managing high conflict separations and divorces in family courts with parent training in basic conflict resolution skills that reduce alienation and other extreme behavior. He has handled approximately 50 family court cases involving alienation as a lawyer or high conflict consultant. www.HighConflictInstitute.com.
Please note by checking the "I agree button here, you understand you do not have permission to record these presentations or share with others. You also have purchased a 1 time playback. These are property of Family Access- Fighting for Children's Rights. We also have submitted copyrights for each of these calls. Once registered, please email me at familyaccessinnc@aol.com with the number you are calling in on and I will give you your instructions. Thanks!
Ashish Joshi, LL.M
"Enough Already! Suing for Damage$ to Make Alienators and their Enablers Pay"
In a case involving parental alienation, the number one goal is to protect the child from the ongoing psychological abuse. But what do you do once the child’s wellbeing is safeguarded and the child is away from the toxic influence of the alienating parent? Or, as in some unfortunate but sadly not uncommon scenarios, the child is beyond the reach of the courts due to emancipation or other reason—what do you do then? It is very difficult if not impossible for courts to change the pathological mindset of an alienator, especially if the alienator has undiagnosed personality disorders. But what courts can do is to ensure that actions have consequences.
Parental alienating behaviors devastate a parent (or grandparent’s) relationship with the child. This loss of relationship often results in severe emotional distress, if not outright trauma for the rejected parent (or grandparents). In many cases the aggrieved & targeted parent (or grandparents) can bring a legal action seeking money damages for attorney fees, therapy costs, and ancillary litigation costs that he / they were compelled to spend to defend themselves against false allegations and to protect their relationship with the child. In addition, the targeted parent / grandparent can also sue for money damages to compensate them for the mental or emotional distress that they suffered due to parental alienation.
And it’s not just about making alienators pay for their behaviors. The professionals who enable alienation—intentionally or through gross negligence or reckless conduct—should face consequences for for their actions (or omissions). Guardians ad litem, minor’s counsel, child’s therapist, social workers...all are accountable to their respective rules of professional conduct and codes of ethics. Unless checked, these professionals will continue to do untold damage to countless families through their incompetence, negligence, or simply callous indifference.
Parental alienation is child abuse. And abusive behavior should neither be condoned nor excused. It’s time to make the alienators and their enablers PAY for their abusive actions. This presentation will discuss legal remedies that are available to targeted parents and grandparents when seeking redress and monetary damages for the severe financial and emotional distress that they have suffered due to parental alienation.
Ashish Joshi is the owner and managing partner of Joshi: Attorneys + Counselors. He serves as the lead counsel in high-stakes, complex family law and divorce cases. He has counseled and/or represented clients in state and federal courts across the United States and internationally, including in India, United Kingdom, Canada, Luxembourg, Japan, Hong Kong, British Virgin Islands, and China. Mr. Joshi has been admitted to the Bar of the Supreme Court of the United States, state bars of New York, Michigan, the District of Columbia, and Gujarat, India. Mr. Joshi serves as a senior editor of Litigation, the flagship journal of the ABA’s Section of Litigation, and on the advisory board of The Champion, the journal published by the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL). He is the author of the forthcoming book, Litigating Parental Alienation.
In a case involving parental alienation, the number one goal is to protect the child from the ongoing psychological abuse. But what do you do once the child’s wellbeing is safeguarded and the child is away from the toxic influence of the alienating parent? Or, as in some unfortunate but sadly not uncommon scenarios, the child is beyond the reach of the courts due to emancipation or other reason—what do you do then? It is very difficult if not impossible for courts to change the pathological mindset of an alienator, especially if the alienator has undiagnosed personality disorders. But what courts can do is to ensure that actions have consequences.
Parental alienating behaviors devastate a parent (or grandparent’s) relationship with the child. This loss of relationship often results in severe emotional distress, if not outright trauma for the rejected parent (or grandparents). In many cases the aggrieved & targeted parent (or grandparents) can bring a legal action seeking money damages for attorney fees, therapy costs, and ancillary litigation costs that he / they were compelled to spend to defend themselves against false allegations and to protect their relationship with the child. In addition, the targeted parent / grandparent can also sue for money damages to compensate them for the mental or emotional distress that they suffered due to parental alienation.
And it’s not just about making alienators pay for their behaviors. The professionals who enable alienation—intentionally or through gross negligence or reckless conduct—should face consequences for for their actions (or omissions). Guardians ad litem, minor’s counsel, child’s therapist, social workers...all are accountable to their respective rules of professional conduct and codes of ethics. Unless checked, these professionals will continue to do untold damage to countless families through their incompetence, negligence, or simply callous indifference.
Parental alienation is child abuse. And abusive behavior should neither be condoned nor excused. It’s time to make the alienators and their enablers PAY for their abusive actions. This presentation will discuss legal remedies that are available to targeted parents and grandparents when seeking redress and monetary damages for the severe financial and emotional distress that they have suffered due to parental alienation.
Ashish Joshi is the owner and managing partner of Joshi: Attorneys + Counselors. He serves as the lead counsel in high-stakes, complex family law and divorce cases. He has counseled and/or represented clients in state and federal courts across the United States and internationally, including in India, United Kingdom, Canada, Luxembourg, Japan, Hong Kong, British Virgin Islands, and China. Mr. Joshi has been admitted to the Bar of the Supreme Court of the United States, state bars of New York, Michigan, the District of Columbia, and Gujarat, India. Mr. Joshi serves as a senior editor of Litigation, the flagship journal of the ABA’s Section of Litigation, and on the advisory board of The Champion, the journal published by the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL). He is the author of the forthcoming book, Litigating Parental Alienation.
Please note by checking the "I agree button here, you understand you do not have permission to record these presentations or share with others. You also have purchased a 1 time playback. These are property of Family Access- Fighting for Children's Rights. We also have submitted copyrights for each of these calls. Once registered, please email me at familyaccessinnc@aol.com with the number you are calling in on and I will give you your instructions. Thanks!
"HOW TO COPE WITH THE HOLIDAYS"
As those of us who are alienated from our precious family members, we know all too well how difficult the holidays are. This call has 8 of the experts who shared with us their thoughts on how to cope with the holidays. This was the absolute best "How to Cope" calls we have ever had.
Our guest speakers for this call were Dr. John Killinger, Dr. J Michael Bone, Linda Gottlieb, Dr. Amy Baker, Dr. Colleen Murray, Dr. Steven Miller, Robert Hoffman, and Dr. Mark Mosk.
Please note by checking the "I agree button here, you understand you do not have permission to record these presentations or share with others. You also have purchased a 1 time playback. These are property of Family Access- Fighting for Children's Rights. We also have submitted copyrights for each of these calls. Once registered, please email me at familyaccessinnc@aol.com with the number you are calling in on and I will give you your instructions. Thanks!
Linda Gottlieb, LMFT, LCSW - R
"ESCAPING THE THERAPY TRAP: MAKING CONTRAINDICATED TRADITIONAL REUNIFICATION WORK FOR YOU"This presentation by Linda Gottlieb deals with how to select a therapist who is a specialist in alienation; identifying the flaws in traditional reunification therapy; how to get the non-specialist fired; and how to turn the traditional reunification therapy you typically get stuck with it to work for you.
Traditional reunification therapy is generally ordered by the court to treat seriously disrupted and/or damaged parent-child relationships, even though traditional reunification therapy is contraindicated to treat severe and many moderate cases of alienation. Contraindicated means forbidden. Although the courts typically order one successive round of traditional therapy after another, it rarely dawns on the court and and on other professionals that is not the therapist who was the reason for the therapies' failure- it is the intervention itself that is the problem. This presentation is designed to help alienated parents and grandparents and their lawyers being proactive in the process of selecting the appropriate treatment intervention initially, and if unsuccessful, how to make a case for a motion to be filed for an appropriate treatment intervention. Linda is a New York State Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Licensed Clinical Social Worker who is also a published author on family therapy and parental alienation. Linda has been frequently cited and referenced by other authors and experts in the field. Linda was trained by the world-renowned, highly respected child psychiatrist, Salvador Minuchin. After she completed her training at the Minuchin Center for the Family, Linda served on the Center’s faculty from 2003-2007 where she trained child psychiatrists, psychologists, and other mental health professionals who wished to learn the techniques of Dr. Minuchin’s structural family therapy. Linda’s professional services to 5000 children and their families in multiple settings and in multiple roles span 50 years. She began her work with 3000 adjudicated abused and/or neglected children in New York’s foster care system. Subsequent to this experience, Linda transitioned in 1994 into the mental health system at South Shore Child Guidance Center in Freeport, Long Island where she designed, implemented, and supervised a home-based crisis intervention program to prevent the psychiatric hospitalization of a child. Linda additionally accepted referrals and appointments from local family courts to provide family counseling and parent coordination services to parents who were engaged in adversarial custody conflicts. In 2003, Linda focused her practice almost exclusively on helping parents settle their custody conflicts in the best interests of their children. After writing her 2012 book on parental alienation, Linda further concentrated her clinical practice on the sub-specialty of parental alienation-a highly dysfunctional family dynamic that is a form of child psychological abuse. Based upon what Linda had learned from the clinical literature, from colleagues who are leading experts in the field of alienation, and from her extensive evidence-based practice with approximately 650 alienated children and with approximately 1000 children whose parents were undergoing separation/divorce but who did not experience alienation, Linda developed a specialized reunification intervention to treat unjustifiably severed/severely damaged parent-child relationships. The intervention had proven to be highly successful—even in cases in which the severed parent-child relationships exceeded 4 years. In 2015, Linda further refined her specialized reunification intervention, and it became the treatment protocol she now employs at Turning Points for Families, her 4-day intensive intervention to jump-start unjustified severed/severely damaged parent-child relationships. Linda further provides supervision in alienation and estrangement to custody evaluators, clinicians, forensic evaluators, and to other professionals who intervene in custody cases in which alienation is alleged. Linda also maintains a small practice testifying as an expert witness in family dynamics, alienation, estrangement, family therapy, and child abuse. Please note by checking the "I agree button here, you understand you do not have permission to record these presentations or share with others. You also have purchased a 1 time playback. These are property of Family Access- Fighting for Children's Rights. We also have submitted copyrights for each of these calls. Once registered, please email me at familyaccessinnc@aol.com with the number you are calling in on and I will give you your instructions. Thanks! Robert Hoffman,
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"UNCOVERING THE ALIENATED CHILD'S FEELINGS AND NEEDS"This presentation will educate the alienated parent about techniques for uncovering your child’s genuine, positive feelings for you with the goal of expanding your ability to inform the numerous professionals who have become coopted by the alienating your—just as your child did. Exactly as a cult member mimics the words of the cult leader, brainwashed children mimic the words of their alienating parent. Alienated children have become disconnected from their own thoughts, beliefs, and feelings. Their message to their therapist and attorney is therefore disassociated from what they really feel—but nonetheless accepted as belonging to the child—with tragic results.
Words are commonly not the most reliable medium for conveying accurate messages and genuine feelings. And yet the child’s words are accepted by their therapist and attorney to have prima facie value. It is irrational to place so much weight on verbal expressions: we have so many truisms about the unreliability of words: “Actions speak louder than words; people will doubt what you say but believe what you do; put your money where your mouth is, speak softly but carry a big stick, (well, OK!) And especially when it comes to alienated children, their words describe a fictional world; their expressions are frequently delusional, and their silly and ridiculous comments would be laughable were it not for the gravity of the situation. Based on the above, traditional talk therapy—play therapy for younger children—fail to uncover the alienated child’s true feelings and beliefs. Traditional, non-alienation aware therapists, in fact, reinforce the alienated child’s distorted beliefs and imagined feelings. This is not helpful! Invariably, alienated parents become extremely frustrated by and infuriated with the very professional who is supposed to improve their relationships with their alienated child but, instead, makes matters intensely worse. In this presentation, I will discuss the many ways that traditional therapies and traditional reunification therapy fail to improve the parent-child relationship and actually makes things catastrophically worse. I will suggest alternative techniques to uncover the alienated child’s genuine feelings and beliefs. And I will discuss effective ways to reestablish the severed parent-child relationship. Armed with this knowledge, alienated parents will be hopefully able to educate their child’s therapist about the many anti-therapeutic interventions that occur in traditional therapy—even in traditional reunification therapy. In many states, the child is assigned her/his own attorney—just what an alienated child needs to further facilitate her/his inappropriate empowerment! As opposed to law guardians and guardian ad litmus—who are obliged to represent the best interests of the child—the child’s attorney is obligated to represent her/his wishes. Well, it is no mystery what a brainwashed child is going to wish for! In this segment, I will share with you the circumstances under which there is an exception to the mandate of the child’s attorney to represent his client’s wishes. This exception allows the attorney to substitute judgment: that is, represent the child best interests instead of the child’s wishes. Linda is a New York State Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Licensed Clinical Social Worker who is also a published author on family therapy and parental alienation. Linda has been frequently cited and referenced by other authors and experts in the field. Linda was trained by the world-renowned, highly respected child psychiatrist, Salvador Minuchin. After she completed her training at the Minuchin Center for the Family, Linda served on the Center’s faculty from 2003-2007 where she trained child psychiatrists, psychologists, and other mental health professionals who wished to learn the techniques of Dr. Minuchin’s structural family therapy. Linda’s professional services to 5000 children and their families in multiple settings and in multiple roles span 50 years. She began her work with 3000 adjudicated abused and/or neglected children in New York’s foster care system. Subsequent to this experience, Linda transitioned in 1994 into the mental health system at South Shore Child Guidance Center in Freeport, Long Island where she designed, implemented, and supervised a home-based crisis intervention program to prevent the psychiatric hospitalization of a child. Linda additionally accepted referrals and appointments from local family courts to provide family counseling and parent coordination services to parents who were engaged in adversarial custody conflicts. In 2003, Linda focused her practice almost exclusively on helping parents settle their custody conflicts in the best interests of their children. After writing her 2012 book on parental alienation, Linda further concentrated her clinical practice on the sub-specialty of parental alienation-a highly dysfunctional family dynamic that is a form of child psychological abuse. Based upon what Linda had learned from the clinical literature, from colleagues who are leading experts in the field of alienation, and from her extensive evidence-based practice with approximately 650 alienated children and with approximately 1000 children whose parents were undergoing separation/divorce but who did not experience alienation, Linda developed a specialized reunification intervention to treat unjustifiably severed/severely damaged parent-child relationships. The intervention had proven to be highly successful—even in cases in which the severed parent-child relationships exceeded 4 years. In 2015, Linda further refined her specialized reunification intervention, and it became the treatment protocol she now employs at Turning Points for Families, her 4-day intensive intervention to jump-start unjustified severed/severely damaged parent-child relationships. Linda further provides supervision in alienation and estrangement to custody evaluators, clinicians, forensic evaluators, and to other professionals who intervene in custody cases in which alienation is alleged. Linda also maintains a small practice testifying as an expert witness in family dynamics, alienation, estrangement, family therapy, and child abuse. Please note by checking the "I agree button here, you understand you do not have permission to record these presentations or share with others. You also have purchased a 1 time playback. These are property of Family Access- Fighting for Children's Rights. We also have submitted copyrights for each of these calls. Once registered, please email me at familyaccessinnc@aol.com with the number you are calling in on and I will give you your instructions. Thanks! |
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"THE PRACTICAL NUTS AND BOLTS OF PREPARING THE TARGETED PARENT AND GRANDPARENT HOW TO TESTIFY IN THE COURTROOM"
Robert Hoffman intends to take many of the techniques discussed by Dr. Steven Miller in the event on April 11, 2021 regarding communication skills and build upon and expand those and other topics as they relate to courtroom testimony. The goal will be to promote and enhance the effectiveness of courtroom testimony by targeted parents and grandparents. Robert Hoffman is Board certified in family law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. He is also a member of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. Robert has been practicing family law for 35 years. He has been successful in handling as lead counsel numerous bench and jury trials and negotiating highly contested child custody battles, high net worth divorces, complex financial disputes and cases involving parental alienation. He successfully represented Kelly Jones against Alex Jones (Infowars fame) in a jury trial in Austin, Texas in 2016. He is well-known and specializes in trying complex cases. Robert enjoys working closely with and advocating for people at a critical time in their lives. Robert has been consistently included in Texas Super Lawyers 2003-2019 and Best Lawyers US 2008-2020. Please note by checking the "I agree" button here, you understand you do not have permission to record these presentations or share with others. You also have purchased a 1 time playback. These are property of Family Access- Fighting for Children's Rights. We also have submitted copyrights for each of these calls. Once registered, please email me at familyaccessinnc@aol.com with the number you are calling in on and I will give you your instructions. Thanks! "HOW TO LITIGATE AND OTHERWISE MANAGE A CASE OF PARENTAL ALIENATION"Among other things, Mr. Hoffman will address how targeted parents can avoid certain predictable pitfalls. Specific topics will include direct examination of experts for the targeted parents, cross-examination of experts for the alienating parents, and both direct and cross examinations of court-appointed experts including custody evaluators, psychological or psychiatric evaluators, guardians ad litem, visitation supervisors, parenting coordinators, and others. Another key theme will be how to distinguish between science and pseudoscience in the courtroom. Because Mr. Hoffman will focus on basic principles – including practical considerations for dealing with alienating parents and also court-appointed professionals – this is likely to be extraordinarily helpful not only to litigating parents and their attorneys, but to alienated parents and grandparents in general.
Robert Hoffman is Board certified in family law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. He is also a member of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. Robert has been practicing family law for 33 years. He has been successful in handling as lead counsel numerous bench and jury trials and negotiating highly contested child custody battles, high net worth divorces, complex financial disputes and cases involving parental alienation. He successfully represented Kelly Jones against Alex Jones (Infowars fame) in a jury trial in Austin, Texas in 2016. He is well-known and specializes in trying complex cases. Robert enjoys working closely with and advocating for people at a critical time in their lives. Robert has been consistently included in Texas Super Lawyers 2003-2019 and Best Lawyers. Please note by checking the "I agree" button here, you understand you do not have permission to record these presentations or share with others. You also have purchased a 1 time playback. These are property of Family Access- Fighting for Children's Rights. We also have submitted copyrights for each of these calls. Once registered, please email me at familyaccessinnc@aol.com with the number you are calling in on and I will give you your instructions. Thanks! William Bernet, M. D.
"THE FIVE-FACTOR MODEL FOR THE DIAGNOSIS OF PARENTAL ALIENATION"Since parental alienation (PA) was identified in the 1980’s, the topic has been criticized and even scorned for several reasons. Part of the problem has been the inconsistent terminology used by researchers, practitioners, and other writers—including “parental alienation syndrome,” “parental alienation,” “parental alienation disorder,” and various other terms. This concept has also been criticized because there has not been a consensus among professionals as to how to identify or diagnose this serious mental condition. However, research has been conducted in recent years, which has made it possible to create a systematic way to diagnose PA, which we call the Five-Factor Model.
In this Family Access presentation, Dr. Bernet will explain the Five-Factor Model for the diagnosis of PA, which consists of the following: Factor One: the child manifests contact resistance or refusal, i.e., avoids a relationship with one of the parents. Factor Two: the presence of a prior positive relationship between the child and the now rejected parent. Factor Three: the absence of abuse, neglect, or seriously deficient parenting on the part of the now rejected parent. Factor Four: the use of multiple alienating behaviors on the part of the favored parent. Factor Five: the child exhibits many of the eight behavioral manifestations of alienation. This topic will be of interest to parents and grandparents, since it is reassuring for them to know that there is an evidence-based way to identify and diagnose this mental condition. This topic will be of particular interest to clinicians, so that they can identify PA in a consistent, systematic manner. And this topic is important for legal professionals, since the Five-Factor Model is a good way to explain PA in legal briefs and in court. Bottom line: In order to advance research, public education, and legislation regarding PA, we all need to be on the same page. We need to use the same terminology and the have the same criteria for the identification of PA. Clinicians, forensic practitioners, legal professionals, child advocates, and parents should try to use consistent terminology and criteria when they discuss and write about this topic. Dr. William Bernet, a graduate of Holy Cross College and Harvard Medical School, is a professor emeritus at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. He is board certified in general psychiatry, child psychiatry, and forensic psychiatry. As an expert in forensic psychiatry, Dr. Bernet has testified about 300 times in 22 states. He has written professional articles and book chapters on a variety of subjects, including: group and individual therapy with children and adolescents; humor in psychotherapy; forensic child psychiatry; child maltreatment; true and false allegations of abuse; satanic ritual abuse; reincarnation; child custody and visitation; parental alienation; testimony regarding behavioral genomics; and risk management. In 2007, Dr. Bernet and Judge Don R. Ash published Children of Divorce: A Practical Guide for Parents, Therapists, Attorneys, and Judges. Dr. Bernet edited Parental Alienation, DSM-5, and ICD-11, which was published in 2010. Dr. Bernet and his colleagues edited Parental Alienation: The Handbook for Mental Health and Legal Professionals, which was published in 2013. Most recently, Dr. Bernet and Dr. Demosthenes Lorandos have edited a new book, Parental Alienation—Science and Law, to be published in 2020. Dr. Bernet was the founder and first president of the Parental Alienation Study Group (PASG), which now has about 700 members from 55 countries. Family Access participants may want to join PASG. If you want to do that, go to the website (www.pasg.info) and send a message through the Contact Us link. Please note by checking the "I agree" button here, you understand you do not have permission to record these presentations or share with others. You also have purchased a 1 time playback. These are property of Family Access- Fighting for Children's Rights. We also have submitted copyrights for each of these calls. Once registered, please email me at familyaccessinnc@aol.com with the number you are calling in on and I will give you your instructions. Thanks! "MISINFORMATION AND FAKE NEWS REGARDING PARENTAL ALIENATION"Since parental alienation syndrome (PAS) was identified in the 1980’s, there has been a remarkable amount of misinformation about this topic. This misinformation has been published in professional journals, presented at conferences, and distributed through internet websites and blogs. This false information continues to be propagated by individuals who hope to discredit the concepts of PAS and parental alienation (PA). It is not known whether those individuals act out of ignorance or knowingly spread misinformation regarding PA/PAS, a serious mental condition. This proliferation of misinformation regarding PA may be unique in the history of psychiatry and psychology.
In this presentation, Dr. Bernet will relate a number of examples of published misinformation regarding PA/PAS. Each case study will include: the false statements that were published in the medical or legal professional literature; the names of the individuals who made the false statements; and the steps that were taken to refute the falsehoods and correct the record. Dr. Bernet will explain what participants can do to counteract the false information that they see or hear. Here are several examples of false information regarding PA/PAS, which will be addressed: In his regular column in Clinical Psychiatry News (2003), Paul Fink, M.D., referred to PAS as a “bit of junk science invented by … Dr. Richard A. Gardner.” He went on to say that father’s rights groups, “who don’t like to be interfered with when they are sexually abusing their children,” petitioned the DSM-5 Task Force to include PAS in DSM-5. Protests were written to the editor of Clinical Psychiatry News, and Fink subsequently admitted the reality of PA and apologized for his insulting statements. A book, Abuse against Women and Children (2013), was published in Sweden by Christian Diesen and Eva Diesen. The authors stated that PAS was “a quasi-scientific theory” and that Richard Gardner was “an adherent of pedophilia.” Formal complaints were submitted to Norstedts Juridik (the publisher) and Stockholm University (the employer of Professor Christian Diesen). Vincenzo Puppo, M.D., a physician in Tunisia, wrote a letter to the editor of the Journal of Forensic Sciences (2018), in which he made false statements about an article recently published in that journal. Puppo claimed that PAS “is unknown in medical settings, unquoted in medical books.” His false statements were refuted by a response published in the Journal of Forensic Sciences, back-to-back with the letter from Puppo. Robert Geffner, Ph.D., was one of the authors of Family Evaluation in Custody Litigation (2018), a book published by the American Psychological Association. The book made several problematic statements, including: “No evaluator should base conclusions or recommendations on [PAS].” Formal complaints were submitted to the leadership of the American Psychological Association. The U.S. House of Representatives considered H. Con. Res. 72 (2017), a resolution that referred to “scientifically unsound theories such as parental alienation syndrome.” Many child advocates contacted their representatives and successfully campaigned to have that untrue statement removed from the resolution. Bottom line: We live in an age of widespread misinformation. Clinicians, forensic practitioners, legal professionals, child advocates, and parents should stay vigilant when they read articles or listen to presentations about PA, PAS, and other topics that might be considered controversial. Dr. William Bernet, a graduate of Holy Cross College and Harvard Medical School, is a professor emeritus at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. He is board certified in general psychiatry, child psychiatry, and forensic psychiatry. As an expert in forensic psychiatry, Dr. Bernet has testified about 300 times in 22 states. He has written professional articles and book chapters on a variety of subjects, including: group and individual therapy with children and adolescents; humor in psychotherapy; forensic child psychiatry; child maltreatment; true and false allegations of abuse; satanic ritual abuse; reincarnation; child custody and visitation; parental alienation; testimony regarding behavioral genomics; and risk management. In 2007, Dr. Bernet and Judge Don R. Ash published Children of Divorce: A Practical Guide for Parents, Therapists, Attorneys, and Judges. Dr. Bernet edited Parental Alienation, DSM-5, and ICD-11, which was published in 2010. Dr. Bernet and his colleagues edited Parental Alienation: The Handbook for Mental Health and Legal Professionals, which was published in 2013. Most recently, Dr. Bernet and Dr. Demosthenes Lorandos have edited a new book, Parental Alienation—Science and Law, to be published in 2020. Dr. Bernet was the founder and first president of the Parental Alienation Study Group (PASG), which now has about 700 members from 55 countries. Family Access participants may want to join PASG. If you want to do that, go to the website (www.pasg.info) and send a message through the Contact Us link. Please note by checking the "I agree" button here, you understand you do not have permission to record these calls or share with others. You also have purchased a 1 time playback. These are property of Family Access- Fighting for Children's Rights. We also have submitted copyrights for each of these calls. Once registered, please email me at familyaccessinnc@aol.com with the number you are calling in on and I will give you your call in instructions. Thanks!
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Amy Baker,
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