Dr. Warshak’s Articles, Pamphlets, and Monographs
on Alienated Children
The items below are presented in response to numerous requests for descriptions and copies of Dr. Warshak’s written work and recorded lectures. Some of the following items have been published in academic journals or books and may be obtained directly from each publisher for a fee. For some of those items, the fee charged is not for the items themselves, but for the service of providing these descriptions and processing the requests. (If we did not charge a fee we would be unable to provide the courtesy of accommodating such requests without incurring too great of an expense and demand on our time.)
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Parental Alienation, Parental Alienation Syndrome, and Alienated Children
Set of Three Articles on Family Bridges: A Workshop for Troubled and Alienated Parent-Child Relationships™
The following three articles, items CR33, CR34, and CR35, describe the program for severely alienated children and adolescents that has captured world-wide attention, and correct misconceptions about the program. The articles can be purchased as a set, or individually.
Order now for delivery in February 2010.
CR32, set of three journal articles (if purchased individually, $24.45)
Price: $21.95
Family Bridges: Using Insights From Social Science To Reconnect Parents and Alienated Children
This article is the first in a refereed journal on the program for severely alienated children that has captured world-wide attention. The article passed a rigorous peer review process and provides the first detailed account of Family Bridges: A Workshop for Troubled and Alienated Parent-Child Relationships. We received more than 100 requests throughout the world for advanced copies of this article before it was even published! This groundbreaking article became the centerpiece of an entire issue of a professional journal.
The article examines the benefits, drawbacks, controversies, and ethical issues regarding various options available to courts and parents in responding to alienated children, including reunification therapy, custodial transfers, boarding schools, and suspending attempts to repair damaged parent-child relationships.
Next, the article describes an innovative educational and experiential program, Family Bridges: A Workshop for Troubled and Alienated Parent-Child Relationships, that draws on social science research to help severely and unreasonably alienated children and adolescents and recovered abducted children adjust to court orders that place them with a parent they claim to hate or fear. The program’s goals, principles, structure, procedures, syllabus, limitations, and outcomes are presented.
The article reports on Dr. Warshak’s study of the outcomes of the first 12 families in which he was involved with Family Bridges. The sample was composed of 23 children, 8 of whom were 14 or older. The children had been alienated an average of 28 months. Seven of the rejected parents were mothers, five were fathers. At the workshop’s conclusion, 22 of 23 children, all of whom had failed experiences with counseling prior to enrollment, restored a positive relationship with the rejected parent. At follow-up, 18 of the 22 children maintained their gains; those who relapsed had premature contact with the alienating parent. 34 journal pages with 99 endnotes and citations to 79 social science and legal references.
Order now for delivery in February 2010.
CR33, journal article
Price: $14.95
Helping Alienated Children With Family Bridges: Practice, Research, and the Pursuit of Humbition
This article briefly summarizes and responds to feedback offered by Dr. Joan Kelly regarding Family Bridges: A Workshop for Troubled and Alienated Parent-Child Relationships. The article emphasize principles that promote an educational atmosphere as opposed to a therapeutic one, and the court’s role in contributing to successful interventions with severely alienated children. Among the considerations discussed are: working with favored parents, economic comparisons of Family Bridges with counseling approaches, modifying the program for use in prevention and with milder cases of alienation, and issues related to training additional team leaders and conducting outcome research. 6 journal pages with citations to 12 references.
Order now for delivery in February 2010.
CR34, journal article
Price: $3.75
Alienating Audiences from Innovation: The Perils of Polemics, Ideology, and Innuendo
This article discusses the importance of balancing careful scrutiny with openness to new ideas when judging innovative programs like Family Bridges. Dr. Warshak proposes that judicial responses to children who reject a parent are best governed by a multi-factor individualized approach. He shows how a presumption that allows children and one parent to regulate the other parent’s access to the children is unsupported by research. A custody decision based solely on the severity of alienation leaves children vulnerable to intensification of efforts to poison their affections toward a parent. Dr. Warshak concludes that concern with possible short-term distress for some children who are required to repair a damaged relationship should not blind us to the long-term trauma of doing nothing. Professionals are urged to minimize the infusion of polemics, rigid ideology, and rumors when offering opinions with inadequate information, particularly public statements that risk harming children. 10 journal pages with citations to 28 references.
Order now for delivery in February 2010.
CR35, journal article
Price: $5.75
Parental Alienation Syndrome in Court
Mental health professionals increasingly diagnose Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS) in child custody matters. Critics of this diagnostic label, however, believe that it lacks an adequate scientific foundation and that testimony regarding this diagnosis, its course, and its treatment should be inadmissible.
This monograph, originally prepared as a chapter for a manual on expert witness testimony published in 1999 by the State Bar of Texas, examines the issues behind this controversy from a social science and legal perspective. Though written for attorneys, expert witnesses will also find it valuable in preparing for testimony and anticipating cross-examination. The monograph is free of jargon, so it will also help parents who are the targets of alienation or who have been falsely accused of promulgating parental alienation syndrome.
The monograph begins with a general description of parental alienation syndrome and its symptoms, recommended treatment, and research on the efficacy of alternative interventions by mental health professionals and courts.
The next section presents a critical analysis of such common issues as:
- Is parental alienation syndrome a distinct a distinct phenomenon?
- Has parental alienation syndrome passed peer review?
- Reliability and validity of parental alienation syndrome
- Does the concept of parental alienation syndrome unfairly blame one parent for family dysfunction?
- and, perhaps the most controversial issue: Should children be forced to spend time with the target parent?
A section on case law provides some citations regarding parental alienation syndrome testimony, and discusses statutes and case law regarding sanctions for visitation refusal, and articles by attorneys and judges on parental alienation syndrome. The monograph concludes with specific suggestions for proposing and opposing admission of parental alienation syndrome testimony, and a discussion of seven potential errors in diagnosing parental alienation syndrome.
This document contains 86 footnotes from a total of 58 different references, many of which can be obtained free of charge from the Internet addresses provided. A valuable resource for anyone concerned with parental alienation syndrome issues.
CR15, monograph, 52 pages (8 x 11)
Price: $14.75
Remarriage as a Trigger of Parental Alienation Syndrome
Maladaptive efforts to adjust to marriage subsequent to divorce (or breakup, in the case of never-married parents) can provoke or exacerbate parental alienation syndrome. The remarried parent, the other parent, the stepparent, and the child each may contribute to the disturbance. Underlying dynamics include jealousy, narcissistic injury, desire for revenge, the wish to erase the ex-spouse from the child's life in order to "make room" for the stepparent, competitive feelings between the ex-spouse and stepparent, the new couple's attempt to unite around a common enemy and avoid recognition of conflicts in the marriage, the child's attempt to resolve inner conflict, and parent-child boundary violations. Dr. Warshak discusses these dynamics, illustrates them with case examples, and offers suggestions for treatment.
CR17, journal article
Limited time only price reduction: $4.75
Obstacles and Controversies in the Pursuit of Children's Best Interests
This pamphlet is an expanded version of an enthusiastically received keynote address delivered by Dr. Warshak in Arizona in 2000. It proposes the types of reforms necessary for parents, professionals, and courts to better define the best interests of children.
Dr. Warshak calls for more diligence in custody evaluations and in reviews of the literature. He criticizes policies which automatically discourage joint custody when divorcing parents are in conflict. He demonstrates how false beliefs which harm children come to be accepted as established authoritative wisdom.
The discussion covers a wide ground, including Dr. Warshak's views on relocation, parental alienation syndrome, and overnight access between young children and their parents. He proposes a new paradigm of collaboration in research, custody evaluations, and the legal process of divorce. The pamphlet closes on an optimistic note, with predictions of specific areas in which custody practices and policy will improve.
CR20, pamphlet
Price: $5.75
Current Controversies Regarding Parental Alienation Syndrome
This work draws on 88 references to discuss the main criticisms of the term parental alienation syndrome. The article discusses alternative formulations of the disturbance in which children become irrationally
alienated from a parent, including a new formulation by Dr. Joan Kelly and Dr. Janet Johnston.
Those who anticipate using or defending against the term parental alienation syndrome (PAS) in court will find the discussion of the admissibility of PAS especially helpful. This is the first article in which Dr. Warshak explicitly addresses the status of parental alienation syndrome (PAS) in light of the standards promulgated by the U. S. Supreme Court decision in Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc. 31 journal pages
CR23, journal article
Price: $12.75
Misdiagnosis of Parental Alienation Syndrome
This article describes and illustrates three general categories of situations that superficially resemble parental alienation syndrome and can be mistaken for it. In addition to helping to reduce the incidence of misdiagnosis of parental alienation syndrome, it can assist those who are opposing the use of parental alienation syndrome in court as well as those who are proposing its use.
Those who believe that a child is suffering from parental alienation syndrome should be prepared to demonstrate that the situations described in this article do not apply to the child in question. 22 journal pages
CR24, journal article
Price: $12.75
Bringing Sense to Parental Alienation: A Look at the Disputes and the Evidence
This article, published in a prestigious law journal, is Dr. Warshak's most thorough examination to date of different ideas about pathological alienation and its status in custody litigation. It examines a continuum of opinions about parental alienation with reference to relevant scientific literature and is an attempt to introduce rationality in an area that suffers from polemics and politics.
Professionals agree that children can become irrationally alienated from a parent but disagree about what to call this problem and about how to conceptualize it. Dr. Warshak proposes that a conceptualization that emphasizes the influence of the favored parent, such as Parental Alienation Syndrome, has intellectual and scientific roots in developmental and cognitive psychology, particularly research on children's suggestibility. A conceptualization that emphasizes the role of multiple interrelated factors enjoys support in family systems theory that regards children's problematic behavior as an expression of family-wide dysfunction.
The article reviews available studies and concludes that the current status of research supports the prevailing opinion among mental health professionals that the court's authority is a key element in successful remedies of severe alienation. The article describes the possible advantages of the term "pathological alienation" and offers other suggestions for circumventing unproductive disputes and focusing on the welfare of families.
This article is essential for any parent, attorney, or mental health professional proposing or opposing evidence dealing with parental alienation. 29 journal pages.
CR27, journal article
Price: $9.75
Payoffs and Pitfalls of Listening to Children
Children's perspectives can enlighten decisions regarding custody and parenting plans, but different opinions exist about how best to involve children in the decision-making process. This journal article discusses why most procedures for soliciting children's preferences do not reliably elicit information on their best interests and do not give children a meaningful voice in decision- making.
Instead these procedures give children forums in which to takes sides in their parents' disputes. Dr. Warshak shows how, in addition to hearing an individual child's voice, decision makers can use the collective voice of children, as revealed in research on joint custody, overnight contacts, and relocation, to help understand what children might say about these issues with the hindsight of maturity and in the absence of parental pressure, loyalty conflicts, inhibitions, and limitations in perspective and articulation.
This article will interest parents and legal and mental health professionals who must decide how much weight to place on a child's stated preferences. It is essential for cases in which children align themselves with one parent's position in a custody dispute. Includes citations to 113 references.
CR28, journal article
Price: $9.75
Benefits and Hazards of Involving Children in Custody Decisions (DVD)
On this DVD, see and hear Dr. Warshak deliver what he considers one of his finest speeches. This entertaining and very well-received keynote address was delivered to an audience of judges, attorneys, and mental health professionals.
Dr. Warshak explains why and how children can make important contributions to custody decisions. But he cautions professionals about the risks of damage to children and their families when children participate in custody decisions. Dr. Warshak presents more than a dozen hazards that should be considered before eliciting and placing weight on children's and adolescent's stated preferences in custody disputes. He highlights the harm for the family when a child publically takes a stand against a parent and he illustrates the manner in which therapists can involve children without placing them in the middle of their parents' conflicts. Dr. Warshak then introduces the concept of the "collective voice of children" to describe how research can bring children's voices into custody decisions while sparing children the pitfalls of direct participation.
CR30, DVD (1 hour: 48 minute speech/10 minute Q&A)
Price: $9.75 NOW AVAILABLE AGAIN
Social Science and Parental Alienation: Examining the Disputes and the Evidence
This chapter is an updated version of CR 27, Bringing Sense to Parental Alienation. See the above description. The primary changes are the addition of a discussion of a new reliability study on parental alienation syndrome, citations to a study on the long-term effects of parental alienation syndrome, and a section on Arguments Ad Hominem. Unless the earlier, peer-reviewed and published article (CR27) is needed for purposes of litigation, this chapter will be sufficient and preferable for most purposes.
CR31, book chapter
Price: $9.75
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