Articles

By: Brad Berfas, Esq. Divorce as we know is not easy and the ones that suffer the most are the children. Although it appears all parents want what is best for them and love them unconditionally, there are those parents who use the kids as pawns in their game of chess...

As parents we will do anything for our children and love them unconditionally, but what do we do when our child chooses one parent over another regardless of that unconditional love?

Take it a step further: what if that child stops communicating with you, talking to you, or wanting to spend any time with you, as if you were a stranger? It is challenging, incomprehensible, and you tell yourself they will come around, but is that wishful thinking? How long do you wait? Is there anything you can do to continue to show that love to your child from a distance? You question yourself: What did I do? Can I change, or should I even have to?

We all thought the process of getting divorced was the hardest, most difficult, and emotional part, but that is not always the case! For those parents that are suffering at the hands of the other parent post-divorce through manipulation and control of the child(ren), this tends to be the most excruciating part to endure. Parental alienation, as it is commonly known, is defined as a set of strategies that a parent uses to foster a child’s rejection of the other parent and in doing such, their goal is to develop within their kids a feeling of hate, fear and rejection of the targeted parent, as someone who is unworthy of having a relationship with them.