Working With Alienated Children and Families

Amy J. L. Baker, Ph.D., is the author of Adult Children of Parental Alienation Syndrome: Breaking the Ties That Bind, as well as over 65 peer-reviewed publications on the topic of parental alienation, psychological maltreatment, child welfare, and parent–child relationships. She conducts research at the Vincent J. Fontana Center for Child Protection.S. Richard Sauber, Ph.D., has been in practice for 30 years as a forensic family and clinical psychologist. He is certified in Family and Clinical Psychology by the American Board of Professional Psychology and licensed by the Ordre des Psychologues du Québec, Canada. He has also been the editor-in-chief of the American Journal of Family Therapy since 1976.

“Working With Alienated Children and Families is a thought-provoking and stimulating read for professionals who want to understand different treatment protocols necessary to work with families in high conflict. Readers will learn that reunification therapy has unique challenges that require the therapist to rethink all they have previously learned about working with families in high conflict. This book should be required reading for therapist engaged in forensic reunification therapy. Many questions about how to work with these families will be answered.” - Douglas Darnall, Ph.D., Psychologist, Ohio; Author; Forensic Consultant; CEO, PsyCare“This work is an extremely timely and helpful collection, which leads and updates professionals, children, and their parents as the subjects of these high conflict parenting scenarios. The editors use their own expertise to cherry pick among the best guiding principles and writers to further illuminate the behaviors, results, and remedies found in parental alienation awareness.” - Robert Samery, Director, VP, Parental Alienation Awareness Organization "It would be too simplistic to say that Working With Alienated Children and Families is a do’s and don’ts manual for treating parental alienation and parental alienation syndrome. This work contains priceless information that will provide mental health professionals with the keys to unlock the difficulties in working with families and children who have had to endure the loss of a once loving relationship. It will arm the provider with the necessary tools to educate, support, and reunify clients who are traveling the road of confusion, heartbreak, and sadness. This book is a must have for mental health professionals who are trying to make a difference and save the souls of our most precious commodity, our children.” - Jill Egizii, President, Parental Alienation Awareness Organiztation, USA; Host of television and radio show Family Matters; Author, The Look of Love and Co-Author, Parental Alienation 911“Working With Alienated Children and Families provides an important contribution to assist professionals in our challenging work. This book contains an excellent cross section, including chapters on clinical decision-making, evaluation and differentiation, the role of the mental health consultant, and a variety of informed psycho-educational and therapeutic approaches for children and their parents. A review of this edited volume is sure to impart the reader with many useful tools and other interventions to assist alienated children and their families.” - Barbara Jo Fidler, Ph.D., Acc.FM., Registered Psychologist; in Private Practice, Ontario, Canada“Alienated children and their targeted parents suffer tremendously and need the very best from the mental health practitioners who work with them. This book will provide clinicians with state of the art information as well as practical tools to effectively work with families affected by parental alienation. This book should be on the bookshelf of any clinician working with divorced/divorcing families and their children.” - Steven Alan Hassan M.Ed. LMHC, NCC, Freedom of Mind Resource Center Inc.; Author, Freedom of Mind: Helping Loved Ones Leave Controlling People, Cults and Beliefs

• Foreword William Bernet 1. Introduction Amy J. L. Baker 2. Clinical Reasoning and Decision-Making in Cases of Child Alignment: Diagnostic and Therapeutic Issues Steven G. Miller 3. Custody Evaluations in Alienation Cases S. Richard Sauber, Abe Worenklein 4. The Essential Role of the Mental Health Consultant in Parental Alienation Cases J. Michael Bone, S. Richard Sauber 5. Educating Divorcing Parents: Taking Them Beyond the High Road Amy J. L. Baker, Paul Fine 6. Psychotherapy with Targeted Parents Bill and Lorna Goldberg 7. Supporting Targeted Parents: The International Support Network for Alienated Families Karen Lebow 8. Psycho-Educational Work with Children in Loyalty Conflict: The I Don't Want to Choose Program Amy J. L. Baker, Katherine Andre 9. Walking on Thin Ice: Providing Effective, Systemically Informed, Child-Centered Psychotherapies for Children of Divorce Benjamin D. Garber 10. Reunification and the One-Way Mirror Jack Weitzman 11. The Effectiveness of the Application of Structural Family Therapy to Treatment of the PAS Family Linda Gottlieb 12. Family Reunification in a Forensic Setting Jane Albertson-Kelly, Barbara Burkhard 13. Working with Adult Children of Parental Alienation Joe Rabiega, Amy J. L. Baker