What is Parental Alienation?

Parental alienation of children is a form of child abuse, and it is recognized as such by psychologists who have experience and expertise with parental alienation. The phenomenon of parental alienation conforms to the definition of Child Abuse as proffered by 2017 Practice Guidelines of The American Professional Society on Abuse of Children (APSAC).

Parental alienation is a mental condition in which a child, usually one whose parents are engaged in a high-conflict separation or divorce, allies strongly with one parent (the preferred or favored parent) and rejects a relationship with the other parent (the targeted or alienated parent) without legitimate justification (Lorandos & Bernet, 2020).

Senior officials at the American Psychiatric Association (APA) have unequivocally confirmed that parental alienation is included in parent-child relational problem (PCRP), one of the mental conditions in the DSM-5-TR (Bernet & Baker, 2023).

The Baker Model for Identifying Parental Alienation (formerly known as the Five Factor Model) is a method for the systematic identification of parental alienation (Lorandos & Bernet, 2020) and is discussed below. There is nothing new about the components of the Baker Model for Identifying Parental Alienation, since they have all been discussed in peer-reviewed articles, books, and presentations for many years.

The psychological process of parental alienation, as an adverse childhood experience (ACE) (Felitti, et al, 1998), has immediate and long-term negative and potentially catastrophic consequences for children. Parental alienation has been the subject of many studies and tests, which have been the object of peer review, and is a mental condition broadly recognized by the psychological community in the United States and over 60 countries around the world. A common example of misinformation is that parental alienation has not been recognized by any professional organization and, therefore, is not recognized by the scientific community, a necessary factor in admissibility in court proceedings. The phenomenon of parental alienation and Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS), that is children rejecting a parent without justification, has been recognized by the following organizations:

• American Bar Association
• American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
• Association of Family and Conciliation Courts
• American Psychological Association
• American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers
• American Academy of Pediatrics
• American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children