Once upon a time, family law professionals believed in binary answers: If Billy is allied with Parent A and resists or refuses contact with Parent B, it can only be because Parent B is deserving of rejection (i.e., estrangement) or Parent A is undermining the child’s relationship with Parent B (i.e., alienation).

In the last twenty years, we've begun to understand that the quality of Billy’s relationship with Parent A might also deserve close consideration.

Its only very recently that the field has begun to acknowledge the incredible complexity of human relationships and the fact that these very appealing and simplistic conceptualizations are inadequate and risk doing harm.

This presentation critiques binary approaches to resist/refuse dynamics including the contemporary Five Factor Model (Bernet and Greenhill, 2022) as biased and circular.

A rubric is introduced with which evaluators  can minimize bias and avoid premature closure, courts can better understand the full complexity of polarized family systems, and interventions can be coordinated so as to better assure that Billy has the opportunity to enjoy a healthy relationship with both (all) of his caregivers.