Family Law Consulting PLLC

"Alienation is just one
piece of the puzzle:
Understanding and responding
to the needs of
the polarized child"
(c) 2022 B.D. Garber, P,D.

Reunification and recovery:
Theory and practice in the treatment of alienated children
International Academy of Practice with Alienated Children
Acre, Israel
14-15 June, 2022

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These materials are provided for educational purposes only.
Please do not distribute or allow persons not enrolled in the seminar to access this page.

Resources and citations in order of appearance
(use CNTRL + F to search this page for keywords)

Harman, J. J., Warshak, R. A., Lorandos, D., & Florian, M. J. (2022, June 2). Developmental Psychology and the Scientific Status of Parental Alienation. Developmental Psychology. Advance online publication
Garber, B.D., Simon, R.A., Individual Adult Psychometric Testing and Child Custody Evaluations: If the Shoe Doesn’t Fit, Don’t Wear It, JAAML, Vol. 30, No. 2 (2018).
Rappaport, S.R., Gould, J.W., Dale, M.D., Psychological Testing Can Be of Significant Value in Child Custody Evaluations: Don’t Buy the “Anti-Testing, Anti-Individual, Pro-Family Systems” Woozle, 30 JAAML No. 2 (2018)
Smart, C. (2002). From children’s shoes to children’s voices. Family Court Review, 40, 297-306.
Garber, Benjamin D. (2014). The chameleon child: Children as actors in the high conflict divorce drama. Journal of Child Custody, 11, 1-16.
Garber, Benjamin D. (2007). Developing a structured interview tool for children embroiled in family litigation and forensic mental health services: The Query Grid. Journal of Forensic Psychology Practice, 7(1), 1-18.


Understanding, defining and distinguishing the dynamics of high conflict family relationships	A cognitive behavioral protocol for diminishing anxiety and facilitating healthy relationships

why 90 day sequestration?

FN "95. I am often asked about the optimal length of time before contact is restored with the favored parent.
Naturally, I make no recommendations in specific cases unless I conduct a comprehensive evaluation. Ideally, the
resumption of contact is tailored to each family based on an evaluation of the child’s progress and an evaluation
of the formerly favored parent’s willingness and ability to modify behaviors that would make it difficult for the
child to maintain the gains. Optimal timing depends on a number of factors, such as the favored parent’s ability
to modify behaviors that create difficulties for the children, the children’s vulnerability to feeling pressured to
realign with a parent, the duration of the alienation or estrangement prior to the Workshop, and the favored
parent’s past conduct and compliance with court orders. If a time period had to be stated in advance, based on my
clinical experience, in general I suggest considering a period of 3–6 months before regular contacts resume, to
allow a child to consolidate gains and work through the numerous issues that arise in living with the rejected
parent free from the influence of the favored parent. But, contacts in a therapeutically monitored situation may
optimally occur sooner. Three months is about the length of time that children in therapeutic boarding schools and
residential treatment centers initially go without seeing a parent. This has not been subjected to systematic
empirical research, and it would be difficult to conceive of a study that could do so, given all the variables that
must be controlled, such as theWorkshop leaders, the site of theWorkshop, the age and gender of the children and
of the rejected parent, the extent to which the favored parent and the rejected parent have contributed to the
problem, the exact nature of the court orders, etc. Similarly, no empirical studies compare different parenting time
schedules for different age children, other than gross comparisons of sole versus joint custody arrangements. In
the case of alienated children reunited with the rejected parent, it would be difficult to put together a sufficient
sample size to allow for control of significant variables"

from:

Warshak, R. A. (2010). Family bridges: Using insights from social science to reconnect parents and alienated children . Family Court Review, 48(1), 48–80.