Books by PASG Members
Many PASG members are faculty members of universities in the United States and other countries. They have engaged in extensive clinical work and research regarding parental alienation. As a group, they have published hundreds of scholarly papers, book chapters, and books, some of which are listed here. The inclusion of any book on this website does not confer approval of the book or its author by the PASG Board of Directors.
The High-Conflict Custody Battle: Protect Yourself and Your Kids from a Toxic Divorce, False Accusations, and Parental Alienation
Amy J. L. Baker, Michael Bone, Brian Ludmer | English, 2014
In The High-Conflict Custody Battle, a team of legal and psychology experts present a practical guidebook for people like you who are engaged in a high-conflict custody battle. If you are dealing with an overtly hostile, inflammatory, deceitful, or manipulative ex-spouse, you will learn how to find and work with an attorney and prepare for a custody evaluation. The book also provides helpful tips you can use to defend yourself against false accusations, and gives a realistic portrayal of what to expect during a legal fight.
Co-parenting with a Toxic Ex: What to Do When Your Ex-Spouse Tries to Turn the Kids Against You
Amy J. L. Baker, Paul R. Fine | English, 2014
There’s no question about it: your children are the most important thing in your life. But if you have gone through a messy divorce, your relationship with your children may become strained if you have to deal with a toxic ex. Your ex may bad-mouth you in front of the kids, accuse you of being a bad parent, and even attempt to replace you in the children’s lives with a new partner. As a result, your children may become confused, conflicted, angry, anxious, or depressed—and you may feel powerless.
In Co-parenting with a Toxic Ex, a nationally recognized parenting expert offers you a positive parenting approach to dealing with a hostile ex-spouse. You’ll learn to avoid the most common mistakes of coparenting, how to avoid “parental alienation syndrome,” and effective techniques for talking to your children in a way that fosters open and honest response. In addition, you’ll learn how to protect your children from painful loyalty conflicts between you and your ex-spouse.
Divorce is often painful, especially if your ex habitually tries to undermine your relationship with your children. But with the right tools you can protect your kids and make your relationship with them stronger than ever. This book can show you how.
Surviving Parental Alienation: A Journey of Hope and Healing
Amy J. L. Baker, Paul R. Fine | English, 2014
Half of all marriages end, and, when they do, most parents hope to achieve a “good divorce” in which they can amicably raise their children with their former spouse. Unfortunately, about 20% of divorces are high-conflict, involving frequent visits to court, allegations of abuse, and chronic disagreements regarding parenting schedules. In response to this conflict, some children become aligned with one parent against the other – even a parent who has done nothing to warrant the hostile rejection of their formerly loving children. These “targeted” parents suffer from the loss of time with their children, the pain of watching their children become distant, even cruel, and the uncertainty of not knowing if and when their children will come back to them. These parents are on a painful journey with an uncertain outcome. Surviving Parental Alienation fills the tremendous need for concrete help for these parents. Surviving Parental Alienation provides true stories and information about parents who have reconnected with their lost and stolen children, and offers better insight and understanding into what exactly parental alienation is and how to handle it.
Abuse & Betrayal: The Cautionary True Story of Divorce, Mistakes, Lies and Legal Abuse
Richard Joseph | English, 2014
Abuse & Betrayal is author Richard Joseph’s deeply personal autobiographical account of his experiences with marriage, divorce, and the effects of his ex-wife’s behavior. Sure to strike a chord with anyone who has ever been in a dysfunctional relationship or divorce situation, it follows the couple from happy beginnings to their tumultuous divorce, and describes the abuse and alienation Richard faced during and after the marriage.
Richard’s narration touches upon sensitive topics such as the emergence of his ex-wife’s narcissistic personality, her obsession with status, and the inappropriate behavior she exhibited. But the most raw and exposed of his passages are those dedicated to describing his ex-wife’s attempts at alienating him from his daughters, which makes Abuse & Betrayal a story not just about Richard’s divorce, but also about his feelings and efforts toward parenting and fatherhood.
Filling a void in the media market, Abuse & Betrayal delivers a story uniquely told from the male perspective and draws attention to important issues that too often get swept under the rug. Through Richard’s encounters with lawyers, the courts, and prison, it raises questions about the fairness of the divorce process in our country and speaks to the biases in the legal and judicial systems.
Broken Lives Broken Minds
Pamela Roche, Maggie Allen | English, 2014
This is about parental abduction and parental alienation (PAS). It was written to expose the flaws and loopholes in the Hague Convention and the dramatic rise in parental abduction in the last 10 years. This book exposes the phenomenon of PAS which is too poorly recognized in the family courts today. It is devastating the lives of young children and target parents. These effects often are long-term on the children which extends into adulthood. It is about the injustices that are endemic in the family law system which involves judges, lawyers, psychologists, and court-appointed therapists. It shows how the legal system is fundamentally flawed, and the costs of all this are crippling.
Parental Alienation: The Handbook for Mental Health and Legal Professionals
Demosthenes Lorandos, William Bernet, S. Richard Sauber | English, 2013
Parental Alienation: The Handbook for Mental Health and Legal Professionals is the essential how to manual in this important and ever increasing area of behavioral science and law. Busy mental health professionals need a reference guide to aid them in developing data sources to support their positions in reports and testimony. They also need to know where to go to find the latest material on a topic. Having this material within arm’s reach will avoid lengthy and time-consuming online research. For legal professionals who must ground their arguments in well thought out motions and repeated citations to case precedent, ready access to state or province specific legal citations spanning thirty-five years of parental alienation cases is provided here for the first time in one place.
The Equal Parent Presumption: Social Justice in the Legal Determination of Parenting After Divorce
Edward Kruk | English, 2013
In custody battles over the children of separated parents, the prevailing standard of evaluating what is in the “best interests of the child” has been scrutinized because of the discretionary nature of what is “best” and because of the bias in favor of the child’s residing in one “primary residence.” In response, a consensus is beginning to emerge that it is vitally important that children maintain meaningful relationships with both parents after divorce. In The Equal Parenting Presumption, Edward Kruk proposes a child-focused approach based on a standard that considers the best interests of the child from the perspective of the child and a responsibility-to-needs orientation to social justice for children and families. Challenging previous research and received ideas, Kruk presents an evidence-based framework of equal parental responsibility as the most effective means of ensuring the protection of family relationships following divorce, and shielding children from ongoing parental conflict and family violence.
Parent Power: The Key to America’s Prosperity
Jack C. Westman M.D. | English, 2013
Our government is forced to become involved in struggling families and their adult offspring at the cost of 23% of state and 45% of county expenditures that flow largely from our federal income taxes. One-third of our children and youth are failing in some aspect of their lives. The United States is at the top of the list of developed nations in child abuse and neglect and the bottom in educational achievement. Five children die every day from abuse. Three million referrals are made to child protective services every year. Parents who raise a productive citizen contribute $1.4 million to our economy. Parents who abuse and/or neglect a child who becomes a criminal or welfare dependent cost our economy $2.8 million. Without concerted action, every American taxpayer will continue to pay for these consequences. The framework for action is in Parent Power: The Key to America’s Prosperity. For humanitarian and financial reasons, and for our nation’s prosperity, we must remove government from family lives by preventing the formation of, and reducing the number of, struggling families in the United States. We can do this by ensuring that every newborn baby has an opportunity to succeed in life by limiting the custody of newborn babies to persons who are not under the custody of others themselves. Only by fulfilling the right of all newborn babies to have competent parents will the United States ensure its prosperity.
Safe Kids, Smart Parents: What Parents Need to Know to Keep Their Children Safe
Rebecca Bailey, Elizabeth Bailey | English, 2013
Leading family psychologist, Rebecca Bailey, tells parents how to keep their children safe in this accessible, must-have guidebook. Whether their children are toddlers or teens, six years old or sixteen, whether they live in a rural town, suburb, or a bustling city, all parents worry about threats—from cyber-bullying to exploitation and abduction. What should they tell their children and when? What practical steps can they take to reduce the risks and keep their kids safe? Dr. Rebecca Bailey, with the assistance of her sister and registered nurse, Elizabeth Bailey, gives easily understood, easily followed answers. Safe Kids, Smart Parents builds on Dr. Bailey’s years of experience as a family psychologist helping real families deal with real situations. From abduction to abuse, Bailey explains how parents can speak to their kids about troubling topics while building their self-esteem and teaching them how to protect themselves. A smart, comprehensive, and easy-to-read resource, Safe Kids, Smart Parents is the most important book a parent can own.
Broken Family Bonds: Poems and Stories from Victims of Parental Alienation
Joan Kloth-Zanard | English, 2013
This book provides a collection of poems and stories written by real victims of parental alienation that show the psychological pain and damage caused by parental alienation.
Parental Alienation and Parental Alienation Syndrome/Disorder – A serious form of psychological child abuse
Wilfrid von Boch-Galhau | English, 2013
Starting with the ‘Case of Effi Briest,’ as a depiction of PAS in the conditions of 19th century society, the author elaborates the pathogenic consequences of parental alienation, drawing extensively on case studies. He describes this particular form of emotional abuse with its effects both on the children concerned and on the alienated parent. This book can raise the awareness of psychiatrists and psychotherapists to the pathogenesis of adults affected by divorce or separation in their childhood, who exhibit problems relating to self-esteem, identity and relationships, and of parents who sometimes suffer from psychosomatic symptoms or suicidal crises after their children have been induced by abusive programming to break off relations with them.
Using letters from persons affected and transcribed interviews, the author illustrates the eight key symptoms of parental alienation syndrome as identified by R. Gardner, highlighting the need for greater attention to these hitherto neglected biographical aspects of a patient’s medical history. Induced alienation syndrome leads to confusion on the part of the child with regard to their self-perception and their perception by others, to an excessive adherence to the lead of the alienating parent, on whom the child is wholly dependent, to identity diffusion and a false self. The targeted parents predominantly suffer from a sense of powerlessness, especially if institutions, such as youth welfare offices, family courts or even ‘expert witnesses’, ignore or seek to play down the manipulations carried out by the alienating parent.
This highly readable book also points to numerous areas that call for research in the fields of psychotraumatology, psychosomatics and adult psychiatry. It serves to immunize (child) psychiatrists and psychotherapists against possible instrumentalisation by alienating parents to obtain improper treatment or reports in custody and access disputes. The text is extensively annotated, thus providing an overview of nearly 30 years of international research into parental alienation.
Working With Alienated Children and Families: A Clinical Guidebook
Amy J. L. Baker, S. Richard Sauber | English, 2012
This edited volume is written by and for mental health professionals who work directly with alienated children and their parents. The chapters are written by leaders in the field, all of whom know how vexing parental alienation can be for mental health professionals.
No matter how the professional intersects with families affected by alienation, be it through individual treatment, reunification therapy, a school setting, or support groups, he or she needs to consider how to make proper assessments, how to guard against bias, and when and how to involve the court system, among other challenges.
The cutting edge clinical interventions presented in this book will help professionals answer these questions and help them to help their clients. The authors present a range of clinical options such as parent education, psycho-educational programs for children, and reunification programs for children and parents that make this volume a useful reference and practical guide.
Is 5 Too Late?
Rev. Gail L. Rocke | English, 2010
The author said, “I tell the true story of how I came to adopt four children from four different ethnicities. … The book is a step-by-step narration of all significant events relating to the adoption portion of my life.” The main purpose of the book is to make readers aware of the devastating effects that any child’s early childhood experiences can have on him or her. The book considers whether a child is “salvageable” at the age of five years, after experiencing years of neglect, abuse, and trauma after trauma. The author points out how inadequate are the resources available to adoptive families. She brings the readers through her own difficulties, including her divorce, her alcoholism, her suicidality, and, finally, her spiritual awakening.
Freedom of Mind: Helping Loved Ones Leave Controlling People, Cults, and Beliefs
Steven Hassan | English, 2012
In the post 911 world, people are more susceptible than ever to charismatic figures who offer simple, black v. white, us v. them, good v. evil, formulaic solutions. The rise of the Internet; increasingly sophisticated knowledge about how to influence and manipulate others; and the growing vulnerabilities of people across the planet—make for a dangerous, potentially devastating combination. Steven Hassan’s new book Freedom of Mind provides the knowledge and awareness needed to help yourself and loved ones avoid or escape from such dangerous people and situations. The Internet is now the primary vehicle for recruitment and indoctrination. It is also a means for spreading sophisticated information about social psychology, hypnosis, and other techniques of social control, which are being used—in ways both effective and dangerous—by “influence professionals.” Meanwhile, people are becoming increasingly vulnerable. Freedom of Mind provides help for yourself, a loved one, or a friend.
Parental Alienation 911 Workbook
Jill Egizii, Judge Michele Lowrance | English, 2012
This product is ideal for anyone who wants to understand the facts about parental alienation. In particular this product is geared toward arming parents who wonder if they are experiencing alienation with all the information they need to make the best of a difficult, potentially inflammatory situation.
The Parental Alienation Syndrome: A Family Therapy and Collaborative Systems Approach to Amelioration
Linda J. Gottlieb | English, 2012
In this thought-provoking book, Ms. Gottlieb attempts to resolve the controversies surrounding parental alienation syndrome (PAS) by providing substantial empirical evidence from her treatment cases in support of the eight symptoms which child psychiatrist, Richard Gardner, had identified as occurring in the PAS child, and she further exemplifies the commonality of the alienating maneuvers among the alienating parents. Numerous case examples are explored: horrific tales of manufactured child abuse; referrals to child protective services (CPS) resulting in suspension of visits between targeted parents and their children; meritless reports to police alleging domestic violence in support of orders of protection; and exclusionary tactics preventing targeted parents’ involvement in their children’s medical, educational, social lives and activities. Ms. Gottlieb methodically documents that PAS is a form of emotional child abuse of the severest kind. The author provides an unprecedented number of treatment summaries, which demonstrate the effectiveness of structural family therapy in treating the PAS family. This book will be an excellent resource for: parents who are divorcing or are in conflict, adult victims of PAS, judges, law guardians, matrimonial attorneys, therapists, child protective personnel, law enforcement — and for the professional rescuer who believes that a child must be saved from a parent..
Listen to Me!!! Your Child and Your Divorce
Daniel Gottlieb | English, 2012
Listen to ME!!! is a compilation of expressions direct from the minds and hearts of children. All are direct quotes, completely real, taken from deep discussions in the psychologist’s office. These verbatim testimonies make it easy for parents to better understand their children’s emotional experiences throughout the process of divorce. Divorce is an emotional and traumatic process, and in a certain way, it encompasses an element of irrationality, especially when considering its high psychological and economic price. Listen to ME!!! was born from a desire to help parents understand their children. Rather than appealing to their minds, it appeals directly to their hearts. Dr Daniel Gottlieb has written Listen to ME!!!, a powerful book that describes the consequences of divorce for the entire family, based on his experiences as the court-appointed psychologist for hundreds of divorce cases across the country of Israel.
The Essentials of Parental Alienation Syndrome: It’s Real, It’s Here and It Hurts
Robert A. Evans Ph.D., J. Michael Bone Ph.D. | English, 2011
We are seeing an increase in high conflict, adversarial divorce cases in mental health practices and in the courtrooms around the country. These cases present with a significant amount of parental conflict and, as a consequence, represent a threat to the children caught in the middle of these conflicts. Curiously, there is a great commonality among these cases in terms of the tactics alienators use to separate a parent from his or her children. It is almost as if they, the favored parent, were reading from a published playbook. Parental alienation syndrome (PAS) is acknowledged as being controversial within the mental health profession and equally controversial within the legal profession. It is important for professionals to get a sense of both sides of the PAS issue. Whether one uses PAS as a term, the problems brought by these cases are very real. Whether or not it is the appropriate diagnosis or description of behavior in a case must be determined by facts of that case and supported by evidence and data from multiple sources. An appropriate diagnosis and identification of PAS, along with a description of the severity, can make the difference between timely and effective interventions or allowing parents and children to be scarred for the rest of their lives.
Toxic Divorce: A Workbook for Alienated Parents
Kathleen M. Reay | English, 2011
In the 1980s, Dr. Richard A. Gardner, a child and forensic psychiatrist, championed a child custody litigation phenomenon called Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS). Since that time, the PAS phenomenon has gained increased recognition in both the mental health and legal fields. For well over four decades, parental divorce has been determined as the cause of a variety of significant physical, emotional, academic, and social difficulties in children and adolescents. Moreover, high-conflict between divorcing or divorced parents, including the PAS phenomenon, is a noteworthy risk factor for children and adolescents. This workbook is the first of its kind for alienated parents and is divided into three parts. Part One will provide the knowledge and understanding you need to personally deal with the ramifications of PAS or to help those who do. Thus, from a broad perspective this book is written for a wide array of readers including those directly affected by PAS as well as for extended family members, significant others, counselors, social workers, psychologists, psychiatrists, child custody evaluators, family mediators, general practitioners, pediatricians, family law lawyers, judiciary, police officers, school administrators, school teachers, and policy makers.
Divorced Fathers: Children’s Needs and Parental Responsibilities
Edward Kruk | English, 2011
Once mainly breadwinners and disciplinarians, fathers are becoming increasingly involved and invested in their children’s lives. Examining how this changing role has affected fathers’ experiences of divorce and the loss of guardianship that too often follows, this exploration offers a glimpse into the emotional state and perspectives of fathers during the divorce transition. Ultimately, this account states that children benefit most from the love and support of both parents and argues for active parenting following divorce.