A conference is to be hosted in Hobart, Tasmania, on 17-19 October 2018, providing a forum for presentations and discussion to promote understanding around the complex issue of parental alienation.

 

What is parental alienation?

Parental Alienation is a process of one parent 
(the alienating parent)  
influencing a child 
(alienated or targeted child)  
to turn against and reject their other parent 
(alienated or targeted parent)  
without legitimate justification.  

The alienating parent can also be a grandparent, a step parent and even a non-family member. 

Parental alienation can occur even when the relationship between the targeted child and the targeted parent was once a very positive one. Source: Eeny Meeny Miney-Mo Foundation

Once considered to be the result of a deliberate and conscious campaign by a vexatious parent, parental alienation is now widely understood to be a spectrum experience in which the child at different ages can be susceptible to adult alignments and expectations. Whilst the incidence of deliberate inculcation of fear and dislike of a parent is seen in such cases, more routinely a child will become unable to relate to a parent because of complex emotional and psychological dynamics surrounding them. Parents are often helpless to create change in the child’s mind when an alienation reaction has occurred, looking more closely at the underlying psychological dynamics explains why this is so.

Parental alienation is a pernicious problem which if left unaddressed will cause the child to reject not only a parent but the whole of the side of the family associated with that parent. Children are known to also reject friends and even once loved pets when they enter into this state of mind. This leaves one side of their family missing the child and it can take many years for such a difficult dynamic to resolve itself. In some cases, parents and family members will die before such change occurs. Source: Karen Woodall - Parental Alienation Expert

 

About the conference

The aim of the Conference is to provide a forum for presentation and discussion of the latest research, professional practice issues and developments in understanding parental alienation. 

Nick and Karen Woodall will be discussing their groundbreaking reunification program and Dr  Lorandos will be discussing issues surrounding evidence-based law and expert witness testimony in cases of parental alienation. 

The conference will showcase current research and professional practice issues on parental alienation.

On Friday 19th October, there will be two workshops:

1. How do you know it's Parental Alienation, and

2. An introduction to reunification for parental alienation.

 

 

Who are the keynote presenters?

The conference will include keynote presentations from world-renowned experts in parental alienation, Dr Demosthenes Lorandos, Karen Woodall and Nick Woodall. 

Dr Demosthenes Lorandos is a renowned psychologist, author, speaker, and attorney in the United States. As a  psychologist and attorney, Dr Lorandos specialises in high conflict custody disputes and he is an expert in Parental Alienation. He has published extensively on the topic of parental alienation. 

Karen Woodall is an international expert in both assessment and treatment of parental alienation. She is the founding director of the Family Separation Clinic in the United Kingdom.  At the Family Separation Clinic, Karen works with colleagues to develop treatment pathways for families affected by parental alienation.  Karen has also published extensively on the topic of parental alienation. 

Nick Woodall is an international expert in parental alienation and high conflict custody disputes. He is a therapeutic mediator and delivers specialist work to alienated parents at the Family Separation Clinic in the United Kingdom. Nick acts as a single expert witness in cases of high conflict family separation and delivers therapeutic mediation, conciliation and dispute resolution services to families experiencing divorce or separation. Nick has also published extensively on the topic of parental alienation.

 

Who should attend?

This conference is for practitioners and researchers who are interested in learning more about what parental alienation is, how to identify it and what to do about it.

 

 

REGISTER NOW
Early bird tickets expire 31 July 2018 - $750

 

More Reading:

“Help! My ex won’t let me see my children. What can I do?”

Is your divorce turning you into an emotional vampire?

Mothers who deny fathers access to children could be jailed

Life of an alienated parent: Coping with the trauma of parental alienation