On behalf of The Law Office of Gustavo E. Frances, P.A.
While many believe that parental alienation is an inescapable by-product of almost every divorce involving children, many times, one of the parents is fully responsible for the growing alienation between the other parent and their kids.
In the vast majority of cases, one of the parents intentionally alienates the other parent from their children in an effort to prevent their former spouse from spending time with the kids. However, there are also many cases in which parents unintentionally behave in a way that alienates the other parent from their kids.
Either way, it is crucial to recognize signs of parental alienation, and, if you are being on the alienating end of the spectrum, take legal action to prevent the other parent from ruining your relationship with the children.
Our Fort Lauderdale child custody lawyer at The Law Office Of Gustavo E. Frances, P.A. is going to spell out what parental alienation is and ways to deal with it when it happens to you.
Behaviors That Cause Parental Alienation
Unfortunately, you cannot control what the other parent says to your children when it’s his or her turn to spend time with the kids nor can you control how your former spouse behaves around the kids when you are not around.
Therefore, you do not know if your former spouse speaks negatively about you in front of the children or even discourages them from spending time with you. Oftentimes, blaming the other parent for your divorce is enough to sway a child into disengaging with that parent.
However, there are cases in which parents alienate the other parent from their kids without intending to do so. For example, a parent might get sad, angry, or break down into tears whenever a child talks about the other parent. And although the parent does not say anything negative about the other parent, the child, seeing the reaction of his or her parent, picks up the negative emotional cues.
One of the most common tactics to create a physical, emotional, and psychological divide between the other parent and their child is to eavesdrop on phone conversations between the child and the parent as well as monitor text messages. By secretly listening to those phone calls between the other parent and their child and replying to the other parent’s text messages pretending to be their son or daughter, the parent can control the relationship between the other parent and the child.
More often than not, withholding true information or even intentionally providing wrong information about the child’s interests, activities, and schedule can also result in parental alienation.
How Letting The Child Choose When to Spend Time With The Other Parent Promotes Parental Alienation
It goes without saying that such common parental behaviors as refusing to let the other parent see the kids as well as denying contact and timesharing promote parental alienation. Our child custody attorney in Fort Lauderdale, who has been on the frontline of divorce cases involving parental alienation, says that even permitting the child to determine when timesharing should occur may alienate the other parent from the children.
Our attorneys explain that by letting a child choose when to spend time with the other parent, a parent intentionally or unintentionally forces the child to choose between parents, forming negative feelings about the other parent in the process. That’s a good old psychological trick: the parent who asks a child to choose between the parent is more likely to be chosen because the other parent is not around when the choice is being made.
Whatever is the case, it is best to consult with the best child custody attorneys in Fort Lauderdale at The Law Office Of Gustavo E. Frances, P.A.. And remember that never should you ever believe the other parent when he or she says that your child does not want to see you. Get a free consultation by calling at 954-533-2756 today.
