Readers may be interested in a new venture being convened by the Family Separation Clinic in London. The European Association of Parental Alienation Practitioners will hold its inaugural meeting in Prague on July 11th 2017. Hosted by the Family Separation Clinic, the idea for the Association arose in partnership work with the colleagues in Croatia, the Netherlands and Belgium, through recognition that working together, with the difficult problem of parental alienation, brings mutual support, learning and stronger outcomes for children and their families.
The European Association of Parental Alienation Practitioners starts from a place of recognition of international best practice in intervention in cases of parental alienation and member practitioners will be committed to the furthering of knowledge and understanding of the importance of working in ways which are known to assist alienated children. The Association will provide for practitioners, a safe place in which discussion can be held about working methods which may be considered controversial in some member countries, but which are known to offer the swiftest route to liberation of children from the psychological bind which is caused by parental alienation. This safe place is created so that the generation of new ideas and strategies for informing policy and practice in member countries, can take place in such a way that practitioners feel supported and secure in their ongoing professional development.
We are delighted that William Bernet M.D.who is President of the Parental Alienation Studies Group will be present at this meeting to give an address and support this European initiative. Members from eight EU countries are currently listed to attend and we welcome all practitioners in this field to join us.
I am very excited to be part of this venture which leads on from our work in the UK and our partnership work with the City Child Protection Centre in Zagreb. This year we are training in four EU countries and in the USA and Canada as well as delivering at key conferences in the UK. This is all part of our work to raise awareness of the problem of parental alienation. This particular venture is part of our work to raise awareness of the needs of practitioners in the field who as readers know, are often under attack from parents and other practitioners, making the field incredibly difficult to survive in for some. The aim of the Association is very much to nurture strength amongst practitioner groups and to share our knowledge and skill to further the outcomes we can deliver for children and families. I have been delighted by the interest shown in this idea and look forward to growing the seeds we have planted in collaboration with esteemed colleagues across Europe.
Karen Woodall 
Reblogged this on Parental Alienation.
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I hope the European Association of Parental Alienation Practitioners will investigate family court practices that promote parental alienation, enable parental alienation or cause it to exist… and investigate any possible motive (including financial incentives) for family courts to continue litigation, even by creating family crisis.
Second – there needs to be a serious discussion, and research, on the role of domestic violence and alienating behaviors. And alienation as an extension of domestic violence.
Thx for posting
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“there needs to be a serious discussion, and research, on the role of domestic violence and alienating behaviors. And alienation as an extension of domestic violence”……I’ll second this……control of one parent by another (domestic abuse) prior to the birth of children doesn’t go away …..often it intensifies especially if there is any attempt by one parent to free themselves of their controller….the children become a manipulation tool and a means of attempting to maintain the controlling dynamics.
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Reblogged this on World4Justice : NOW! Lobby Forum..
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Reblogged this on | truthaholics.
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Congratulations Karen !
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I absolutely hope that we have something such as this available in the USA. We are supposed to be such a great country, and yet our family court systems are prehistoric to say the least. Parental Alienation is still something here that far too many people do not recognize or have even heard of. They look at me as if I am speaking a foreign language when I mention it being the most popular form of child abuse today, yet the least recognized in the court of law. I am wanting to educate anyone that will listen. I am trying to be the voice that children and targeted parents need so bad to be heard. I want to somehow become an advocate for the children and targeted parents. I want there to be laws against this type of emotional abuse. I want people to realize the horrific affects this behavior has on children, families and life thereafter.
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I am in the US and the court my husband used recognized parental alienation – they accused HIM of it. The true alienating parent walked out with a judgment saying she was the “superior parent” and had been victimized by my husband, who “tried to alienate” the child and “almost succeeded” (he has not seen his son more than twice in 2 years). It’s become a another weapon in the alienating parent’s arsenal in the courts in my area.
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It would be interesting and useful to know who/what other people/organisations in UK are taking part in this European Association. With the best will in the world The resources of the Family Separation Clinic alone cannot meet the demand in the UK , let alone elsewhere, leaving many parents to struggle alone. If parents could approach other UK members of this Association with some confidence they adhere to ideas/approaches like yours Karen maybe less parents will have to struggle unsupported.
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Just been reading an article in The Telegraph from 12 Feb 2017 titled”Divorced parents who pit children against former partners ‘guilty of abuse’. In it head of family law, Joanna Abraham’s at Setfords solicitors (UK) talks about how she is looking at drawing up a team of experts to tackle PA – to include her, Carcass SWs & mental health workers. As a parent it would be lovely to think that there is some linkage between the various PA initiatives in the UK so that consistency of approach develops to avoid the complication of parents being caught (ever more) between competing ‘authorities’ on PA.
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That working group is underway SadSam, we are also developing the European Association. In the UK there is very little in the way of support, some who say they work with parental alienation do not use the international standards to guide them and instead rely upon old and outdated approaches. The key thing is that there is a strong wall to knock down in terms of family services who approach the issue as either a he said/she said situation or as an issue of parental rights, it is neither. It is a mental health issue which can only be properly treated using the tested interventions which are shown to work. Joanna and I are colleagues, we work together on the issue in both understanding and consciousness raising. There is a joined up approach of top level people working to bring change, it will come but there will be struggles to ensure that it is the right approach. Social Workers should not be doing this work, full stop. They are not trained to do it and they do not have the time, skill or knowledge to do it. Unfortunately too many cases are absolutely derailed by their interventions. A pet beef of mine as readers know.
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Karen you mention “international standards” to be adhered to in treating PA……it would be useful to know what these are/who created them etc….can you do this?
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Karen, with the European Association getting off the ground, is there an equivalent UK Association of PA Practitioners, already in existence or is one planned?
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Sorry Karen our comments crossed in cyberspace! Thanks for the information and reassuring news. You have my full support to “beef” about SWs insisting that Parental Alienation IS within their skills set and time constraints…..my own experience showed me how limited and inadequate their analysis phase is before they jumped in with both feet. Appearances can be deceptive. Please do ‘keep on beefing!!’.
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We have chosen to do this work via the European Association SadSam, we have chosen this to ensure that those UK practitioners who work like us can join the practitioner network and work with us on international standards. there are others in the UK who do not work in the same way and who seek to influence policy and practice in ways that we know are not successful, we do not recognise those people as being alienation aware but rather more in the context of social workers who do not have the knowledge or skills to work with what works. In that respect we have six UK practitioners joining the new Association and anyone who works in the field who is able to demonstrate that they have a record of success in reuniting children and working directly with alienated children or with parents in ways that leads to reunification, can join. Anyone who is not able to demonstrate that is not working at the level we seek to establish as being the standard practice for intervening in such cases. There will be others in that category in the UK but we would not consider them to be parental alienation practitioners.
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I should add that the Association is designed to develop recognised practice and to cascade training in each member country so that people who wish to become accredited practitioners can do so, all of this is in development. K
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Thanks for that Karen. I’m sure there will be many interested in this development. Just wondering how you feel about publishing the names of the 6 UK Practitioners joining the European Association? Are they all from within The Family Separation Clinic?
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Hi SS, I don’t think it is fair to publish those on here but their biographies will be on the EAPAP site soon. They are all associated with the Family Separation Clinic in one way or another although they do not all work with us. Three work independently. K
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Congratulations Karen! You truly are remarkable. I am so very thankful for you and your work. I come here daily to learn and be fed. I don’t always comment but know I am here. I am silent party. But I am so grateful for you. The articles are always very insightful and the dialogue very helpful. I know if I should die, I am comforted by the thought that you are doing this work and someday parental alienation will be recognized for what it is, abuse.
Anonymous-mother of three
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You talk about colleagues in the Netherlands, could you possibly give me the name of this organisation? thank you!
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biographies of all involved will be posted on the website shortly. K
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