WHAT IS PARENTAL ALIENATION AND WHY IS IT SO BAD? There is an
old African proverb that states “when two elephants fight it is
the grass under their feet that suffers”. Similarly, when
parents fight over custody and access of their children after a
separation it is the children that suffer. In many cases the
parents are not even aware of the effect that their custody
battle is having on their children and they do not intend to
hurt their children. Nevertheless, research shows that children
who have lived through a high conflict divorce have a greater
tendency to develop mental health issues, addiction issues, are
less likely to obtain a post secondary education and have a
whole host of other social problems that develop later on in
their lives as a result of their negative experience. In some of
the more extreme high conflict custody cases, a dynamic develops
whereby one of the parents sets out to sever the children’s ties
to the other parent. The American psychiatrist who first coined
the phrase “parental ali