The muted horrors of parental alienation

All too often two parents enter a Family Court but only one leaves. By that I mean that after a divorce the parent that holds primary physical custody over the child (the parent with whom the child lives most of the time, let’s call her “Amy”) determines at some point that the child does not need the other parent (“Mike”) and directly or indirectly, consciously or not, Amy begins to curtail or undermine the child’s communication with Mike, time with Mike, holidays with Mike, and ultimately the child’s bond with Mike. First it’s not being invited to a birthday party. Then it’s being removed from the contact list at the child’s school. Then the other parent’s extended family is excluded, and so on, until methodically the other parent is as far away from that child as can be. Mike suffers, sure, but the child suffers most of all. So many children are not lucky enough to have two caring parents in their lives; don’t deny your child a bond with their other parent. You may not love them anymore but the child sure does. The child shouldn’t suffer because you and Mike divorced…