Caught Between Parents

Supporting children through the challenges of divorce.

by Amy J.L. Baker, Ph.D.

Parental Alienation in the Movies

A few nights ago I watched a movie called the Nim Project about the chimpanzee named Nim who was removed from his mother at just a few weeks of age and placed in the home of humans who would treat him like a human baby and try to teach him learn sign language. Read More

Domestic Violence by Proxy: Getting It Right and Getting It Wrong

Domestic violence by proxy is not a more accurate diagnosis than PAS—a comment on Silberg's (2009) attempt to explain away parental alienation. Read More

Training Family Court Judges About Parental Alienation: A Lot to Think About

I have been asked to develop and give a one-hour training to family court judges and I am thrilled at the prospect of have an opportunity to speak directly to them about this issue that is near and dear to my and their hearts. Read More

The Minds of Abused and Alienated Children

As I continue to read first-hand accounts of individuals who have been abducted, I gain increasing insight into the mind of abused and alienated children. Read More

Kidnapping Victims and the Psychological Ties that Bind

Why do kidnapping victims develop attachments to their captors? Read More

Jaycee Dugard: The Lion and the Rabbit

How Jaycee allowed herself to be comforted by her tormentor Read More

Judge Adams: Custody Conflict?

Could custody conflict explain why Hillary released the video of her father beating her now? Read More

International Abduction: The Tip of the Iceberg

Today I finished reading David Goldman's memoir of his 5-year ordeal to be reunited with his son Sean who was taken to Brazil by David's wife and then retained there by the stepfather and grandparents. It is only because the mother died that David was able to prevail in his battle to have his son returned to him. Read More

The Dulins vs. the Bakers

Can grandparents be guilty of parental alienation? Read More

Mounting Evidence Supports Reliability and Validity of Parental Alienation

Is parental alienation theory scientific? Read More

Parental Alienation Is Emotional Abuse of Children

Should children be allowed to choose one parent over the other? Not if they are being abused. Read More

Oregon House passes bill outlawing purposely false child abuse claims

False claims of abuse now against the law in Oregon Read More

A Word to Mothers: You can lose your children to parental alienation

As mother's day approaches I want to take a moment to unequivocally state that yes mothers even good mothers can lose their children to parental alienation. Read More

April 25 Is Parental Alienation Awareness Day

April 25th has been declared parental alienation awareness day in municipalities all over the country. The purpose of the awareness day is to shed light on the terrible problem of children being manipulated by one parent to hate the other. Read More

Parental Alienation: Prevention is the key

Parental alienation is a set of strategies that parents use to undermine and interfere with a child's relationship with his or her other parent. This often but not always happens when parents are engaged in a custody battle over the children. Read More

Helping Children Resist the Pressure to Choose One Parent Over the Other

Some children of divorce naturally feel caught between their parents as they adjust to two homes, two sets of rules, possibly two neighborhoods, and two families. But what children really want and need is to stay out of their parents' conflicts and to maintain healthy and strong relationships with both parents (unless, of course, one parent is abusive to the child). Read More