An Attachment-Based Model of Parental Alienation: Foundations

With special guest:

• Dr Craig Childress

Why is parental alienation such a controversial topic?

Nearly everyone knows someone who has had a child turned against them after separation of the parents. It happens unfortunately all over the world and looks remarkably similar wherever you find it. The construct was defined and given a label, “parental alienation” some thirty years ago by Dr Richard Gardner. More recently there has been a strong push to have it included as a separate diagnosis in the therapists’ “Bible” the DSM-5.

Listen Now (MP3)

Click to read more ...

Protecting Emilie

With special guest:

• Lisa Heim

A check in the index of topics will reveal that we have explored parental alienation from different angles by talking to academics, psychologists and researchers. Today we cross to Florida in the USA to hear a very real account of what this type of psychological child abuse looks like to those who are personally caught up in it.

Lisa Heim is the author of Protecting Emilie and in this book she tells the story of what happens to people catapulted into this nightmare world of parental alienation, something that could happen to you, your neighbour or parents on the other side of the world. Lisa gives an account of her relationship with her husband, his daughter Emilie, in the title of the book, and her own daughter, as it was affected by the conflict instigated by Emilie’s mother.

Listen Now (MP3)

Click to read more ...

Loving Nana/Collateral Damage

With special guest:

• Anne King

One grandmother’s story for Grandparents Day

Everyone seems to know a parent who has been affected by parental alienation, except the so-called experts in the Family Court who pretend it does not exist. But what about the other family members caught up in this insidious web of deceit? Children are deprived without a valid reason of the valuable love and unqualified support of the older generation who have so much life experience to pass on to their blood descendants.

Listen Now (MP3)

Click to read more ...

Walk Across Borders

With special guest:

• Steven Monk-Dalton

Our guest today Steven Monk-Dalton has not seen his daughter for five years despite making every effort through the legal system to be reunited. Steven is a victim of International Parental Child Abduction with the relevant countries on this occasion being Spain and England. The frustration after being let down many times got Steven thinking about other options because as he tells us he will never give up trying to see his daughter .

Steven always said that he would walk through any borders if it meant seeing his daughter again so the idea formed of walking from Orihuela Court in Spain to the Royal Court of Justice in London England. This involves walking across France in a 44 day journey doing on average 42 kilometres a day which is the Olympic marathon distance.

Listen Now (MP3)

Click to read more ...

Father’s Day: Sad for some Dads

With special guest:

• Karen Hodgkins

‘Dad’ is a documentary that Karen Hodgkins has made for a higher purpose than looking for film industry awards. This new film is a powerful and emotional appeal to the law makers and the law enforcers to do something for the Dads who are not travelling as well as frequently portrayed in our society.

In our interview today Karen tells us that she was asked by a Dad in May 2013 to do some research on the injustices in the Family Court and Child Support systems. This Dad was desperate to spend more time with his own children and suspected there was more going on than the general population is aware of.

Listen Now (MP3)

Click to read more ...

Torn

With special guest:

• Simon Williams

Simon Williams is a big strong Queenslander. We find him living in Florida USA, a long way from home with a heartbreaking story to tell.

Simon left Queensland for the USA with his qualifications as a Physiotherapist in his back pocket. After landing a job in Florida he joined the local rugby team where he was instantly identified by his accent as being from a strong rugby nation. While not reaching the heights of Wallaby selection Simon was selected for the Florida state rugby team and went on tour to Uruguay. This is one of the many adventures described by Simon in his new book Torn: The Story of an Undeserving Wallaby Drowning in a Septic Tank. This book is earthy, funny and provides a fresh look at our friends on the other side of the Pacific but there is an undercurrent throughout the book which is what we pick up on in the interview.

Listen Now (MP3)

Click to read more ...

International Missing Children’s Day – 25 May

With special guest:

• Rebecca Kotz

The Global Missing Children’s Network (GMCN) is a network of 22 partner agencies co-chaired by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and the International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (ICMEC). Participating countries range from Albania to the USA. The global campaign of this network is called Help Bring Them Home and it is being led by the AFP.

May 25, International Missing Children’s Day, is the day when people in Australia and around the world commemorate the missing children who have found their way home, the victims who did not come back and the continuing efforts to find those still missing.

Listen Now (MP3)

Click to read more ...

The Parental Alienation Syndrome

With special guest:

• Linda Gottlieb Kase

In this Parental Alienation Awareness Month we have previously spoken to an Australian expert, Stan Korosi, to find out what Parental Alienation means in the Australian context. In today’s program we go to New York to find out the latest on the way it is treated by the Courts and by therapists internationally. While Parental Alienation Syndrome (or PAS) still appears to be a controversial topic in Australia there is no difficulty in recognising this evil for what it is in the US.

Listen Now (MP3)

Click to read more ...

The scourge of Parental Alienation

With special guest:

• Stan Korosi

Stan Korosi was dragged unwillingly into the world of parental alienation when after separation and divorce he found his own child had inexplicably become hostile towards him and even his extended family. When he looked for help from legal practitioners and health professionals in Australia he found that little was known. Many in the field would not even admit that parental alienation existed. Looking further afield he found that there is reputable and evidence based research available in the United States.

Listen Now (MP3)

Click to read more ...

Parenting today in Amsterdam

With special guest:

• Benjamin Wondergem

Our guest today brings a European flavour to the program. Benjamin has confronted both personally and professionally many of the problems we see in Australia relating to shared parenting and fathers gaining access to their own children if the other parent is unwilling.

Listen Now (MP3)

Click to read more ...

'Dad' the Documentary

With special guest:

• Karen Hodgkins

‘Dad’ is a documentary that Karen Hodgkins has made for a higher purpose than looking for film industry awards. This new film is a powerful and emotional appeal to the law makers and the law enforcers to do something for the Dads who are not travelling as well as frequently portrayed in our society.

Listen Now (MP3)

Click to read more ...

Parental Alienation Action

 With special guests:

• Jill Egizii
• Karen Lebow

In the USA just as in Australia there are many judges, lawyers, psychiatrists and psychologists who have no idea of the damage done by parental alienation. Many in the general public do not even know there is a name for what they see happening to friends, workmates and even themselves.

For this reason it is vital that we improve the awareness and education relating to parental alienation. With that awareness of the damage done to children and parents will come social change.

Today we cross to the USA to talk to two highly motivated women who have their own personal stories to tell. They tell us how they used their own experience as a springboard to develop networks and action plans for dealing with this form of child abuse.

If you are not sure about what can be done to respond to this blight on our parenting practices listen in to hear what our guests are doing in such a big way.
 

Listen Now (MP3)

Click to read more ...

Familists V Feminists

 With special guests:

• Kingsley (Kip) Miller
• Gil Ronen

Kingsley (Kip) Miller

Kip Miller is a fathers’ rights activist who is described by Lord Justice Thorpe of the UK Family Division as having a history of responsible campaigning and writing on issues relating to family relationships. He holds qualifications in Research Methods and is trained in Child Psychology and Child Sociology with a Teachers’ Certificate and a Masters Degree.

Listen Now (MP3)

Click to read more ...

Europe for Christmas

With special guests:

• Benjamin Wondergem
• Ken Thompson
• Peter Tromp
• Robert Whiston

In our last show for 2011 and in the leadup to Christmas we have a European flavour. In the studio we are joined by Benjamin Wondergem visiting Sydney from the Netherlands and Ken Thompson who is well known to listeners in connection with the Hague Convention and more generally in the area of reforming the law on International Parental Child Abduction.

Listen Now (MP3)

Click to read more ...

The Journey

 With special guests:

• Ken Thompson and
• Heath Cole.  

 
 

Both our guests today have been on a bicycle journey.

Ken Thompson became well known when he decided to take direct action after his child was abducted overseas by the other parent. After riding on his bicycle around Europe publicising his quest to find his child Ken was contacted by Interpol with news that his child had been located. Ken is now part of an international movement to help parents who have been the victim of this destructive behaviour and to agitate for changes in the law to make this type of child abduction a crime in all countries, including Australia. Ken presents a lucid explanation of the problem of international parental child alienation, what is being done about it and what we all hope is the way forward.

Our second guest is Heath Cole. Last Friday Heath completed with his team of four other riders a 1000 kilometre ride in the Riverina to raise funds and awareness of mental health. Heath received a warm welcome in the towns of Tumbarumba, Tumut, Cootamundra, Temora and Griffith and finishing the course where he started in Wagga Wagga. Heath spoke candidly about his own battles with the “Black Dog” and how the bike ride has helped in raising his own spirits as well as raising funds for Riverina Bluebell, the local charity dealing with mental health issues. Heath talks about the warning signs of depression and what you should do about it. This is very to pical in view of World Mental Health Day on Monday 10 October 2011 and the ongoing Mental Health Month in NSW.

Click to read more ...

Do Politicians Really Care About Ordinary Australians?

With special guests:

• Sue Price
• Paul Mischefski and
• Tony Smith.

The Doomsday Cult appears to have moved their headquarters to the environs of the Australian Federal Parliament building in Canberra, where scaremongering  and the spreading of apocalyptic predictions of meter high sea level rises and pending invasions by hordes of uninvited boat arrivals, preoccupy the national debate.

We live in a chaotic environment, that sees our Political leaders fall over themselves to see who can deliver the most outrageous daily prophecy of pending catastrophic disasters, in order to feed the frenzy of the 24 hour media news cycle.

As we watch this childish, unstatesmen like display by our Political leadership, ordinary Australians shake their head and go about dealing with the everyday concerns that affect their personal daily lives.  

As the picture illustrates, from the Prime Minister Julia Gillard down, contempt by our elected Parliamentary leadership for the real every day concerns of the Australian public is obvious, and nowhere is this more evident than in the area of Family Law.

The Nation’s, nowhere to be seen Attorney General and his equally invisible opposition counterpart, simply refuse to debate some of the most outrageous proposals ever tabled in our National Parliament by an Australian Attorney General.  This is in the form of the proposed Family Law Amendment [Family Violence] Bill - 2010,  and on today’s show we discuss a number of the contentious issues which have raised so much concern amongst the non-custodial parent groups.  

Our first guest is Sue Price of the Men’s Rights Agency, who co-hosts today’s show from her headquarters in Brisbane. Joining her from Brisbane, is well known journalist, researcher and magazine editor Paul Mischefski,  who is also executive member of Men’s Wellbeing Inc, Queensland. Our final guest is Tony Smith, a senior Queensland  lawyer, who represented the people of Queensland as a Federal Politician, when he was elected to the House of Representatives in 1996.   

With a shared wealth of knowledge about the ravages that Family Law outcomes have inflicted on unsuspecting litigants, today’s guests speak out against what some have described as “another dogs breakfast of new Family Law Amendments”.

Of greatest concern is the apathy and disinterest shown by so many of our elected representatives, when they deal with such important, sensitive human rights issues as are involved in Family Law matters. Particularly in the way they repeatedly allow themselves to be so easily manipulated by various unsubstantiated claims, made by a plethora of  self interest groups, who rely on the indifference or lack of intellectual ability of many of our Parliamentarians, to challenge the accuracy of the information provided.

It is therefore not surprising to see such a rash of poorly drafted legislation being presented to Parliament, especially when so many of our elected representatives appear to lack the knowledge, experience and commonsense to understand much of the underlying meaning and possible ramifications of what is really being proposed. For responsible parents, its a very good time to be vigilant!

Editor

Listen Now (MP3)

Click to read more ...

The State - The Public - The Media

With special guest:

• “Rick”

While we silently agree to live in an ignorant, apathetic, environment, passively accepting the constant  flow of mis-information dished out by an army of spin doctors, we are not unlike the 3 monkeys. As we refuse to speak out, fail to question, and continue to ignore the facts, we allow ourselves to be used and dictated to, by an establishment which is slowly strangling our Family relationships, our personal independence, and our individual creativity. Many of our human rights have been devalued or taken away, in order for the State to maintain control over our human instincts to love and protect those dear to us.  

Democracy and independence is what our fathers fought for, with many paying the ultimate sacrifice. To see our nation slowly slipping into a ruthless form of dictatorship, is against everything our ancestors stood and died for. Today a parent can be jailed for sending a birthday card to his stolen child, while another desperate parent is forced to climb the Sydney Harbour bridge, in order to draw attention to the fact he hasn’t been allowed to see his stolen children for 70 days.

This is all made possible by the lack of effective Family Law legislation, which would and should, give better protection to separating parents and their children. Instead, an apathetic community silently accepts the false notion, that in our Family Courts, the nation’s children are protected from harm by a just and fair system that prides itself on a foundation of truth, equality and fairness.

The reality however, sees a dogs breakfast of legal mumbo jumbo, created by a hodgepodge of vested interests. The original legislators who drafted such draconian legislation, came from a very different era in time than we live in today, a time when human values were somewhat different.   

It was also a time when little was known about brainwashing techniques and how the human mind reacts when another person or group has taken /or been given, total control over every aspect of a persons being. The Stockholm Syndrome, Parental Alienation, Dr. Zimbardo’s Stanford Prison Experiment and the Milgram Obedience Experiment were all still in the learning and discovery stages.   

Yet here we are, just like the three blind, deaf and dumb monkeys, living in a society that prides itself on being better informed, but accepting at face value everything the media and politicians throw at us. No questions asked, no challenges as to the accuracy of the information, and many obstacles put in our way to prevent us from discovering the truth and accuracy of any such information.  

This is the environment in which today’s parents are desperately trying to maintain some level of meaningful contact with their children, often at great personal cost and enormous level of stress. Unfortunately, since legal parenting rights have long ago been taken away by the State, engaging in the Family Court system on the premise of some sort of perceived parenting rights, is an exercise in futility. Of particular importance therefore, is to remember the fact that No rights in effect means No justice!  

Our guest today is one such parent, who has tried everything to remain in contact with his children, but all to no avail. We call him  “Rick”, not his real name for legal reasons, and he joins us to speak about his recent six month in jail for trying to communicate with his estranged daughter. We are not to reveal the identity of this father, supposedly in order to protect the identity of his children, but as everyone knows, in reality it conveniently protects the identities of all those involved with the forcible stealing of his children from his love, care and protection. Welcome to the Monkey Cage! 

Editor

Listen Now (MP3)

Click to read more ...

Dispossessed Australian Mothers Speak Out

With special guests:

• ‘Diana’
• ‘Hayley’ and
• ‘Marissa’

In an amazing show of solidarity, dispossessed mothers are joining the ranks of dispossessed fathers in calling for genuine reform of Family Law, instead of the smoke and mirror reforms regularly dished up by successive governments. Like the many fathers, these mothers are concerned for the welfare of their children, and slam the next round of proposed Family Law Amendments by the Australian ‘Gillard’ Government, as another exercise in futility.

Joining us on this special program of gender solidarity, are three courageous dispossessed mothers, ‘Diana’, ‘Hayley’ and ‘Marissa’, (not their real names for legal reasons) who share a little of their personal stories, and offer their views on the proposed ‘Gillard’ government’s Family Law Amendments.   

They are appalled at the way the system has allowed their ex-partners to remove the children from the love, care and protection of their mothers, and how it then protects itself from public scrutiny, by not allowing them to reveal their true identity when telling us their story.

These mothers are determined to expose the damaging gender divide, which has been artificially created, in order to cause the maximum level of conflict between parents, for maximum economic benefit of the divorce industry. The outcome of this intrusive industry interference, which shelters under the ‘Best Interest of the Children’ umbrella, is the on-going unnecessary destruction of countless loving parent/child relationships.  

The increasing number of distressed mothers who are falling victim to the ravages of these deeply flawed Laws, hold grave concerns that the proposed new amendments, which astonishingly include the abolition of penalties for perjury, will see a growing number of fathers take advantage of the many  unbelievable weaknesses in the legislation.   

Many mothers now share the incredible grief and pain the current Family Laws inflict on separating families, and are horrified at the way an unsuspecting community has allowed itself to be manipulated into believing these gender divisive outcomes, are the result of naturally occurring battles between Men and Women. They are determined to help close this perceived gender divide, by drawing public attention to the fact that this whole gender divisive myth around Family Law, has been artificially created in order to enhance the divide and conquer principle underpinning the lucrative divorce industry.  

While most fathers have also generally believed the legislation to favour mothers, many mothers have discovered the now wide ranging definitions of Domestic Violence legislation, which is administered by the States, make it relatively easy for either one of the parents to make a malicious first strike by making false allegations of violence and abuse against their ex-partners. They do so in order to obtain an insurmountable advantage over the other parent, as the children are automatically left in the care of those making the allegations.

Such vexatious claims take considerable time and money to investigate, and because during this period the children are left with the perjuring accuser,  such valuable time is used to indoctrinate the children and turn them against the accused parent. Then along comes the Family Court Judiciary, who generally rubber stamp such established living arrangements, claiming them to represent the “Best Interest of the Children”.

The vast majority of both mothers and fathers around the country, find it difficult to believe that Australia’s chief law officer, the Attorney General, Robert McClelland, would actually propose the abolition of punishment for the crime of perjury in any jurisdiction, but especially so in the emotionally charged jurisdiction of Family Law, where so many children continue to be removed from loving, protective parents, based on the evidence provided by perjurers.  

Forcibly separated and alienated from their children, Australian mothers are joining forces with the fathers and will continue to speak out and raise public awareness in an unsuspecting community. A community not yet fully aware, that by providing the perfect platform for tearing apart important family bonds, the Australian government is unwittingly engaged in the destruction of the very fabric that holds our fragile society together.

Editor

Listen Now (MP3)

Click to read more ...

Family Law and Feminism

With special guests:

• Wayne Butler and
• Suzanne Venker.

Hot on the heels of the Pink Bats fiasco, the Gillard Government in Australia, is now rushing headlong into another policy debacle, that of the proposed Family Law Amendments [Family Violence] Bill 2010, which will cause many thousands of Australian men, women and children, to lose contact with their families. It will also result in an increased associated loss of life, as a growing number of desperate parents and children see no alternative, but to put an end to the extreme emotional pain they are experiencing as a result of appalling legislation, forced upon them against their will.  

Under the guise of needing to protect children from ‘alleged’ abuse while on contact visits with their non-custodial parents, the proposed [Family Violence] amendments will provide a perfect platform, from which toxic custodial parents will be able to launch their perjurious, child-kidnapping raids, safe in the knowledge that they will be able to do so successfully with absolute impunity.   

In a further act of Political arrogance, the Attorney General, the Hon Robert McClelland MP, has refused to publish any of the publicly invited submissions from organisations and affected members of the public. There is widespread community dismay at this contemptuous, secretive behaviour, which many believe to be because publication of the submissions would expose the glaring flaws in the proposed amendments.  

Once again we witness an example of a bungling Government, happy to engage in a deliberate attempt to keep the electorate in the dark for Political expediency. It has been suggested that perhaps this is the Gillard example of what’s  ‘In the Best Interest of Children’?    

Our first guest this week is Wayne Butler, Executive Secretary, Shared Parenting Council of Australia (SPCA), who will speak in detail about the issues involved with the proposed Family Law Amendments [Family Violence] Bill 2010, and discuss the contents of the combined media release of a number of like minded, concerned parenting organisations.   

Wayne was a foundation member of the Shared Parenting Council of Australia which was formed by Geoffrey Greene in 2002, and was appointed as the Executive Secretary role in 2003 and has retained the post since.  

Wayne has been involved in preparing extensive submissions and representations to Government since 2000 in relation to Family Law and Child Support Legislation changes. In particular the HORISP report, Child Support Taskforce and submissions / attendances to various Senate committees, review work on the SRL project in the Family Court and other legislative reform submissions including works on relocation cases, and Change of Circumstance submission. 

Our second guest is American Author and Freelance Writer Suzanne Venker, who will discuss her insightful new book ‘The FLIPSIDE of FEMINISM: What Conservative Women Know — and Men Can’t Say’  

Suzanne’s writing tends toward the provocative — as evidenced by her first book, 7 Myths of Working Mothers, which argues that young children and demanding careers are incompatible. Her book is a Main Selection of Bookspan’s American Compass Book Club and is listed on Jeff Rubin’s Guide to Best Conservative Books.

Suzanne has appeared on ABC, CNN, FOX, C-Span, PAX, EWTN — as well as hundreds of radio shows throughout the country. Suzanne’s work has also appeared in Human Events, National Review, World Net Daily, and the New York Post.  

“Since the 1960s, American feminists have set themselves up as the arbiters of all things female. Their policies have dominated the social and political landscape. The “spin sisters” in the media (aptly named by Myrna Blyth in her book of the same name) and their cohorts in academia are committed feminists. Consequently, everything Americans know — or think they know — about marriage, kids, education, politics, gender roles, and work/family balance, has been filtered through a left-wing lens.  

But what if conservative women are in the best position to empower American women?   Forty years have passed since the so-called women’s movement claimed to liberate women from preconceived notions of what it means to be female – and the results are in. The latest statistics from the National Bureau of Economic Research show that “as women have gained more freedom, more education, and more power, they have become less happy.”  

Enough, say Suzanne Venker and Phyllis Schlafly. It’s time to liberate America from feminism’s dead-end road. Cast off the ideology that preaches faux empowerment and liberation from men and marriage. While modern women enjoy unprecedented freedom and opportunities, Venker and Schlafly argue that this progress is not the result of feminism.  

Women’s progress has been a natural evolution – due in large part to men’s contributions. American men are not a patriarchal bunch, as feminists claim. They have, in fact, aided women’s progress. And like women, they have been just as harmed by the feminist movement”.

Editor

Listen Now (MP3)

Click to read more ...

Brazil Criminalizes Parental Alienation

With special guests:

• Brian Ludmer
• Dr. Tamara Brockhausen and
• Judge Elizio Perez.

Finally the world has witnessed the first Government with the courage and insight to recognize and legislate for the criminalization of Parental Alienation. Brazil is the first country in the world to actually enshrine the cursed criminal behavior of Parental Alienation into its criminal code of justice. By so doing, Brazil is now leading the way into facing up to the  world’s human rights responsibilities, which obliges every country to protect the human rights of it’s nations’ children, by ensuring all their children enjoy a continuing relationship with both of their responsible parents.  

First up we speak with Brian Ludmer, Lawyer and Expert on Parental Alienation in Toronto Canada. Brian is a highly credentialed lawyer with expertise in corporate /commercial and securities law and Family Law, most particularly with Parental Alienation.

The advantages of having exposure to both fields is that his commercial background brings a perspective to what Family Law could be or should be when Family Law is often dysfunctional. The understanding promotes negotiations between parents. The difference is that in business the benefits are often shared which may not be the case in Family Law. In Family Law it is often a zero sum with winner takes all instead of the optimal situation of two healthy homes.

Brian has written many papers on PA. He defines PA as a pattern of behaviour or a strategy by an aligned parent leading to a rejection in whole or in part of the other parent. You look at the results to determine if it is mild, moderate or severe. It is sometimes called “Parental Alienation Syndrome.”

We then speak with Tamara Brockhausen Psychologist and writer on Parental Alienation from Sao Paolo, Brazil, who is the wife of Judge Elizio Perez, the Brazilian Judge who wrote the world’s first Law criminalising Parental Alienation from Sao Paolo, Brazil. Tamara kindly volunteered to translates the interview with Judge Perez.

Judge Perez commented that although parental alienation occurs in Brazil as it does in other countries the justice system ignored it until the legislation that he introduced.

The law has been in place in Brazil since August 2010. There is still some resistance in Brazil to even the existence of PA among professionals such as therapists so the Judge sees this as a good thing that the law is in place.

The broader application of the law is that parents who are worried that there may be PA occurring can read the law for themselves and then ask questions. They are worried about the penalties to which they may be exposing themselves.

A good thing about the new law is that PA is set out and defined so Judges can do something without having to wait for a report from Psychologists or other professional experts.

Judge Perez said that the list of symptoms set out in the law came from the professional advisers such as therapists and affected parents. When proved in Court the Judge can impose a fine or one of the other penalties.

The penalties available include uncapped fines. The Judge determines the amount of the fine after taking everything into account including the severity of the alienation and the means of the parents. Fines have ranged from $100 to $1000 a day while the alienation continues. Other remedies include increasing the time with a parent or making it joint. If joint is not possible the Judge can reverse the residence order.

Click to read more ...