Messy divorces can lead to complex feelings between you and your former spouse. However, when your spouse begins to turn your children against you, this is a serious situation known as parental alienation.
According to Healthline, parental alienation occurs when one parent turns children against their other parent.
Signs from the alienator
You may suspect alienation, but how can you tell? Alienators rely on secrecy to alienate you. He or she may not tell you about report cards and medical records and may even keep telling you about your children’s friends and milestones. While your spouse withholds information from you, he or she may ask your children personal questions about your life. Additionally, he or she may tell your children details about your personal life or relationship details they have no business knowing.
When you have your children, their other parent may plan activities that tempt them to spend time with him or her instead. Your ex may not allow them to bring their toys or personal belongings from one house to another.
Signs from the children
Children caught in parental alienation may criticize you constantly. They have a lot of justifications for their anger and will not waiver on it. Parental alienation does not just create conflict with children. It causes children to feel confident in their feelings. They will not feel guilty over how they treat you, but they will feel close to your spouse and become a supportive figure for their other parent. Children in parental alienation situations appear programmed by the alienator.
To prove parental alienation, the children should have had a close relationship with you before the alienation.
