I was in a conversation recently, and an explanation was given about why two daughters had chosen to live with their father and not their mother Now I don’t know if parental alienation is involved in this situation or not, I’m merely commenting on the opinion given. I was told: “I think all we need to know is that the girls left their mum so she must have done something wrong.” I spend my days creating these posts, even on my birthday, on special occasions, over Christmas, and when I hear this sort of comment, how do I feel? I’m not angry, I’m not critical, and I’m not even surprised at this point. People don’t get it, and it’s not really their fault. But I know, without a doubt, that I was judged this way myself, for ten years, and it just makes me feel even more determined to spread awareness about parental alienation. The misjudgement of others is not the sole reason for feeling this way. People judge and we can’t stop them from doing this. But if there was wider knowledge about alienating behaviours, it might not be quite as simple as condemning the parent who no longer has the children living with them, the parent who has a child who apparently ‘chose’ to live away from them or reject them. It’s not even ‘Joe Public’ who will really make the difference here. We need to get to the social services, the schools, the mental health world, the legal industrial complex of the family courts … we need those people in positions to help, to actually help. We need to change policy, to educate, we need these people/agencies to see through the charade and manipulation and coercion to ensure the child does not become as described in this post. These children are being hurt and abused and denied a relationship with a loved and loving parent. I’m not going to stop until this is widely understood and the millions of us who have suffered/still suffer are given the support so desperately needed. And especially for the children.
p.s. I want to do these posts, which is why I do them every day. I choose this. All I want to do is help.