Tag: Craig Childress Psy D

“ What do I do “ Questions answered – Craig Childress Psy D

I’m planning on answering all your questions.

I think the first question I’ll answer is a question you haven’t asked but you have, “Doctor Childress, what do I do?”

The answer depends on some things, but I can start at the beginning and then move through those things one-by-one as I answer the follow-up questions you didn’t ask either, but you have.

“Doctor Childress, I’m just arriving in the family courts, what do I do?”

Well first, do first things first. You have a problem. You need to fix your problem. For that you’ll need a treatment plan – and – in all of healthcare, diagnosis guides treatment.

Your first plan is to get a plan to fix the problem. For that you’ll need an accurate diagnosis for what the problem is.

Once you’re properly oriented to your situation and have a plan, then do the next thing. You’ll need to develop a plan towards the goal you want to achieve, then move relentlessly in executing your plan towards that goal.

The pathogen is pattern. See the patterns, expect the patterns, predict it, plan for it, when it moves be ready for its movement, and respond with your planned response when it does its predictable things.

“Doctor Childress, how do I prove to a judge what’s going on?”

Judges don’t diagnose pathology, doctors do. You need a proper mental health assessment of the problem that leads to an accurate diagnosis. This is not a legal problem, it’s a mental health problem (pathology) that’s in the family courts.

You want to convince the judge of the need to identify the problem before we develop a remedy to fix it.

“Doctor Childress, how do I get a proper mental health assessment of my family problem?”

To begin with, do NOT get a forensic custody evaluation, they are pointless, expensive, and solve nothing. If you do get a forensic custody evaluation, you are likely to be bringing it to me for a second opinion review, so anticipate you will have a surcharge-of-me to correct the problematic issues that arise.

You want a clinical diagnostic assessment to the potential differential diagnosis involved that returns an accurate diagnosis, so an effective treatment plan can be developed to solve the problem in your family.

I can anticipate some of your initial questions. I can answer some of your initial questions, which will then go to my YouTube channel to answer all the questions that are arriving.

You parents keep arriving with exactly the same variants of the problem (pathology). It’s a pattern, you can plan for the patterns of the pathology.

Each day, there are newly divorcing families who are entering the family courts… some with this pathology. These parents are disoriented. They expected a divorce, not this.

They have questions. I should answer their questions – and – step-by-step I’ll eventually reach where you are and will answer your spot-on question that you haven’t asked.

The pathology is pattern. That allows us to develop a plan for the pattern.

Pattern 1: the pathogen wants to drive this into the legal system to make it as hard as possible for you to see your child, and to put you on “trial” for being a bad parent/(spouse).

Response 1: Don’t let it do that. Move this into the healthcare system to make it about treatment not custody. Change the ground your fighting this on. Change systems for the solution.

Once we clearly understand what the problem is, THEN we can decide on custody schedules, once we have an accurate diagnosis for the cause of the pathology (problem) in the family.

Don’t move to remedy before you have a verdict, don’t move into treatment before you have a diagnosis. Calm your anxiety, move step-by-step.

I should start answering your un-asked always-asked questions, “Dr. Childress, what do I do?”

Develop a plan, then start at the beginning and execute your plan. You want a written treatment plan to fix the problem, that’s your initial plan, to get one of those.

Craig Childress, Psy.D.
Clinical Psychologist, CA PSY 18857

Craig Childress Psy D “Experts”

Gardnerian PAS “experts”

Just to be clear… immensely clear…

The Gardnerian PAS “experts” are a fringe group of professionals who reject the diagnostic guidance of the American Psychiatric Association and who reject the ethical guidance of the American Psychological Association, and they are in violation of Standard 2.04 Bases for Scientific and Professional Judgments.

Google ignorance: lack of knowledge or information

The Gardnerian PAS “experts” are ignorant by definition of the English language – they lack knowledge and information about the established scientific and professional knowledge of the discipline. The ONLY thing they are “experts” in is a pathology they can entirely make-up.

Am I clear?

In 2013 the American Psychiatric Association fully and completely reviewed the construct of “parental alienation” and they said no – the APA said there is no such diagnostic pathology as “parental alienation”.

The American Psychiatric Association said no. That should be the end of it for all responsible professionals.

A delusion is a fixed and false belief that is maintained despite contrary evidence. The contrary evidence regarding “parental alienation” as a diagnostic construct is the APA said no – there is no such thing as “parental alienation”.

To believe that you are discovering a new pathology unlike any other pathology in all of mental health is grandiose.

Standard 2.04 of the APA ethics code requires – mandatory – that the established scientific and professional knowledge of the discipline be applied as the bases for professional judgments – required.

2.04 Bases for Scientific and Professional Judgments
Psychologists’ work is based upon established scientific and professional knowledge of the discipline.

The construct of “parental alienation” is NOT among the established scientific and professional knowledge of the discipline. The established scientific and professional knowledge of the discipline is:

  • Attachment – Bowlby & others
  • Family systems therapy – Bowen & others
  • Personality disorders – Millon & others
  • Complex trauma – van der Kolk & others
  • Psychological control – Barber & others
  • Child development – Tronick & others
  • Self psychology – Kohut & others
  • DSM-5 diagnostic system – American Psychiatric Association

The application of the established scientific and professional knowledge of the discipline is required as the bases for scientific and professional judgments.

If they want to propose a new form of pathology unique in all of mental health, they should do so only AFTER they apply the established scientific and professional knowledge of the discipline. Not before. Not instead of. After.

The Gardernian PAS “experts” believe that they know more about diagnosing pathology than the American Psychiatric Association. That seems grandiose. They believe that the are discovering a new pathology unique in all of mental health. That seems grandiose.

They maintain their fixed and false belief in a new form of pathology they are discovering (making up) despite the contrary evidence of the APA saying no – that there is no such thing as “parental alienation” as a diagnostic construct.

It would appear that the Gardnerian PAS “experts” have a fixed and false belief in their own grandiosity that is maintained despite contrary evidence.

The Gardnerian PAS “experts” are a fringe group of professionals who reject the diagnostic guidance of the American Psychiatric Association. They think they know more than the APA about pathology and its diagnosis.

The Gardnerian PAS “experts” reject the ethical guidance of the American Psychological Association. They believe that ethical standards don’t apply to them. They are wrong.

They are simply unethical.

By continuing to rely on the construct of “parental alienation” as the basis for their professional judgments, the – unethical – Gardnerian PAS “experts” are substantially degrading the quality of professional services in the family courts.

Am I clear? I hope I’m clear.

Ethical practice is NOT optional. It is mandatory – required. Beware the fox and the cat, Pinocchio.

Craig Childress, Psy.D.
Clinical Psychologist, CA PSY 18857

No need to prove- Craig Childress Psy D

You do not need to prove something to someone, you need the mental health professionals to do their job to protect your child – and you – from psychological abuse by a narcissistic-borderline-dark personality parent.

The patient should NEVER have to explain the pathology to the doctor, that should never happen… and yet you do here is the family courts, that shows you exactly how bad things are.

I have a Mental Health Consultation page on my Consulting Website (drcachildress-consulting) for parents to provide to their mental health professional to have a doctor explain the pathology, its assessment and diagnosis, to the other doctors.

On the Attorney’s Resource page I have a Pathology Description Handout – “this”.

You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him protect your children. Yes we can, that’s their job. We need to hold them accountable to do their job.

They won’t. They’ll flee. They are ignorant and incompetent. That’s why they’re here, they don’t need to know anything or solve anything. If you ask them to know or solve… they’ll flee.

Clinical psychologists don’t work in the family courts, it’s too professionally dangerous – that’s why they created a whole “special” group of psychologists just for you – they’re called “forensic” psychologists and they are the worst imaginable.

Everything is broken everywhere. That’s okay, we’re going to fix it. Movement by one is movement by everyone. We just keep moving and we just don’t stop until… we protect the child – and you – from psychological abuse by a narcissistic-borderline-dark personality ex-spouse and parent.

A child rejecting a parent is an attachment pathology. Use real knowledge, it’s too important. Don’t be lazy. The attachment system is the brain system that governs all aspects of love and bonding throughout the lifespan, including grief and loss. A child rejecting a parent is a problem in love and bonding, a problem in the attachment system.

We need to fix it. This is a treatment issue, NOT a custody issue. This is a pathology of lies – start by fixing this first one. You be clear in your understanding and expectations – Dr. Childress says it’s Child Psychological Abuse (a shared persecutory delusion)… is that right?

Ask them. Give them my Mental Health Consultation page.

You are the protective parent. I know that and you know that. They need to understand that and step-up into their (mandatory) professional duty to protect obligations… or explain to you why they don’t protect you or your child.

Doctors diagnose pathology so we will know what to do to fix it. The treatment for cancer is different than the treatment for diabetes. Is there a shared persecutory delusion – yes or no – if no… why not?

Get them to rate your parenting – rating of the targeted parent – on the Parenting Practices Rating Scale (on the Mental Health Consultation page of my Consulting Website).

Diagnosis guides treatment – in all of healthcare, including all of mental health care… except here. Why is that? Why is it ONLY in the family courts that the doctors refuse – refuse – to identify what the problem is – to diagnose what the pathology is?

We must first diagnose what the pathology is before we know how to treat it. We must first identify what the problem is before we know how to fix it.

Diagnosis = identify
Pathology = problem
Treatment = fix it

You can use those words interchangeably. To make common-sense points use the common-sense terms – we first need to identify what the problem is. To make professional points use the professional terms – we need to first diagnose what the pathology is… is there a shared persecutory delusion, yes or no, and if no… why not?

We are going to hold the doctors accountable for doing their job of protecting your children – and you. It’s called their “duty to protect” obligation – it is activated whenever they encounter any one of three dangerous pathologies, suicide, homicide, or abuse (child, spousal, elder).

The ONLY thing that causes severe attachment pathology in a child is child abuse by one parent or the other.

  1. Targeted Parent Abusive: Either the targeted parent is abusive, thereby creating the child’s attachment pathology toward that parent,

A two-person attribution of causality,

  1. Allied Parent Abusive: Or the allied parent is psychologically abusing the child by creating a shared persecutory delusion and false (factitious; artificially created) attachment pathology in the child for secondary gain to the narcissistic-borderline-dark personality parent of manipulating the court’s decisions regarding child custody, and to meet the pathological parent’s own emotional and psychological needs – DSM-5 V995.51 Child Psychological Abuse,

a three-person – triangle – attribution of causality.

Diagnosis guides treatment in all of healthcare, including all of mental health care. If we treat cancer with insulin the patient dies from the misdiagnosed cancer.

You did nothing wrong. It’s not your fault. You don’t need to defend or prove reality, you simply need the doctors to do their job. You have a crazy (delusional) ex-spouse who is inducing the false beliefs (a factitious attachment pathology) in the child to manipulate the court.

In ALL cases of severe attachment pathology surrounding court-involved child custody conflict, a proper risk assessment needs to be conducted to the appropriate differential diagnosis for each parent.

We are building the plane while we’re flying the plane, because this is your child and you need a solution. This is the worst possible attachment pathology, there is nothing worse that a complete breach in the parent-child attachment bond. We need to fix it.

You want a treatment plan to fix the pathology (problem) in your child and family. You’re the lay-person patient, that’s all you need to know and do, the doctors need to take it from there – diagnosis into treatment. That’s their job – that’s what the doctor means – they diagnose (identify) and treat (fix) pathology (problems) in children and families.

This is a pathology of lies. Don’t believe them. You don’t need to prove something to someone, you just need them to do their jobs. And don’t believe the nonsense your child says – that’s just crazy stuff – the profession word for “crazy” is delusional, the type of delusion is called a persecutory delusion – a fixed and false belief that they (or someone to whom they are close) are being malevolently treated in some way.

From the APA: “Persecutory Type: delusions that the person (or someone to whom the person is close) is being malevolently treated in some way.” (American Psychiatric Association, 2000)

Craig Childress, Psy.D.
Clinical Psychologist, CA PSY 18857