Co-parenting the children with your ex can be challenging in the best of circumstances. Unfortunately, few joint parenting situations are ideal after Florida parents are divorced. The chances are that you do not get along with your ex when it comes to parenting matters like you did not get along with him or her when you were married. You should understand the differences between ordinary disagreements and when one parent purposefully attempts to alienate the other from the children.
According to Psychology Today, parental alienation syndrome occurs when one parent takes constant, deliberate efforts to turn the children and other people against the other parent. If your ex is an alienating parent, he or she may use the following common tactics:
- Forcing the children to choose sides, rather than reassuring them that both parents love them and want the best for them
- Making up false scenarios or blowing arguments out of proportion to make the other parent look bad
- Sabotaging visitation time with the children
- Getting other people, including relatives and mutual friends, to support the alienating parent
It can be devastating to children and the affected parent when the other one uses alienation tactics. Even worse, the emotional damage can continue into the children’s adult lives. Often, the parent who engages in parental alienation syndrome is affected by a mental disorder, such as narcissistic personality disorder – or, the alienating parent may simply be angry and bitter about the divorce and want to take revenge on the other parent. Regardless of the reasons, you and your children deserve to have a loving relationship with each other. Since legal counsel is often necessary in these situations, this information should not substitute for the advice of a lawyer.