Birthday pact reverses deprogramming therapy order for three boys
April 27, 2009 at 8:54 PM EDT - Excerpts from the article:
"When an 18-year-old man arrived for a birthday dinner at his mother's house a few days ago, he never dreamed it would end one of the most bitter disputes in Canadian family court history."
"That birthday pact led directly to a firm agreement, signed over the weekend at an emotional meeting attended by lawyers and family members. Under its terms, the family's three sons cannot be separated or forcibly sent to a parental alienation centre for treatment."
"The family burst into headlines last fall, when a judge ordered that the two youngest boys be sent to a US treatment facility to be deprogrammed. A judge gave the youth legal standing in the case after he said he wanted to raise his brothers apart from either parent.
Yesterday, in a revealing conversation, P.F. criticized therapists and child welfare authorities in the case for clutching to pet theories about parental alienation syndrome. Under the controversial PAS diagnosis, children who are seen to have been systematically poisoned toward one parent by the other cannot evaluate their emotions accurately.
“I think they have done a lot more harm than good for our family,” P.F. said. “I think they were tilting the whole case in a direction that was more favourable to them, which was a more costly and stressful and damaging alternative for us. We don't need all these people getting into our lives and directing the way things go.”He also criticized the justice system for too easily sidelining children who are caught up in their parents' warfare.
“Where people are making decisions, the kids should at least be heard and their opinions thoroughly considered; not interpreted or cast aside, as they were here,” he said. “When it is possible to simply walk up and say, ‘This kid is parentally alienated,' that instantly takes away all their credibility. Our family made their minds up for themselves. In a way, we emancipated ourselves from these professionals that have been breathing down our necks the whole time.”
"When an 18-year-old man arrived for a birthday dinner at his mother's house a few days ago, he never dreamed it would end one of the most bitter disputes in Canadian family court history."
"That birthday pact led directly to a firm agreement, signed over the weekend at an emotional meeting attended by lawyers and family members. Under its terms, the family's three sons cannot be separated or forcibly sent to a parental alienation centre for treatment."
"The family burst into headlines last fall, when a judge ordered that the two youngest boys be sent to a US treatment facility to be deprogrammed. A judge gave the youth legal standing in the case after he said he wanted to raise his brothers apart from either parent.
Yesterday, in a revealing conversation, P.F. criticized therapists and child welfare authorities in the case for clutching to pet theories about parental alienation syndrome. Under the controversial PAS diagnosis, children who are seen to have been systematically poisoned toward one parent by the other cannot evaluate their emotions accurately.
“I think they have done a lot more harm than good for our family,” P.F. said. “I think they were tilting the whole case in a direction that was more favourable to them, which was a more costly and stressful and damaging alternative for us. We don't need all these people getting into our lives and directing the way things go.”He also criticized the justice system for too easily sidelining children who are caught up in their parents' warfare.
“Where people are making decisions, the kids should at least be heard and their opinions thoroughly considered; not interpreted or cast aside, as they were here,” he said. “When it is possible to simply walk up and say, ‘This kid is parentally alienated,' that instantly takes away all their credibility. Our family made their minds up for themselves. In a way, we emancipated ourselves from these professionals that have been breathing down our necks the whole time.”
Labels: Children's Voices, Family Court Interference, PAS
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6:39 PM
