By Christopher Thomson, President NCFM Montana Chapter

Parental Alienation: “a disorder that arises primarily in the context of child-custody disputes.

Its primary manifestation is the child’s campaign of denigration against a parent, a campaign that has no justification. It results from the combination of a programming (brainwashing) parent’s indoctrination and the child’s own contributions to the vilification of the targeted parent.”

Parental alienation is often the byproduct of the use of false reporting of abuse and is emotionally devastating our children, leading to the explosion in pharmaceutical treatments, turning so many of our youth into federally sanctioned, federally funded drug addicts. Much of this is the direct result of the Violence Against Women Act and its lack of provisions protecting against false reporting; I recently had the pleasure of interviewing a teenage boy who has been victimized by this “silver bullet” in child custody arrangements.

The fourteen-year-old boy we will refer to as “Orion” after the mythological hero, began his story a decade prior. Then four-years-old, Orion’s mother and father were separated; one day his mother called his father weeping that Orion was out-of-control, punching her in the face. Dad intervened, “spanked me as he should have” Orion said, then the mother used the incident and Child Protective Services (CPS) to alienate the child from his father.

Over the following decade Orion was prescribed more than a dozen medications and subjected to constant turmoil under sole care of his mother. The two frequently fought, often resulting in mom calling the police, or the step-father intervening, striking the child until he had a headache; paradoxically, Orion was on medications for headaches.

Unable to resolve Orion’s issues, his mother began incarcerating him in a myriad of psychiatric hospitals and boys homes to “fix his problems”. Spending one summer in such an institution, his father capitalized on the situation, reentering his life traveling over three hundred miles round trip to visit as often as he could. When the child was released he was given the ultimatum to return to his mother or start a new life with dad, he chose the former “hoping things were changed, but they had not.”

Recognizing the cycle of destruction, Orion recently contacted his father pleading to relocate and it was arranged. Since, he has ceased all medications, losing 50 pounds in the process, and an innovative combination of sensory deprivation and outdoor adventure based therapies have been used to build self-confidence, self esteem, and motivation.

Recounting the abuses from his past to one counselor compelled the professional to file a report of abuse. Immediately realizing the indiscretion, the Regional Director of CPS rented a 2011 Ford Mustang, an alluring way to allow the father and son to travel hundreds of miles to complete the report. An interview was done by an independent agency that has opted to follow up and hold appropriate parties accountable.

This brave young man has been removed from a toxic environment and is on the road to recovery, but there is much work to heal over a decade of damage. Sadly, he is forced to watch his half-brother be subjected to the “silver bullet” as the two boys’ respective mothers attempt to remove his father. Orion asked to do this interview praying society will “save my brother from going through everything I have been through”; I for one am willing to stand up with this heroic young man to say “Changes must be made to the Violence Against Women Act to protect our children!”

Parental Alienation

Parental Alienation