Parental Alienation Day April 25th, 2011

An article/essay came to my attention through the social networking site LinkedIn. The reason it caught my attention was because the author, Rosalind Sedacca, CCT, was reiterating the beliefs I hold strongly as a professional divorce attorney mediator. I followed this wise author to her website and found the article was her blog for the week. I cannot help but comment on her article today and include her wise words, with due credit of course.

The first thing I learned from this article was that April 25th was the sixth annual Parental Alienation Day. I didn’t know there were such a day. What I was interested in though was how the children’s issues related to divorce. There are several concerns Ms. Sedacca mentions in her article which I want to emphasize :

• Never restrict contact with the alternate parent as punishment.
• Never put your children in the middle of your adult conflicts or use your children as a “lever.”
• Never put your children in the middle of your parental conflict as choosing always hurts the children.

The reason I practice law as a mediator rather than as a litigator is because  as Ms. Sedacca states in her article,

“All children need positive role models of responsible parenting. They benefit from seeing two mature adults interacting effectively as parents for the sake of their kids. Children thrive under the attention of both parents. Don’t deny them the psychological value of knowing both Mom and Dad are there for them, continue to love them and will be nurturing them through the  years ahead – despite the divorce.”