Parental Alienation: Who is the 'Expert'?

The concept of parental alienation is one that continues to be a regular feature in the Family Court. Cases in which parental alienation is alleged are often complicated, protracted and difficult cases for the Family Court to resolve; even more so in a Family Justice System that is overwhelmed and under-resourced.

In recent weeks, there has been a focus on the use of experts in cases where parental alienation is alleged. Later this month, the President of the Family Division will oversee an appeal concerning the use of experts in the Family Court, particularly in cases where parental alienation is alleged.

I have written about this topic before and, with the risk of repeating myself, the starting point must be ‘what is parental alienation.’ As I write this in my study at home, I have several box files filled with academic articles about parental alienation across several disciplines – law, psychology and sociology, a bookshelf with a number of textbooks about parental alienation on it and a OneDrive bursting at the seams with all manner of articles and other publications. Within all of this material, I am yet to find a definition of parental alienation that is universally accepted and agreed upon.

It seems as though there are thousands of ‘experts’ in parental alienation all over the world. Whether they are lawyers, psychologists, counsellors or other professionals, there are countless people professing to be experts in a concept that has no universally accepted definition.?

With each ‘expert’ brings a different approach.??

With each different approach brings inconsistency.

With every inconsistency, the problems the Family Justice System face in dealing with cases in which parental alienation is alleged grow larger.

That inconsistency pervades the Family Justice System: the lawyers advising their client may have a different approach to the CAFCASS officer who is assisting the Court. In turn, the Judge deciding the issues may have a different approach to the CAFCASS officer and the lawyers appearing in Court. And why may that be? Because they all approach the concept of parental alienation differently and with different ideas as to what the concept is as there is no universally accepted definition.

Issues become more problematic when the Court looks to ‘experts’ in parental alienation to offer advice and guidance to the Court (although in my experience, Courts still appoint experts to ‘diagnose’ parental alienation which is a whole other problem!). Invariably, the ‘expert’ will not only offer advice and guidance to the Court but will also highlight the importance of therapy for the family which only they are skilled enough to provide. This issue has not been lost on the?Family Justice Council?who issued interim guidance in May 2022.

The regulation of ‘experts’ is at the heart of the appeal to be heard later this month, as reported in the?Guardian on 10th?October 2022.?

Whilst the President of the Family Division is to consider the ‘appropriateness or otherwise of instructing unregulated psychologists as experts in family proceedings concerning children, and in particular in cases where parental alienation may arise,’ in my view, this is only addressing the tip of the iceberg: the approach of lawyers, social workers and the judiciary needs to find consistency in how cases where parental alienation is alleged are dealt with long before the Court considers the appointment of an ‘expert.’

The debates about parental alienation have raged on for decades and, it seems to me, we are no further forward. Whilst those debates rage on, cases will still appear in the Family Court and will need to be dealt with.?I have previously suggested a way in which such cases should be dealt with, which serves to respect the role of the Court and promote consistency: it is the approach I use in cases where parental alienation is alleged, and I have achieved successful outcomes for my clients and their children. It is a simple approach to deal with a complex concept – we should not be afraid of simplicity.

13th October 2022