Despite intensive efforts by those who support the inclusion of parental alienation into the DSM, the APA DSM task force decided not to include PAS into the fifth edition of the DSM, scheduled to come out in 2013. According to the AP article, the APA holds that “a child's relationship with one estranged parent can be poisoned by the other parent, and there's broad agreement that it sometimes occurs in the context of divorces and child-custody disputes.”
In the same article, Dr. Darrel Regier, vice chair of the task force drafting the manual stated ‘‘the bottom line; it is not a disorder within one individual, it’s a relationship problem: parent-child or parent-parent. Relationship problems per se are not mental disorders.’’
Those who do not support the inclusion of parental alienation into the revised DSM claim that a disorder cannot be diagnosed to a set of people, only one individual. They claim it might be a slippery slope, and may lead to including other problems that occur in unhealthy romantic relationships, like Co-dependency Disorder or Family Scapegoating Disorder. While in their minds these two examples seem parallel parental alienation, those who truly understand parental alienation and the affect it has on the children involved understand that they often develop behavioral and emotional problems that can affect their lives and relationships well into adulthood. It is not simply just a family disturbance.
Those who support the inclusion of parental alienation into the DSM are adamant about it because they know the inclusion would be a huge step toward fairer outcomes in family courts, which would in turn, enable more children to receive the proper treatment in order to reconcile with their alienated parent and live happy, healthy lives.
Parental alienation is a controversial topic and the APA is well aware of that. Parental alienation expert, J. Michael Bone, PhD, stated in a recent post that the APA is a trade association of Psychiatrists, and in interest of attracting and maintaining members, trade associations tend to never take controversial positions. If they did, then the APA itself and its members become targets of attack by alienating parents as well as powerful organizations that have taken an adversarial position regarding the issue.
There are no official statements made by the APA regarding parental alienation. The closest thing one will find is that the issue is still being researched. The APA knows if takes a position supporting parental alienation, it will lose members who oppose it; conversely, if it takes a position stating it does not exist, then it will lose members and credibility.
Taking a position is a no-win situation for the APA. So, what does the APA do? In examining the APA’s Guidelines for the performance of Custody Evaluations, you’ll finds that attached to it is a reading list of endorsed references that are to be used as references in the performance of these Custody Evaluations. According to J. Michael Bone, PhD, these are the “gold standard” documents and references to be used by custody evaluators. This elite reading list contains just over thirty resources and the only author that is listed three times is Richard Gardner, MD. Among the references listed is his seminal volume entitled “The Parental Alienation Syndrome.” In other words, in an effort to maintain its credibility with its members, it passively and quietly endorses the works of Gardner that are the cornerstone of what we understand parental alienation to be.
J. Michael Bone, PhD writes if you are battling parental alienation, do not let this news disturb you; this is not a disaster, it is only a slight bump in the road, if even that.
If you have been the target of parental alienation or know someone who has, get support and resources to defend your family at Alienation Hurts.
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