What is Reunification Therapy?

Sometimes a parent can lose their connection with a child during the challenging and confusing process of separation and divorce. This can be difficult for the whole family but particularly devastating to the child. When this kind of situation occurs specialized and immediate intervention is necessary to decrease the likelihood of lifelong difficulties.

Alienation vs. Estrangement

There are many reasons that children may lose their connection with a parent after a separation or divorce. Most of those reasons fall within two categories: estrangement and alienation.

Estrangement refers to a child’s rejection of a parent that is justified. In these cases, the child rejects the parent for reasons such as violence, abuse,  absence, or neglect. In this case, the child is behaving normally as a reaction to the parent’s behavior.

In contrast, alienation refers to a child’s rejection of a parent that is unjustified. Alienation often occurs when one parent consciously or unconsciously poisons the relationship that the child has with the other parent. The parent who is actively alienating the child will often bad-mouth the other parent or paint a false narrative of the other parent’s feelings toward the child.

Fortunately, Reunification Therapy can help with situations that include alienation, estrangement, or both.

Reunification Therapy

Reunification therapy is a process in which a specially trained psychotherapist counsels, and coaches the whole family in reuniting an estranged or alienated parent with their child(ren) after a extended separation, divorce, or custody dispute. This process offers all family members additional guidance and emotional support as they progress through an individually prescribed treatment plan.

Reunification Therapy is not just about trying to reunite a family, but is about improving the lives of children by developing a closer relationship with both parents. Studies consistently demonstrate that children are better off in every way (socially, academically, emotionally, etc.) if they have both of their parents in their lives.

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