The Tug of War Child: Counseling Children Involved in High Conflict Divorces

An increasing number of children are involved in counseling due to high-conflict divorce and custody disputes (Baker & Andre, 2008; Ellis & Boyan, 2010). Parental alienation occurs when a parent repeatedly and intentionally denigrates the other parent to the child to impair the child’s relationship with the opposed parent (Ben-Ami & Baker, 2012). Counselors who are not familiar with the dynamics among high-conflict divorce cases can ultimately do harm to the clients involved, as well as be at risk for legal and ethical ramifications. Thus, counselors must be able to identify parental alienation among children and provide effective treatment to prevent further alienation with the opposed parent. This article will describe the complex emotional symptoms often experienced by alienated children, as well as treatment implications. Particular emphasis will be given to multidisciplinary collaboration and relevant legal and ethical guidelines.