Local family law attorneys can teach you a lot about the procedures involved in getting a divorce. They possess authoritative knowledge of the Louisiana laws that govern their practices and routinely guide spouses through the divorce process. Good family law attorneys with plenty of experience can also tell parents about other pitfalls that may arise during and after divorce. One such pitfall is the risk of alienation from the children couples may share.
Parental alienation is a troubling syndrome in which one parent works to undermine the other parent’s relationship with their children. This can be significantly damaging to children as the syndrome often forces them to choose one parent over the other. Some people even believe that parental alienation could cause a child to develop a personality disorder if left unaddressed. A few signs of possible parental alienation syndrome include:
- Your kids suddenly ask you not to attend school functions, sporting events and other activities.
- Your children begin to exhibit challenging, combative or argumentative behaviors.
- Your child or children seem to be provoking you into anger.
- Your kids adopt an air of superiority over you.
- Your children take full responsibility for the alienation and claim the other parent played no role in these new and disturbing behaviors.
If your children begin to display these or other signs of alienation, it is critical to their mental and emotional health to seek help from a childcare professional. Seeking advice from a family law attorney is also wise to prevent additional emotional harm from coming to your kids. For example, your lawyer can ask the family court to modify custody and visitation until the other parent gets professional help to stop these harmful activities.