Another big topic on the show last night was “Move Aways” — when one parent moves the child to another city, state or even country and makes contact between the left-behind parent and the child more difficult.

For an alienating parent, a Move Away is just another tool in the arsenal — another way to damage or destroy the child’s relationship with the other parent. But Move Aways also occur in divorcing families where parental alienation doesn’t exist. Parents who truly and sincerely facilitate a good relationship between the child and the child’s other parent still might have to relocate for a job or other valid reason. What does the left-behind parent do in these situations?

As we discussed on the show last night, the parent does the best he or she can. Emails, webcams, phone calls, frequent visits and honest efforts on the part of both parents to make the best of a difficult situation is all anyone can expect. These situations are far from ideal for maintaining a close parent-child bond, but as long as both parents are working together in the best interests of the child a Move Away isn’t parental alienation.

Thanks for listening to the show.

Dr. Rand wasn’t kidding. Alienated parents often look to reintegration programs as some sort of magic bullet to help them reconnect with their children. But without court orders and real consequence for violating the court orders, these programs won’t have any more success than the parents had on their own.

In fact, if courts enforced orders for parenting time, free and easy access and counseling, many cases of parental alienation might not even reach the severe levels that reintegration specialists are forced to address.