The State College Pennsylvania newspaper, Centre Daily Times, highlighted parental alienation this past Saturday in an article from Mike Jeffries, author of A Family’s Heartbreak: A Parent’s Introduction to Parental Alienation. The article, Keys to Understanding Parental Alienation, can be found at http://www.centredaily.com/2011/05/14/2711994/keys-to-understanding-parental.html. Readers are encouraged to leave comments and explain how parental alienation has affected their lives.

Later this week, Jeffries will join other parental alienation experts at the DePaul Center in Chicago, Illinois to help educate parents, legal and mental health professionals about parental alienation. 

Jeffries will address participants at the Parental Alienation Awareness Organization (PAAO) conference, “The Painful Path of Parental Alienation and Visitation Interference,” on Saturday, May 21. Also speaking at the conference are Cook County Circuit Court Judge Michele Lowrance, the author of The Good Karma Divorce; Attorney Jame Pritikin, who recently helped Miami Heat star Dwayne Wade overcome the attempted alienation of his children; Dr. Michael Bone, a parental alienation expert who has spent the past 25 years dealing with high conflict divorce as a therapist, expert witness, mediator, evaluator and consultant; and Jill Egizii, PAAO President and author of The Look of Love.

The one-day conference begins at 9:00 a.m. in Conference Room 8005 at the DePaul Center in Chicago. The cost is $50 for non-PAAO members and $25 for CRC Illinois PAAO members. Participants can register online at www.paawareness.org/2011PAAOChicagoConference/.

So with Father’s Day coming up, we wanted to post part of an article that Jeff Opperman wrote a few years ago for Lifesherpa.com.  The article is called, “A Father’s Day wish for the alienated dad.” 

Happy Father’s Day to all targeted fathers from A Family’s Heartbreak: A Parent’s Introduction to Parental Alienation. We know you’d rather celebrate Father’s Day with your children, and we hope one year soon you will.

Here’s the excerpt from the article:

… My most heartfelt Father’s Day wishes go to the Dads who are victims of PAS. So Happy Father’s Day to the alienated Dad:

In the airport, may someone meet you with a big hug.

In the mall, may a toddler look up at you from a stroller and smile.

At a ballgame, may you catch a foul ball and enjoy giving the ball to the kid sitting closest to you.

At work, may you enjoy your job.

At the supermarket, may you get a group “thank you” from the Scout troupe for buying something you didn’t really need.

At home, may you have the information you need to order your child’s school picture; and the strength you need to keep the photo where you can see it.

On vacation, may you get through an entire chapter of your book without thinking about the child who refused to come with you.

Holding the remote control, may you come across actor Rick Schroeder in a rerun of NYPD Blue rather than The Champ.

Volunteering as a Big Brother, may you see signs of your positive influence.

Listening to the radio, may the station play Harry Chapin’s Cats in the Cradle and Will Smith’s Just the Two of Us when you’re out of the room.

Cooking dinner, may you have a reason to increase the ingredients of your favorite recipe.

Picking up the ringing phone, may you have a wonderful surprise on the other end of the line.

You can see posts from Jeff Opperman at our A Family’s Heartbreak Facebook page — http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/topic.php?uid=61789494087&topic=9887

You can read the complete article, A Father’s Day wish for the alienated Dad at http://www.lifesherpa.com/magazine/life-journeys/2003-06-opperman-alienated.htm

The article focuses on techniques that targeted parents can use to cope with their painful situations.  For example, cognitive exercises such as thought replacement and positive self talk help targeted parents deal with depressing, unproductive thoughts and images that typically pervade their daily existence. 

Here’s a link to the article on Womansdivorce.com — http://www.womansdivorce.com/alienated-parent.html.  Please come back once you read the article and give us your feedback.