DIVORCE POISON:
Protecting the Parent-Child Bond from a Vindictive Ex

(Harper Paperbacks)
Click to pre-order Divorce Poison - Secure online ordering via Amazon.com In his new book Dr. Warshak helps parents shield children from the crossfire of divorce and separation.
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Divorce Poison: Protecting the Parent-Child Bond from a Vindictive Ex

Your ex-spouse is bad-mouthing you to your children, perhaps even trying to turn them against you. If you handle the situation ineffectively, you could lose your children's respect, their affections—even, in extreme cases, lose contact with them.

The conventional advice is to do nothing for fear that any response could result in greater injury to the children. But with twenty-five years of helping families, Dr. Richard Warshak is convinced that a passive approach just leaves parents feeling helpless. And the damage to children is considerable, particularly when warring parents enlist children as allies in the battle. The problems range from tainted parent-child relationships, in which children are disrespectful or reluctant to show their affection, to a disturbance in which children virtually disown one of their parents and all the relatives on that side of the family.

DIVORCE POISON offers specific advice to protect children from the results of their parents' animosity. In it, you will learn how to:
• respond when your children join forces with your ex
• react if your children refuse to see you
• answer rude and hateful behavior
• insulate children from the harmful effects of bad-mouthing
• identify and correct your own contributions to parent-child conflicts
• defend against false accusations of brainwashing
• choose the best therapist and lawyer
• reconcile with children after years of estrangement

Dr. Warshak reveals the typical behaviors of alienated children, how and why parents manipulate their children, seven rules for responding effectively to bad-mouthing without succumbing to the impulse to retaliate in kind, and how the controversial diagnosis parental alienation syndrome is used in court to take children away from parents or to regain contact with alienated children. This groundbreaking work gives parents powerful strategies to preserve and rebuild loving relationships with their children--and provides legal and mental health professionals who work with families in which there have been accusations of alienation, whether true or false, practical advice to help their clients and safeguard the welfare of children.

Whether they are perpetrators of divorce poison, victims of it, or both, parents who heed Dr. Warshak's advice will enable their children to maintain love and respect for two parents who no longer love, and may not respect, each other.


CONTENTS

1. The Delicate Balance

2. Bad-mouthing, Bashing, and Brainwashing

3. Alienated Children

4. Malignant Motives

5. The Alienating Environment

6. The Corruption of Reality

7. Poison Control

8. Getting Professional Help

9. Letting Go

Resources

Advance praise for DIVORCE POISON:


"In this powerful book, Dr. Warshak clearly identifies and describes the devastating effects of parental alienation on children. With the wisdom and insight of years of professional experience, he shows parents how to avoid the painful repercussions that result when a child becomes the pawn of parental conflicts. If you're divorced and you love your child, read this book!"

--Constance R. Ahrons, Ph.D., author of The Good Divorce and senior scholar, Council on Contemporary Families

"Dr. Warshak's sympathy for mothers, fathers, and relatives struggling to maintain their children's affection is outweighed only by his compassion for the children themselves. DIVORCE POISON is his eloquent plea for parents to take the high road and protect kids from acrimony. He shows what can happen when parents battle for their children's hearts and souls and, most important, he offers practical and effective solutions to help parents maintain their children's love and respect. A powerful contribution destined to become a classic resource for all adults whose lives have been touched by divorce."

--Michael Gurian, author of The Wonder of Boys

"This essential resource and guide offers valuable advice, especially for those times when the going gets tough with your ex. It also helps you understand and heal your own hurts without hurting the children you love."

--Susan Jeffers, Ph.D., author of Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway and I'm Okay . . . You're a Brat!

"DIVORCE POISON is a breakthrough book. Original, well-written, balanced, and filled with insights, it is the perfect book for any parent who has been the victim of bad-mouthing. Prior to DIVORCE POISON, the common wisdom for a bad-mouthed parent was to say nothing. Dr. Warshak explains why that is like leaving the poison in your child's system; he helps parents identify and respond to bad-mouthing in a way that benefits the child."

--Warren Farrell, Ph.D., author of Father and Child Reunion and Why Men Are the Way They Are

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