Appearance alert: on The Imagination Podcast

We're talking about how parental alienation is misused, and how this leads to child trafficking.

Over the weekend, I appeared with Emma Pietrzak on her podcast, The Imagination Podcast.

We talked about a topic I have discussed many times: how the term parental alienation is misused to traffic children.

Child trafficking is the movement of children for money; when parental alienation is misused, children are moved from the safe parent to the abusive parent while numerous people profit.

I referred to the Barnett case from Utah, two cases from Harris County, Texas, and the Rucki case in the podcast.

The main problem with the term is it is so nebulous that it’s very easy to manipulate.

“Parental alienation is whatever you want it to be,” I have said.

I referred to Julie Goffstein’s case; she was accused of parental alienation after she and all six children refused to leave the orthodox Jewish faith like her ex-husband did.

Peter Goffstein argued that his ex-wife’s religious choice was alienating him: “In so doing, Mr. Goffstein cited as reasons for the change in custody Mrs. Goffstein’s religious practices and the extent to which she imposed those religious practices on the children, which he claimed alienated the children from him,” a lawsuit filed by Julie Goffstein noted.

Parental alienation, “refers to a mental condition in which a child, whose parents are engaged in a high-conflict divorce, allies strongly with one parent (the preferred parent or alienating parent) and refuses to have a relationship with the other parent (with rejected parent or alienated parent) without a good reason,” according to a definition Bill Bernet, a professor emeritus of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Vanderbilt University, gave me for a Daily Caller story.

Yet, you’ll often hear of parents complain about being alienated from their toddlers, two year olds, and other very young children.

In fact, this is exactly what Alyssa LLewelyn Karsagi’s ex-husband argued, though she was still breast feeding one of their children at the time they were taken after his argument was accepted by a court.

Arredondo diagnosed Alyssa not only with parental alienation but Munchhausen by proxy.

“Aryel had been diagnosed with autistic disorder on 3-2-18. Aryel was not old to be tested formally on the Autistic Diagnostic Observational Scale so the diagnosis was influenced greatly by the information provided by Alyssa as the primary caretaker.” Arredondo said in the affidavit.

Parental alienation, “refers to a mental condition in which a child, whose parents are engaged in a high-conflict divorce, allies strongly with one parent (the preferred parent or alienating parent) and refuses to have a relationship with the other parent (with rejected parent or alienated parent) without a good reason,” according to Bill Bernet, a professor emeritus of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Vanderbilt University.

By this definition, accusing Alyssa of parental alienation sounds absurd. Her kids were two and one at the time of the divorce; neither was old enough to reject a parent, let alone reject them for no good reason.

Arredondo, refers to Kim Arredondo, the custody evaluator on the case.

Arredondo is one of numerous people who can be brought on the case as soon as the parental alienation accusation is made.

The reunification therapist, Jean Guez, played a major role in one Texas case, involving Rosie Alanis, I covered.

In the Barnett case from Utah, the court has brought on a reunification therapist, Tim Chavez, and a guardian ad litem, Jessica Read.

In 2021, I covered David Segui’s case, where he was falsely accused of parental alienation, and more than ten people have been appointed to his case.

It’s a destructive stew: a poorly defined term, exploited by abusive people which then benefits financially many unethical court actors.