Richard Hogan: Alienating a parent is damaging for the whole family

Richard Hogan: As you sit next to your children tomorrow night watching The Toy Show, think about all those parents out there sitting on their own, denied access to their children.

THIS time of year can seem kind of magical. Everyone wrapped up, little eyes shimmering taking in the lights walking up Grafton Street. The magic of Santa in the air. I love this time of year. There is something special about walking around the neighbourhood and the warm lights like butter inside happy homes and chimneys with smoke swirling gently into the sky.

It can be a long, cold, lonely winter, as the song goes, and we are all a little pandemic fatigued. Despite what we hear about rising cases, everyone is trying to make the season special. But in all this magic, there is a group of people I cannot help think about during this time of year — those denied the right to love their children; alienated parents. As a family psychotherapist, you often get invited into some very difficult stories. Watching a once loving dad or mom struggle to maintain a relationship with their children after a conflicted separation or divorce can be one of the most unsettling experiences for a clinician. Everything about alienation is disturbing.