Coercive Control Is the Fire. Physical Violence Is the Fire Alarm.
Coercive control is the fire. Physical violence is the alarm. We have built entire systems around detecting the alarm while the fire burns across intimate partner abuse, child abuse, human trafficking, gang violence, spiritual abuse, and sexual abuse. It is time we learned to respond to both.
Institutional Betrayal: From “Witch” to “Parental Alienator”—How Family Courts Silence Protective Parents
Disclaimer: It is important to acknowledge that not all victims of coercive control are women, and not all coercive controllers are men. People of all genders can experience or perpetrate coercive control. However, statistically and according to extensive research, the harms of coercive control are predominantly, and most dangerously, inflicted against women. This reality is […]
Defying Gravity
An Analysis of “Wicked” Through The Quicksand Model® of Coercive Control and Institutional Betrayal “Wicked,” the renowned Broadway musical reimagining of “The Wizard of Oz,” offers a compelling narrative for exploring the intricate dynamics of power, manipulation, and coercive control within both personal relationships and institutional contexts. By employing a multifaceted approach that combines my Quicksand Model® […]
The Hidden Epidemic: Coercive Control, Parental Alienation, and Institutional Abuse in Family Courts
As we approach the end of 2024, it’s crucial to shed light on the pervasive issues plaguing our family court systems and the devastating impact they have on protective parents, mostly mothers, and their children. Today, I want to delve into the interconnected web of coercive control, parental alienation, reunification camps, and institutional abuse within family courts. These issues are not just […]
Parental Alienation Syndrome: Why I don’t recommend you call it that
NOTE: This blog is written primarily for victimized mothers of coercive control. The statements within are not intended to imply that mothers are never abusive or coercively controlling, or that fathers are never victimized. Some are. However, the majority of coercive control within families is perpetrated by males against adult females and children, so this […]
Coercive Control and Parental Alienation are NOT the same!
If you are a protective parent attempting to navigate the family court system in the US (or any other country), you have probably run into the problematic use of the terms Parental Alienation Syndrome, Parental Alienation and Alienation… all of which refer to the same phenomenon. (Read my prior blog on Parental Alienation here, if you are […]
Coercive Control, DARVO & Parental Alienation Syndrome
As I have discussed before in previous blog posts, DARVO is perhaps the most effective and often used strategy of coercive controllers. And of the possible uses of DARVO, Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS) or Parental Alienation (PA) is arguably the most commonly used DARVO strategy of coercive controllers in family court. PAS is a theory […]