Why Would the Children Say That? Navigating Loyalty Contracts - Zach Flood

In this episode, Zach Flood, MA, LLP talks about loyalty contracts and
how they impact alienated children as they interact with targeted
parents. He speaks to how the children are forced to internalize a
narrative about a parent that is not rational or tied to reality. This
concept is then discussed in a way that helps targeted parents and
others empathize with these children. Empathizing in this way can help
unburden targeted parents from the weight of taking the words and
actions of their alienated children personally. Tune into this video if your
looking for insight into how to understand how alienated children can
act and behave in inexplainable ways.
Zach is a psychotherapist, associate evaluator, and coach with the
Men’s Resource Center of West Michigan. He works with parents
struggling with the complicated and painful dynamics involved in being a
rejected or targeted parent in parental alienation. He also serves as an
associate evaluator in custody and parenting time evaluations. He
believes that helping families navigate and heal from alienation
dynamics is some of the most complicated but important work a mental
health professional can dedicate themselves to. He continues to look for
more ways to educate and serve families afflicted with this insidious
dynamic that is counterintuitive for most professionals.
Zach Flood, MA,
LLP Psychotherapist and Associate Evaluator
zflood@fountainhillcenter.com

Пікірлер: 14

  • @evaevaeva3131
    @evaevaeva31312 ай бұрын

    Hello from Sweden 🇸🇪My children are alienated from me by the Swedish social services. Thank you for this information and great support 🙏

  • @FamiliesDividedTV

    @FamiliesDividedTV

    2 ай бұрын

    So sorry for your situation. I am so glad it was helpful. I hope other of our videos are as well.

  • @HolisticChiroVT
    @HolisticChiroVT2 ай бұрын

    This was very informative, thank you!

  • @FamiliesDividedTV

    @FamiliesDividedTV

    2 ай бұрын

    So glad it was helpful.Please tell others. We want to help as many as we can. Thank you!

  • @Hislittlelamb
    @Hislittlelamb2 ай бұрын

    You also just described the process of Scapegoating and other trauma survival roles that goes on in dysfunctional families. My family of origin had this alienating dynamic going on between our parents who remained married “for us kids” until they died. Dad was in the military and would be away for extended periods of time so Mom was always seen as in charge of the household & kids. Dad was also an enabler, never standing up to her. We were put in a dynamic of triangulation with mom against dad, all my other 4 siblings were on mom’s side as she constantly belittled him & picked fights over nothing, twisting everything he said, did, or didn’t do into something to attack him. I sided with my dad, I knew the way she treated him was wrong, I knew the way she treated me was wrong, but in siding with him I invoked her wrath. She allowed my siblings to bully me endlessly to the point of wanting to take my own life at a young age (12). She never succeeded in alienating me from my dad, only alienating me from her & my siblings. After dad died I inherited his place as the primary target of her constant criticism (she called worry), ‘gossiping for prayer', scapegoating (blaming me for actions she/they do), playing the victim in triangling others, twisting perceptions just as she had done with dad. Now that she has passed on, my elder sibling has taken on her role as family matriarch, keeping the family system (loyalty contract) intact & maintaining the false “family image”.

  • @FamiliesDividedTV

    @FamiliesDividedTV

    2 ай бұрын

    So very sorry for your situation. I do hope our videos help you.

  • @triciasheridan2090
    @triciasheridan20902 ай бұрын

    So when the child reported that the dad was breaking down the door and the wall, is the child actually fearful or are they just twisting the narrative?

  • @Zach_Flood

    @Zach_Flood

    2 ай бұрын

    I would argue that it's both at the same time. Threats don't have to be real or valid for them to be scary, like a child being scared of the monsters they believe are under their bed at night. The difference in a situation such as the one described here is that the delusion is coming from an unhealthy attachment to an alienating parent, not just normative fantastical thinking of a developing child.

  • @TheOfficialSweetBabyJake2015
    @TheOfficialSweetBabyJake20152 ай бұрын

    Yes my grandson came in and said my mom doesn't block your messages and I said oh really well here I'll send you a message which he never got we were sitting next to each other I have blamed it on the Wi-Fi I said maybe it's the Wi-Fi is slow we'll wait I asked him three more times every half hour I would ask did you get that message yet and he would check his phone and say no and after the 4th after 2 hours he got mad when I asked again he said you already know the answer and he called his mom and said I want you to come pick me up everybody's yelling and stuff and just you know it's just obvious

  • @FamiliesDividedTV

    @FamiliesDividedTV

    2 ай бұрын

    All of the professionals and experts tell us to never put the child in the middle. This is not their fault. I know you want him to see the truth. Maybe think of another way. Please apologize to him. Please make it about them. Praying all goes well.

  • @TheOfficialSweetBabyJake2015

    @TheOfficialSweetBabyJake2015

    2 ай бұрын

    @@FamiliesDividedTV I did not put the child in the middle. His mother sent him with a script to support her agenda. When presented with reality. fight or flight took over. I told him repeatedly that NONE of it was HIS fault. The "social contract" with the TARGETING parent had been established months ago.

  • @FamiliesDividedTV

    @FamiliesDividedTV

    2 ай бұрын

    @@TheOfficialSweetBabyJake2015 maybe reread your first post. I am so sorry your family is going through this, especially your precious grandson.

  • @TheOfficialSweetBabyJake2015

    @TheOfficialSweetBabyJake2015

    2 ай бұрын

    @@FamiliesDividedTVthose were my THOUGHTS, I didn't say OUT LOUD "oh really..." I merely sent him a message, and he never got it. Sorry for not being precise. As I said, I never placed the child in the middle. I did allow him to see reality.

  • @FamiliesDividedTV

    @FamiliesDividedTV

    2 ай бұрын

    @@TheOfficialSweetBabyJake2015 praying much for your family, especially your grandson.

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