Wednesday, December 2, 2009

The Problem of Custody Evaluations

I got an email yesterday from a dad who underwent a custody evaluation that basically “got it all wrong.” The evaluator apparently believed the untrue things said about this dad, and it sounded like the evaluator did not even investigate the veracity of the claims against the father.

I get about two to three of these kinds of emails each week. They always describe a custody evaluation that got it wrong, was not properly investigated, but was nonetheless accepted uncritically as “the truth” by the court. Most of the victims of this - could be mothers or could be fathers - do not understand why all of this went so wrong. When I have talked to these parents I mostly hear that they were either given no preparation or advice about how to approach being evaluated; or I hear that they were given very bad advice that actually harmed them.

On a personal note, and as a former evaluator, I can readily say that I am routinely frustrated and even sickened by the systemic injustices that are committed under the banner of “psychological objectivity” in the performance of many custody evaluations. The fact of the matter is that custody evaluations are notorious for getting it wrong about as frequently as getting it right.

In response to this, I am preparing a document that basically tells you what you need to know about sitting through a custody evaluation when parental alienation is involved. It provides you with the tools to maximize your chance of being accurately heard by the evaluator.

In addition to this document, I am in the process of creating a much more detailed discussion in the form of an audio course, that takes the points made in the aforementioned document and expands on them with specific examples and suggestions.

If you are in the position of being evaluated or re-evaluated, I know that these resources will be of great assistance.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dr.Bone, I just left you an email message and hope to hear from you soon.

I too, am going through this PAS. It's been 951 days since I've seen my boys.

Everything you write about is dead on with what's happening.

I've been falsely accused, even of choking my children at the bus stop. I was found innocent of all charges 3 weeks later. The TPO was dismissed without prejudice.

The Judge appoints this child psychologist who he himself used in his own very nasty 5 year or so battle against his own wife. This child psychologist with a PHD is also a hired gun. She never did anything to help me only did everything to help the person who hired her, that being my boys mother and my ex.

This PHD also testified in court that she really doesn't keep records of what she does to "treat" or "help" people. I say that because we subpeoned her to bring ALL the files pertaining to my case and she basically showed up to court with hardly any, claiming she didn't think my case was a court appointed custody case.

I have so much more to say about all this but I don't want to have to write a book.

My apologies for the length of this post.

Is there a blog somewhere that I can go to to chat with someone?

Ted

Anonymous said...

How can we portect the children from PAS when the other parent is crippled w/ sexual abuse family history.....HOW?????
A pretty tough situation involving 4 very troubled vulnerable children.