The effects on the rejected parent are equally devastating and permanent if the parent-child bond remains broken, and should be given due attention in our legal and social systems. Moderate and mild cases may not require such drastic measures. Much depends on the age of the child, whether pre-adolescent, adolescent or adult, the factor which determines what legal or therapeutic steps can be undertaken. There is a very urgent need for structured rehabilitation, not normally provided by social services of psychiatric institutions. A parent who succeeds in regaining custody of a hostile, alienated child needs practical and professional support, particularly during the preliminary re-integration period.
Traditional therapy is useless in severe cases.
What is needed is a 24-hour supervised nurturing environment, supportive to both parent and child and meeting BOTH their needs. The very first thing to look for in severe cases of PAS is irrational behavior in a child who for no good or properly explained reasons, tells you they want nothing further to do with one of their parents. The second most easily identifiable symptom of PAS is when a child shows no ambivalence whatsoever toward their parents, stating that one parent is all good and the other parent is all bad. This portends something we all know is not right with the child because a lack of ambivalence is unnatural behavior in human beings. Grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, nephews, nieces all seem to suddenly disappear from the child's life never to be heard from, spoken to or seen again.