Sociopaths and family

By Joanie Bentz, B.S., M.Ed., CCBP, BC I’m a mental health practitioner, and while researching family therapy journals for research on cognitive behavioral therapy approaches, I came across a concept called the "Malicious Parent Syndrome.” It described how some divorcing and already divorced parents actively work to turn their children against the other parent. It sounded very much like how sociopaths engage in parental alienation. Characteristics of malicious parent syndrome The concept of Malicious Parent Syndrome was developed between 1995 and 1999 by a psychologist named Ira Turkat, who specialized in family law disputes, false allegations and relationship poisoning. His 1999 …

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Editor's note: Caroline Parsons is an attorney from Queensland, Australia. Today she poses questions to help you determine if you have a healthy relationship — with a partner and with yourself. Learn more about Caroline Parsons on the Lovefraud Announcements page or in her author profile. By Caroline Parsons, Esq. There’s a litmus test question for determining whether you are in an abusive relationship. Have you ever asked yourself, “Is this what marriage/love/living together is supposed to be like?” We all have issues with our partners from time to time. Two independent adults living together will always cause a certain amount of friction. Most of us accept a level of give and take in …

What does a healthy relationship look like?Read More

Editor's note: Caroline Parsons is an attorney from Queensland, Australia. Today she suggests that one way to protect your children is to warn them about people who enjoy taking from others. Learn more about Caroline Parsons on the Lovefraud Announcements page or in her author profile. By Caroline Parsons, Esq. There’s a game played by primary school children in the Middle East. Each child is given a bucket and a number of blank slips of paper. The child is encouraged to write kind descriptive words (such as “friendly”, “caring” or “smart”) on these slips of paper. They all then go around the classroom, placing these words into other children’s buckets. The teacher asks how everyone is …

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Editor's note: Caroline Parsons is an attorney from Queensland, Australia. Today she explains how many  family violence survivors feel the snap — they're done with the abuse and they're leaving. Learn more about Caroline Parsons on the Lovefraud Announcements page or in her author profile. By Caroline Parsons, Esq. A common but antiquated question in the family violence debate (using gendered language for historical accuracy) is “why didn’t she leave?” Answers include that he convinced her the problems were her fault and he promised to change. Clearly the more important question then is, “why did he abuse her?” But that is the topic of another post. In my view, the better question to be …

When you feel the snap, it’s time to escape the toxic relationshipRead More

Editor's note: Caroline Parsons is an attorney from Queensland, Australia. Today explains that the movie 'Frozen' can be a powerful tool for teaching your children about the sociopaths who live among us. Learn more about Caroline Parsons on the Lovefraud Announcements page or in her author profile. By Caroline Parsons, Esq. Spoiler alert: if you’re one of the few who haven’t seen the original Disney movie “Frozen,” you may wish to remedy that before reading on. For those of us who have seen the movie 'Frozen' a thousand times, please call to mind Anna’s primary love interest, Prince Hans of the Southern Isles. He is the youngest of thirteen sons, burdened with the inability to ascend his …

How the movie ‘Frozen’ helps you teach your children about predatorsRead More

By Joanie Bentz, B.S., M.Ed., BC Pseudomutuality describes a relationship between two people in which conflicts are solved by ignoring them. Following is a case study of how pseudomutuality in the narcissistic family plays out. Names are changed. Heather’s memory of her mother Ever since Heather can remember, her family was the center of her world. Every special event was spent with immediate and extended family members. Holiday gatherings were commonplace and Sunday dinners were mandatory. Heather never entertained the idea of having something else to do, like going on a trip or exploring alternate plans. Her mother established a “tradition” of having everyone together. Her …

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