Stages of Parental Alienation

According to the experts, parental alienation takes a variety of forms. In the mildest form, alienating parents might:

At a moderate stage, an alienating parent may:

Actively discourage visitation
Tune out any positive comments about the other parent
Avoid speaking to the other parent-communicating through the child
Try to keep the target parent away from them ("Dad can pick you up, but he needs to stay in his car.")
Destroying photos, gifts or other things given by the target parent to the child or the family

At a more severe or advanced stage, the alienating parent may:

Tell known lies about the target parent
Overtly criticize the target parent in front of the children
Encouraging the children to keep secrets from the target parent
Threaten to withhold love or privileges if the child "sides with" the target parent. [Stage one]