Reenactment

of Trauma Schema Pattern

“abusive parent”/”victimized child”/”protective parent”

Disorganized
“Parental Alienation”
Disorganized
Attachment Pathology Attachment
narcissistic defense abandonment fear
and splitting and splitting

Symptoms Emerge
(triangulation and cross-generational coalition to stabilize
parental personality structure that is threatened with collapse)


Triggered by
Triggered by
t
Divorce
Divorce Triggers Grief and Loss Experience t
Divorce




Characterological Inability to Process Sadness



Narcissistic Personality Borderline Personality
Traits Traits



Anxious-Avoidant Anxious-Ambivalent
Overtones Overtones


Disorganized Attachment
From childhood attachment trauma of the
allied parent

Trauma Schema Pattern

“abusive parent”/”victimized child”/”protective parent”

Diagram 1: Parental attachment trauma origins of “parental alienation” pathology. Inside pathology represents
parental personality disorder line; outside pathology represents parental attachment-related line.

C.A. Childress, Psy.D., 2016