Dive into an experience that sets us apart from any other reunification program. At Family Reflections, we don’t just offer solutions for mild, moderate or severe cases of parental alienation; we define possibilities. In separation and divorce cases where a child is severely alienated from a once loved parent, traditional therapeutic approaches grossly fail. Families where parental alienation exist are not a matter of business as usual; entirely different therapeutic skills are needed. For example, the heads of these toxic families have been described as cult leaders. The children and other family members who refuse to be followers of the cult leader are treated with cruelty. Alienated children literally have their critical thinking taken away and are forced to align with the cult leader. This becomes a desperate survival issue for the children. They no longer understand that the rejected parent and relatives that represent one half of their heritage still love them. These rejected family members are helpless in that they are unable to help the child to maintain anything close to an objective reality about their family. Without exposure to healthy people, these children’s actions become increasingly bizarre, including accusing the rejected parent of a host of horrible behaviors that he or she has never done.
All in all, the reality is that typical or conventional office therapy is virtually never successful in severe cases, and often makes things catastrophically worse.
The FRRP was envisioned in 2004, at which time the founder, Dr. Kathleen M. Reay was a child custody evaluator and family therapist experienced with high-conflict separation and divorce cases in which many assessment and counseling experiences involved children and their siblings rejecting a once loving parent for no legitimate reasons. It was soon recognized that traditional therapeutic approaches were futile with this specialized population.
In 2007, the founder purchased a spacious property in the Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada with the intent of it one day becoming a unique year-round retreat for the purpose of reunifying children with their rejected parents. The following 3 years consisted of keeping up-to-date on empirical research and clinical literature on high-conflict divorce, alienation and estrangement, the link between child psychological abuse and neurodevelopment), and best practices for teaching children through the use of multimedia. Additionally, the founder researched two well known reunification programs—Family Bridges: A Workshop for Troubled and Alienated Parent-Child Relationships, originally developed by Randy Rand and later refined by Rand and Warshak, and the Overcoming Barriers Program developed by Sullivan, Ward, & Deutsch. From there, the current FRRP model developed, drawn upon the strengths of both reunification programs and best practices for multimedia learning. Subsequently, the FRRP founder facilitated training programs for mental health professionals throughout various parts of the United States and Canada. Over 2,000 clinicians became certified FRRP on-call independent contractors for the program’s aftercare counseling services. After launching successful pilot programs in 2012, the FRRP came to fruition in the spring of 2013.
The FRRP was piloted in 2012. Preliminary outcome evidence demonstrated a 95% success rate after children and their rejected parents attended an intensive 4-day retreat. The participants were reevaluated at 3-month, 6-month, 9-month, and 12-month follow ups. The children and their former rejected parents continued to demonstrate a 95% success rate in maintaining healthy attachments following the 4-day intervention. Preliminary evidence also demonstrated that once children are safely removed from the alienating parent, and any other extended family member involved in the alienation dynamics, they begin to feel emotionally safe and steadfastly reconnect with the rejected parent. Specific court-ordered terms are necessary for acceptance into the FRRP. Since the pilot study was published in the American Journal of Family Therapy (2015), the FRRP has maintained a 100% success rate in reunifying severely alienated children and their rejected parent at the 4-day retreat.
The FRRP has recently relocated to a beautiful setting on the Vancouver Island, British Columbia Canada. This stunning large island is located off the west coast of North America, between British Columbia, Canada and Washington State, USA. There are incredible national old growth forest parks, BC’s capital city, Victoria, secluded resorts, beautiful beaches, pretty coastal towns and so much more. The Vancouver Island is so easy to reach from the mainland; therefore, you can’t use travel time as an excuse. Several ferries depart from both British Columbia and Washington State daily, and they arrive in various places on Vancouver Island as well, such as downtown Victoria, Sidney, Swartz Bay and Nanaimo. There’s also the new Hullo Fast ferry that runs between downtown Vancouver and the Nanaimo Harbor. There’s also the option of taking a jet or seaplane, from both Seattle and Vancouver.
Vancouver Island is one of Canada’s favourite getaway regions. It’s the largest of North America’s west-coast islands – stretching almost 310 miles from north to south. From the capital city of Victoria (also known as “Garden City” for it’s year-round greenness and multi-coloured blossoms) to the rocky shores that make water sports a popular activity, to the surf culture of Tofino — there may be no better place for our reunified guests to spend their days outdoors than on the island. We encourage our families to make the most of their time on the Vancouver Island by getting out and getting active. The fresh ocean air will have you feeling like a brand new person. There is so much to see and do on the Vancouver Island from swimming, surfing paddle-boarding, kayaking, sailing, fishing, beach-combing, ziplining, bungee jumping, horseback riding, hiking, cycling, golfing, skiing, whale-watching and the list goes on and on.
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