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Part I provided background information and a bibliography.
Part II will cover Family Bridges.
HISTORY OF FAMILY BRIDGES
Dr. Randy Rand developed Family Bridges in the early 1990s after the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the Department of State Office of Children's Affairs asked for his assistance in reuniting recovered missing children with their parents (Warshak, 2010b). As some of these children had been living with their abductors for many years, the children had become emotionally attached to their alienators. When they were suddenly deprived of contact with their former "caregivers," some children experienced "overwhelming fear and hatred toward the parent who, by necessity, will be providing their full-time care." (Warshak, 2010b, p. 55). From its inception, the program "provide[d] rapid relief to ... children during a stressful transition," and helped "parents safely and sensitively manage . children's feelings and behavior." (Warshak, 2010b, p.55).
In developing the educational program, Rand drew from the work of his mentor, psychologist Margaret Singer, as well as psychologist Robert Jay Lifton, two world-renown "cult" experts. Together with "universally accepted research in social, cognitive, and child developmental psychology, sociology, and social neuroscience," Rand created a curriculum, guided by a set of principles, that truly remediated the alienation suffered by these abducted children.
Realizing these techniques could be extended to help other alienated populations, Rand opened Family Bridges, a modified form of the program tailored to address the needs of "nonabducted children who are severely and unreasonably alienated from a parent in the context of divorce." (Warshak, 2010b, p. 55-56).
WHAT IS FAMILY BRIDGES?
Family Bridges has been designed to deal with children "whom courts and therapists have traditionally viewed as beyond help.". These include three main types of severely alienated children, those who (1) reject the TP after divorce, (2) refuse and/or resist contact with a TP and (3) have a seriously strained relationship with a TP, which manifests as either "extreme withdrawal or gross contempt.". Using "evidence-based instruction principles to maximize learning and create a safe atmosphere," in Family Bridges, alienated "children develop skills to resist outside pressures," while TPs "learn how to sensitively manage their children's behavior, and the family learns tools to effectively communicate and manage conflicts."
Basic Principles
As the program is "dedicated...