When you are experiencing any level of alienation from your child or grandchild it is difficult not to focus on the sadness and loss you are feeling. This presentation will explore the concept of how shifting your mindset is essential to surviving this personal crisis. We will redefine self care as an Inside Job that requires you to rethink your mindset about your current life situation and explore how persistent negative thoughts can affect your body and brain. I will also present 6 strategies for rewiring your brain, and helping you to shift into a more positive attitude and belief systems about yourself and your life.
In my work with alienated parents, they often present as anxious, agitated, angry, and afraid. What is often not understood by others is how they have experienced extreme trauma in attempting to manage an unfathomable family crisis that has caused them such grief and loss. Helping these parents understand and make sense of trauma can be an extremely complexed process. Trauma can be a cruel destructive force, or a vehicle for soaring to the heights of transformation. The paradox of trauma is that it has both the power to destroy, and the power to transform. In this workshop we will discuss the various types of trauma that affect alienated parents and their families, the effects of trauma on the body and mind, the most effective forms of treatment, 5 major misconceptions, and how the duel nature of trauma can lead to Post Traumatic Growth.
Lisa Rothfus is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who has worked with families and children in private practice for over 35 years
She earned her Master’s degree in Social Work from Simmons School of Social Work in Boston, Massachusetts
Interned at two Harvard teaching hospitals
Post master's training in Structural Family Therapy at Cambridge Family Institute in Boston, Massachusetts
Specializes in counseling families transitioning through all stages of divorce and high conflict family situations
Assesses and treats families affected by Parental Alienation, and offers mild, moderate, and severe Reunification Therapy
Appointed by the courts in numerous Texas counties to assess and provide counseling for families experiencing alienation or estrangement issues
Worked as a Guardian Ad Litem, Mediator, and Parent
Facilitator/Coordinator in the Texas Courts
Appointed as a Reunification Therapist for families out of states if a child resides in Texas
Offers a 4-day Intensive Reunification Program out of Austin, Texas for severely alienated parents who have been awarded custody by the court of their alienated child. This program requires a “no Contact order”, and is a combination of structural family therapy, psychoeducational information, experiential therapy, and includes an extensive aftercare protocol for the alienating parent.
