Research Library
Research-grounded analysis of parental alienation, covert manipulation, and the science of family healing. Edited by Rob Spain, BCBA, IBA.
Building on the theoretical framework of rule-governed behavior in alienation, this article proposes a concrete, testable agent-based model grounded in empirical research to simulate and analyze the dynamics of alienation versus genuine estrangement.
Dr. Michael Levin's groundbreaking research on bioelectricity and cancer provides a powerful metaphor for understanding parental alienation through Relational Frame Theory. Just as cancer begins with cellular disconnection, alienation begins with relational disconnection.
Family estrangement driven by covert manipulation is not a mystery — it is a technology. A systematic, layered reengineering of a child's reality using the same mechanisms documented in behavioral science and Relational Frame Theory. Here is how it works, layer by layer.