The first week of June, Wendy Perry, Rod McCall, and I are traveling to Washington, D.C. to present the Petition to the APA to the APA. I will be contacting the APA in the upcoming weeks and months to discuss planning for a formal presentation event.
Ginger Gentile of the documentary Erasing Family will be joining us with her film crew to cover the presentation event. This is huge, because it will help motivate the APA to be pleasant and cooperative in planning an appropriate presentation event.
If they want the event to simply be handing the Petition to the APA to the security guard… we can do that… but such insensitivity by the APA to the suffering of parents is going to be captured on film. I am confident that with our oh-so-pleasant invitation for cooperation, the APA will offer an appropriate representative to accept the Petition to the APA. We’ll also be seeking a separate meeting with representatives of the APA at which the voice of targeted-chosen parents can be heard.
Thank you Ginger. Your support is immensely important to bringing the voice of targeted-chosen parents to the APA.
The annual convention of the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (AFCC) is also being held in Washington, D.C. that week, offering us an additional opportunity for the voice of targeted-chosen parents to be heard by the primary legal-psychological professional organization involved in child custody and high-conflict divorce.
Our Agenda
Here is our proposed agenda for the Washington, D.C. trip.
Wednesday 6/6
Day 1 Morning: Press conference
Day 1 Afternoon: Visit congressional offices
Thursday 6/7
Day 2 Morning: APA presentation event
Day 2 Afternoon: Meeting with APA representative
Friday 6/8
Day 3 Morning: Visit congressional offices
Day 3 Afternoon: Visit congressional offices
Day 3 Evening: Erasing Family fundraiser
Saturday 6/9
4-hour Seminar: Dr. Childress & Dorcy Pruter
Solutions to Parental Alienation in High-Conflict Divorce
The Delegation
The Petition to the APA is your voice. This isn’t about me, it’s about you and your children. Which is why I asked Wendy Perry and Rod McCall to join me in making the formal presentation of the Petition to the APA.
Wendy and Rod both agreed to travel to Washington D.C. at their own expense for the presentation of the Petition to the APA. Which leads to my first request for support from targeted-chosen parents.
The Childress Institute for Child Development is now up and operational as a 501c3 non-profit with a Board of Directors governing its operation. The Childress Institute will support my speaking and training of mental health and legal professionals in AB-PA. Once we solve “parental alienation,” the focus of The Childress Institute for Child Development will shift to unraveling and solving the terrorist mind and pathological violence, seminars in healthy parenting for all parents, revising our foundational approach to educating children, and healing the trauma mindset of prisoners to reduce the rate of prison recidivism. I’m planning to start each of these projects once we solve “parental alienation,” leaving a legacy for healthy child development that will outlive my tenure on the planet.
As the first formal act of the Childress Institute, I am asking for contributions to reimburse Wendy Perry and Rod McCall for their travel expenses to Washington, D.C. I did not discuss reimbursing them prior to my invitation, and they have both spent their own money for hotel reservations and airfare. They are your voice with me. Please help to reimburse their travel expenses by making a tax deductible contribution to The Childress Institute.
Donations to The Childress Institute for Child Development
I know that fighting the pathology of “parental alienation” is exceedingly expensive. But whatever you can afford to help Wendy and Rod with their travel expenses would be greatly appreciated.
What about my travel expenses? I’ll cover my own expenses. Wendy and Rod are my priority. No one is rich here. They could use your help. If we receive enough donations to zero-out their travel expenses, any addition money collected by The Childress Institute will be used to purchase an event table at the AFCC convention. I’ll talk about that shortly.
There was discussion of possibly including the voice of now-adult children of alienation in our presentation event to the APA. Wendy, Rod, and I decided against including a representative of now-adult children of alienation for a couple of reasons. First, and most importantly, parents speak for children. We do not use the child to make our point. Parents protect children, parents speak for children. We have this. We will carry the voice of children.
And trust me, Eryk will be with us in Rod. (For the Love of Eryk)
So we will not be including a representative of now-adult children of alienation in the formal presentation event to the APA.
At the same time, children have a voice, and we want to respect the authenticity of children’s voice. Adults have the right to discuss their lives and childhood experiences. Now-adult children of alienation have a right to their voice. We would like to honor and respect that voice in the following ways:
1.) We would like representation from the voice of now-adult children of alienation at the opening press conference (I’ll discuss this shortly).
2.) We would like representation from the voice of now-adult children of alienation at the meeting with the APA following the presentation event.
3.) We would like representation from the voice of now-adult children of alienation at the visits to the congressional offices.
4.) I would invite representation from the voice of now-adult children at The Childress Institute event table at the AFCC convention.
It’s just at the formal presentation event that we want parents to speak for children. That’s the right thing to do.
Dorcy Pruter
When Dorcy learned that Wendy, Rod, and I were traveling to Washington, D.C., she wanted so much to be part of the trip and the delegation. I said no. She is too bright a luminary. I want this to be the quiet voice of all the parents everywhere. Wendy and Rod can fully carry this voice.
In my participation at the various activities, I plan to only make a brief introductory statement at each event before turning the floor over to Wendy and Rod, and the other participants at the events. I am merely a conduit for the voice of parents and children. I plan to get out of the way. There will be time enough for my voice. This is about the suffering of targeted-chosen parents and their children, and their call for solution.
Dorcy is also an immensely powerful voice in the solution, and her participation would be extremely valuable. Dorcy will be coming to Washington, D.C. and she will be participating in all of the surrounding events, the press conference, the separate meeting with the APA (anticipating that this can be arranged), and perhaps some of the visits to the congressional offices. But the congressional office visits are not as important a venue for Dorcy’s voice than is the AFCC convention in Washinton, D.C. that week.
The Childress Institute is going to purchase an event table at the AFCC convention, and Dorcy has agreed to staff that table as much as she is able to bring the voice of parents and children, and the call for solution, to the AFCC.
Erasing Family
Ginger Gentile from the documentary Erasing Family will be holding a fund-raising event on Friday evening. Dorcy and I will both be at this fundraising event, meeting and exchanging ideas with the people who attend.
I am inviting Ginger to also participate in all aspects of the week’s events. I would like her on the dias at the press conference to discuss her documentary and the voices of children and families. Similarly, I would like her in the separate meeting with the APA to again offer the voice of children and families. If she wants to film some of the congressional office visits, that’s fine with me and we will make prior arrangements with the congressional offices for permission and cooperation with the filming. If Ginger wants to simply attend these congressional office visits and speak to the voice of children and families, that’s fine too.
At each event, we will highlight the Friday evening soiree of the Erasing Family fundraiser, inviting congressional staffers, APA representatives, and AFCC convention participants (attorneys and mental health professionals) to come to the Friday evening Erasing Family event.
The Erasing Family fundraiser will be the crescendo focal point for the week’s activities.
Saturday Seminar
The formal week’s events end on Friday with the Erasing Family soiree event. Wendy and Rod are free to return home or sight see in Washington, D.C.
Dorcy and I, on the other hand, have one more event.
Dorcy and I are going to conduct a 4-hour seminar on Saturday 6/9 on the Solution to Parental Alienation in High-Conflict Divorce. Hopefully we can generate interest from the legal and mental health professionals attending the AFCC convention, from APA representatives, and from congressional staffers.
The Dorcy & Dr. Childress Seminar on Saturday is like an epilogue to the week’s event.
The Press Conference
We want to begin the week’s activities with a press conference. At the dias I would like Wendy, Rod, Ginger, Dorcy, and a representative of now-adult children.
Needless to say, I don’t know anything about putting on a press conference. I’m going to need some help in this if it is to happen. Everything is in the hands of the universe, so we’ll see what happens. But for my part, I’m going to try to learn as much as I can in the next few months to be able to put together this opening press conference event.
Congressional Office Visits
Wendy, Rod, and I will be arranging visits with the offices of our congressional representatives. We may not be able to meet directly with our representatives, but I’m fairly confident we can at least arrange meetings with their congressional staffers. Ginger, Dorcy, and a representative for now-adult children are invited to join us for these meetings.
At these meetings, we will be inviting the congressional staffers to the Friday evening Erasing Family soiree and the Saturday Dorcy and Dr. Childress Seminar on solutions.
AFCC Convention
The Childress Institute is going to purchase an event table at the AFCC convention. I will pay for this out of my own pocket, but if The Childress Institute is able to collect donations that zero-out Wendy and Rod’s travel expenses, then any additional money will be put toward purchasing this event table.
I’m probably going to be pretty busy during the week’s events, so I’m not likely to be at the AFCC event table very much. I’ll have materials there, along with flyers to the Erasing Family fundraising event on Friday evening and flyers for the Saturday seminar with Dr. Childress and Dorcy on solutions to “parental alienation.”
I’m hoping to drop by the event table for at least two-hours each day, with the schedule for my personal availability at the event table posted at the table, so that anyone who wants to speak with me personally can drop by the event table at these times and I’ll be there.
In the meantime, Dorcy will also provide coverage at The Childress Institute event table for times that I’m unavailable. We’ll have my materials at the table. Dorcy will also have her materials at the table. And we’ll have flyers at the AFCC event table for the Friday Erasing Family fundraiser and the Saturday Dorcy and Dr. Childress seminar.
For times that neither Dorcy nor I are available to staff the table, it may go unattended, or we may be able to arrange for a volunteer who lives in the D.C. area to staff the table. We’ll see what happens.
Your Voice
Everything is in the hands of the universe. Each of us has our roles to play. My role in this is to serve as the catalyst for making this event happen, and then to serve as the conduit to facilitate the voice of parents and their children.
Your voice is the Petition to the APA (16,718 signatures). Your voice becomes more powerful with more signatures. Is 16,718 signatures enough? It is for me. You have given me a strong enough voice to take to the APA. But if I were a targeted parent, I’d want to make my voice as strong as possible. Are there only 16,000 people in the world affected by “parental alienation”? There are supposedly hundreds of thousands of parents, grandparents, extended family, and friends who have been affected by the pathology of “parental alienation.” So…
This is your voice. Wendy, Rod, and I are bringing your voice to the APA. How strong that voice will ultimately be by June of this year is up to you.
Washington, D.C.
That’s the initial plan. Things seldom work out as planned, and I understand that all of this is in the hands of the universe.
Thank you to Wendy and Rod. Thank you to Ginger. Thank you to Dorcy. And thank you to all of you who support us in bringing the voice of targeted parents and their children to the APA.
I also want to acknowledge Howie Dennision for his prior and ongoing advocacy with the APA and Jason Hofer for the prior petition he wrote calling for change. Their work has been formative to the Petition to the APA and to the week in Washingon, D.C. This is an extension of their prior efforts.
The world is changing. We are bringing your voice to the APA. The solution is coming. We will not stop until all of your children, including your now-adult children are back in your arms.
Donations to The Childress Institute for Child Development
Craig Childress, Psy.D.
Clinical Psychologist, PSY 1885
Dr. Craig Childress: Attachment Based "Parental Alienation" (AB-PA) 
Don’t forget to pack your swamp boots. It does not appear to be fully drained yet…
Godspeed, Doc. Godspeed.