When their parents divorced in 2011, Ashton Goff and his little brother lived primarily with their mom. Ashton disliked visiting their dad, Michael D., and Delaware’s child-welfare agency found that Michael had emotionally abused him.
Then, in 2016, Michael turned the tables. He claimed that his ex-wife had poisoned the boys against him in a campaign of “parental alienation.” The concept of parental alienation has never been accepted by the American Psychiatric Association. But after taking testimony from several mental health professionals, the family-court judge was persuaded. She gave Michael sole custody of the kids and ordered them into an alienation treatment program. The judge also barred their mother from any contact.
Michael and the boys spent four days at Turning Points for Families in upstate New York, attending a workshop the program’s director, the social worker Linda Gottlieb, called a “therapeutic vacation.” When it was over, by court order, the boys had to change schools, and they started aftercare with a local psychologist, Rachel Brandenburg. Michael didn’t reply to Insider’s interview requests or written questions; in court, he has denied mistreating Ashton. Gottlieb declined to be interviewed. The workshop doesn’t repair anything — it just forces you back into a situation where you’re afraid. It’s forced compliance through fear.
Read more: I was forced into reunification therapy
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