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Richard A. Gardner

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Richard Alan Gardner (April 28, 1931 – May 25, 2003) was an American child psychiatrist known for his work in psychotherapy with children, parental alienation and child custody evaluations. Based on his clinical work with children and families, Gardner introduced the term Parental alienation syndrome (PAS), which are now "largely rejected by most credible professionals." He wrote 41 books and more than 200 journal articles and book chapters, although most of his work was self-published, non-peer-reviewed, and anecdotal. He developed child play therapy and test materials which he published through his company Creative Therapeutics. Gardner was an expert witness in child custody cases. Gardner and his work have been largely denounced as biased efforts by a suspected child sexual abuser himself to justify the abuse of children, beginning with sexual abuse but now encompassing all forms of abuse. Rightfully, PAS has not been recognized by the American Psychiatric Association or any other medical or professional association, but its misuse in family courts has led to widespread dismissal of legitimate testimonies regarding abuse and to the deaths of hundreds of children per year ultimately being murdered by the abusive parent.

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