RI Family Court recruited psychologist Lori Meyerson in 2004 for a case involving a former court employee who sought custody of his 10-year-old daughter despite a long history of police involvement relating to domestic violence and weapons charges. Chief Judge Jeremiah?s aide David Tassoni stated that he had been searching for a guardian ad litem who ?understood parental alienation? to serve at no charge in this case. \r
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Without visiting either parent's home or seeing the father and daughter together, Meyerson recommended removing the girl from her mother and giving her to her father, against the advice of the girl's physician and her therapist--both of whom Master O'Brien stopped from seeing the girl, based on Meyerson's recommendation. \r
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On the witness stand, Meyerson minimized the girl's fearful comments and the father's remarks about slicing the mother's face. Meyerson criticized the mother's behavior without recognizing it as symptomatic of post-traumatic stress disorder. Although O'Brien decided against awarding custody to this father, the case established Meyerson's role in Rhode Island Family Court cases. \r
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She moved from a cramped office in Riverside to a suite at the Regency Plaza and became the Court?s leading promoter of the so-called ?Parental Alientation Syndrome.? In 2006, the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges warned that references to ?parental alienation? fails to meet evidentiary standards and should be stricken from custody evaluation reports. See page 24 of Navigating Custody and Visitation Evaluations... at the NCJFCJ website.\r
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Complaints against Meyerson and others who base recommendations on ?parental alienation? should be submitted with documents to the RI Department of Health, using complaint forms on their website, to the professional standards and ethics committee at the RI Psychological Association website, with copies to: Parenting Project, 134 Mathewson Street, Providence, RI 02903.
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