Saturday seminar series: Advocating for your alienated child

Advocating for your alienated child: Right action at the right time
A three-part online series with Karen Woodall

Saturday 11 July 2026
Saturday 18 July 2026
Saturday 25 July 2026

These seminars will be delivered on Zoom between 17:00 and 19:00 UK Time.

We advise you to check your local start time. To do so, please click the link below, ensure ‘Date’ is selected, and enter 17:00 - 2026-07-DD - London in the right-hand boxes, here: https://dateful.com/time-zone-converter *

A Zoom link for this event will be included in your order confirmation (if you do not receive this, please check your spam folder).

Cost £195.00 (including replay access)

T&Cs: Please read our terms and conditions here

* we are unable to offer refunds for events you have missed.

About this series

There comes a point, for many parents, when the effort to explain what is happening to their child begins to feel as if it is going nowhere. This three-part seminar series will guide parents with alienated children in how to act with clarity, credibility and precision inside a complex and often misattuned system.

You may have written carefully, gathered evidence, attended meetings or court hearings, and tried to make clear the reality of your child’s experience, only to find yourself unheard, or worse, misunderstood. In some cases, the more you try to explain, the more your words are used to position you as the problem.

This is not because your concerns are unfounded, nor because your child is not in difficulty. It is because the systems you are interacting with do not respond to distress. They respond to clarity, organisation and the capacity to remain steady under pressure. And when you are living through the loss of your child, maintaining that kind of steadiness is one of the hardest things you will ever be asked to do.

Over many years of working with families in these circumstances, I have come to understand that effective advocacy requires something very specific. It requires the parent to become organised in their own thinking, to understand the system they are navigating, and to learn how to act with precision rather than urgency.

This seminar series is designed to support you to do exactly that.

What this series offers

This is a structured, three-part series of seminars, each lasting two hours, guiding you through a progression from internal organisation to external action. Each seminar will build upon the last, supporting you to develop a way of thinking and acting that is both grounded and effective.

About the seminars

SEMINAR 1: THE REGULATED ADVOCATE

In this seminar, we begin with the most important foundation — your own internal organisation. You will be supported to understand how the impact of what you are living through affects your thinking, your communication and how you are perceived by others. We will explore the dynamics of the relational field you are in, including the projective processes that can so easily draw you into reactive patterns. The focus here is on developing the capacity to remain steady, clear and credible, even when under pressure.

PART 2: SEEING THE SYSTEM CLEARLY

In this second seminar, we turn our attention to the systems you are interacting with. You will learn how professionals interpret what they see, why the behaviour of your child may be misunderstood, and how patterns of coercion and alignment can be obscured within professional narratives. We will focus on how to organise your thinking and your material in a way that allows your child’s experience to be seen more clearly, including how to present evidence in a structured and meaningful way.

PART 3: RIGHT ACTION AT THE RIGHT TIME

The final seminar brings these elements together into the practice of advocacy itself. Here, the focus is on timing, judgement and precision. You will be supported to develop a sense of when to step forward, when to step back, and how to act in ways that are purposeful rather than reactive. This includes how to communicate effectively, how to recognise moments of opportunity, and how to avoid actions that, although understandable, may undermine your position.

Who this series is for

This series is for parents who:

• are currently separated from their child or experiencing rejection
• are involved with professionals or court processes
• want to advocate effectively, without becoming overwhelmed or reactive 
•  are ready to develop a more structured and grounded approach

What makes this work differently?

This is not a course about fighting harder.

It is about learning how to stand in a difficult and often confusing field, and to do so in a way that keeps your child in mind, even when your child cannot hold you in theirs.

Practical details

• Three seminars
• Two hours each
• Delivered live (with replay)
• Limited places to ensure a contained and thoughtful space

Booking

If you feel ready to approach advocacy in a different way, you are welcome to join this series.

Places are limited and this series will be closed when we reach capacity to ensure that everyone is able to get the focused help they need to build regulated and confident advocacy skills.

Please read our terms and conditions:
https://www.familyseparationclinic.com/parenting/group-work-t-and-c-1/

About Karen Woodall
This series is delivered by Karen Woodall and is based on her successful work with alienated children over fifteen years. Drawing upon her psychotherapeutic experience as well as her research and direct work with alienated children in recovery, Karen offers you a unique insight into the world that the alienated child inhabits whilst helping you to understand how to build a path for the child to walk upon to return to you. Beyond that, Karen will assist you to understand the alienated child in recovery and their unique needs for longer term therapeutic parenting which helps them to integrate all of the lost parts of self. The wealth of knowledge and experience of direct work with families to help them to integrate and recover from this serious trauma that Karen offers, makes this series an experiential, warm and effective opportunity to create your own positive outcomes for your alienated child(ren). Karen's new parenting handbook, The Journey of the Alienated Children, will be published later in 2026.