From the Desk of Jill Jones Soderman
Richard Gardner, M.D., changed the course of family court custody litigation—not for the good.
I am a witness to history, a student, and a chronicler of events that have unfolded over decades of my own involvement as an expert in multiple dimensions of family court custody litigation.
My years of psychoanalytic and psychotherapeutic clinical work include employment as a clinician, clinical supervisor, and lecturer in clinical practice at Rockland Psychiatric Center and later at Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons (New York State Psychiatric Institute).
During my tenure at the New York State Psychiatric Institute, I trained as a psychoanalyst and psychotherapist, gaining extensive clinical expertise in treating children, adolescents, and adults. I was employed at the institution where Richard Gardner was engaged as a volunteer. Through this connection, I became acquainted with psychiatrists who were personally familiar with Dr. Gardner, his theories, and his practice as a forensic psychiatrist.
My writings on the Richard Gardner phenomenon—as represented by the ever-growing cottage industry of parental alienation services, including diagnosis, treatment, and legal intervention—are based on my years of academic education and clinical training, as well as my work with children and families who have experienced acute trauma in various circumstances.
As a student of forensic science, I have studied numerous theorists, including Dr. Gardner. I own an extensive collection of his published books and articles describing his theories. I attended many courses, conferences, symposiums, and lectures promoting his theories and their applicability to the family court system. Over time, Gardner’s influence on custody litigation in courts across the United States and beyond became overwhelming.
The Marketing Campaign
Gardner’s marketing firm, Creative Analytics, promoted his theories and embarked on a highly successful campaign advertising his work as a forensic psychiatrist. The campaign drew the attention of the legal community, leading to the development of numerous courses and seminars that generated widespread interest in the concept of parental alienation.
Dr. Gardner developed a forensic psychiatry practice that primarily represented men charged with crimes related to the sexual abuse of children, particularly incest. The theories he promoted were designed to exonerate his clients, despite their acts of violence and brutality against children. His ideology was heavily influenced by white nationalist dogma.
Gardner’s beliefs in white racial supremacy and the expansion of the white population led him to promote the sexualization of children—arguing that increasing the birth rate required young children to become sexually active and reproduce at earlier ages. According to this twisted ideology, young boys would become fathers, and young girls would become mothers.
The Implementation of Gardner’s Theories
Today, we are witnessing the tragic implementation of custody transfers from protective parents to abusers. Under Gardner’s theories—embraced by judicial authorities and supported by a lucrative legal marketing empire—children are being forcibly placed in the custody of their abusers.
Since the 1980s, the tsunami of illegitimate custody transfers has escalated steadily. This has been fueled by federal funds allocated to the states under judicial orders tied to Title IV-D and Title IV-E—programs intended to provide aid to needy and dependent children. These funds incentivize the transfer of children into one-parent homes under the guise of child rescue. Protective parents are threatened with financial sanctions and imprisonment.
Gardner’s intellectual constructs—including the concepts of parental alienation and childhood sexuality—were designed to support a false narrative. His thesis, lacking scientific validity, was introduced into public discourse through aggressive marketing efforts. These efforts promoted his forensic psychiatry practice, defending men accused of sexually abusing their own children.
The Legal Impact
Gardner’s marketing campaign successfully infiltrated bar associations across the United States. Attorneys, drawn to the concept of parental alienation, recognized its potential for strategic legal defense. The theory introduced a level of plausible deniability that made it easier to undermine the criminal standard of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Family courts, which operate outside the criminal justice system, place unwarranted trust in judges as finders of fact. These judges, rather than being bound by strict legal standards, have been influenced by transactional financial and property interests that have skewed custody outcomes.
The Legacy of Harm
Richard Gardner’s theories were not the work of a rational mind but rather the manipulated confabulations of a highly intelligent, yet deeply disturbed individual. His ideas—such as **children being sexual predators, easily manipulated by adults seeking advantages in divorce cases—**stripped children of their voices, intelligence, and integrity.
Gardner’s theories created a false assumption that all individuals raising abuse allegations were seeking an unfair advantage in custody disputes. This deliberate distortion ignored the reality that high-conflict divorce cases often arise from genuine allegations of abuse.
While high-conflict custody cases represent only a fraction of divorce proceedings, they involve significant populations of children and families whose civil rights and safety have been violated due to the false narratives driven by Gardner’s theories.
It must be noted that Richard Gardner committed suicide on May 25, 2023, by stabbing himself to death.
The legacy of harm and suffering unleashed by Gardner’s work is incalculable and ongoing. The number of **victims—both children and adults—**who have suffered due to the government’s coordinated financial manipulation of custody outcomes has never been fully measured.
The Continuing Threat
The false narratives underlying Gardner’s theories—childhood predatory sexuality and parental alienation—continue to wield unimpeached power in American courts. These harmful ideologies, backed by judicial authority, remain deeply embedded in legal and government institutions.
Crimes of violence against children remain undocumented and unprosecuted, while interagency networks facilitate the misuse of federal funding. Title IV-D and Title IV-E have become tools for tax fraud and systemic exploitation, perpetuating an unjust system that continues to sacrifice children’s safety and well-being for profit.