How Family Court Enabled The Coercive Control of Catherine Kassenoff featuring Amy Polacko

In Episode 20 of the Narcissistic Abuse Rehab Podcast, we explore the topic ‘How Family Court Enabled The Coercive Control of Catherine Kassenoff,’ in an exclusive interview with renowned journalist and divorce coach, Amy Polacko.

Catherine alleged that she suffered years of punishing post-separation abuse from her ex-spouse, Allan Kassenoff. We analyze how biases in the family court system allegedly allowed Allan to use a psychological theory that has been discredited and debunked by the American Bar Association, the American Psychology Association, and the UN to gain sole custody and wage an endless campaign of psychological terror that ended in tragedy. #IAmCatherineKassenoff

EPISODE OVERVIEW

- Catherine Kassenoff's story

- Post-separation abuse

- Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS)

- The patholigization of women in the family court system

- DARVO: Definition + Mechanics

- Vexatious litigation

- The Privilege of Rage

- Case Studies: Tina Turner, Amber Heard, Angelina Jolie

- The commodification of child custody disputes

- Meta-patriarchal violence

- Jennifer's Law

- The link between PTSD and Depression Comorbidity and Female Mortality

- Child mortality in child custody disputes

- Coercive control + femicide

- UN Special Rapporteur Reem Alsalem’s Statement

LINKS + RESOURCES

- Amy Polacko’s Official Website - https://www.freedomwarrior.info

- Wakefield, M (2023, February 18). ‘PTSD + Depression Comorbidity Increase Risk of Mortality In Women.’ https://www.narcissisticabuserehab.com/ptsd-and-depression/

- Statement by Reem Alsalem, Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women + Girls, Its Causes, and Consequences, 53rd session of the Human Rights Council. June 22, 2023. https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/issues/women/sr/statements/2023-06-22-SR-VAWG-HRC53-statement.pdf

- Polacko, A. (2021, December 14) ‘Empty Home for the Holidays: Mothers Who Can’t See Their Children Blame Broken Family Court System.’ Ms. https://msmagazine.com/2021/12/14/mothers-children-family-court-divorce-domestic-violence-child-abuse/

- Polacko, A. (2023, June 5) ‘Remembering Catherine Kassenoff and Continuing the Fight for Fair U.S. Child Custody Outcomes.’ Ms. https://msmagazine.com/2023/06/05/catherine-kassenoff-death-child-custody-divorce-court/

- Polacko, A. (2023, June 12) ‘Allan Kassenoff Resigns After Public Outcry Over Wife Catherine’s Apparent Suicide.’ Ms. Magazine. https://msmagazine.com/2023/06/12/allan-kassenoff-resigns/

- Wakefield, M. (2023, January 27) ‘Why Is Parental Alienation Syndrome So Controversial?’ https://www.narcissisticabuserehab.com/what-is-parental-alienation-syndrome/

- Alltucker, K.(2023, July 17) ‘A child dies every 6 days amid custody fights, family court lapses. Advocates want change.’ https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/07/17/child-deaths-during-custody-battles/70383774007/

See the full list of references here.

ABOUT MANYA WAKEFIELD

⁠Manya Wakefield⁠, is a narcissistic abuse recovery coach, coercive trauma specialist, and the founder of ⁠Narcissistic Abuse Rehab⁠.

Manya is the developer of the ⁠Coercive Trauma Recovery Method™⁠ and ⁠TENEL™ (Traumatic Exposure to Narcissism in Early Life)⁠, a specialist framework for Adult Children of Narcissists.

Her original ⁠research contributions⁠ include the ⁠Global Coercive Control Legislation Index (2020) ⁠and the ⁠Global Femicide Legislation Index (2026)⁠ — the first systematic indexes of their kind on the web, cited in peer-reviewed publications including the ⁠Southern Illinois University Law Journal⁠, ⁠Palgrave Macmillan⁠, and the ⁠University of Agder⁠.

Manya's expertise has been featured in ⁠Newsweek⁠, ⁠Elle⁠, ⁠Cosmopolitan⁠, ⁠Parade⁠, and ⁠HuffPost⁠.

DISCLAIMER

Views expressed by guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the podcast. Read our full disclaimer: https://www.narcissisticabuserehab.com/the-coercive-control-of-catherine-kassenoff/