Richard A. Gardner

Richard Gardner, M.D. (April 28, 1931 - May 25, 2003) was a clinical professor of psychiatry in the Division of Child Psychiatry at Columbia University since 1963. He is best known for coining the term Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS), which he did in 1985. He has published more than 40 books and more than 250 articles in a variety of areas of child psychiatry.

His contributions to the field of general psychotherapy with children, psychotherapy with children of divorce, and custody evaluations are widely cited. He was invited to contribute several chapters to the standard reference work in his field, the Basic Handbook of Child Psychiatry, whose Board of Editors includes many of the world’s leading experts in child psychiatry.

Gardner wrote the first self-help book for children of divorce; it was reviewed by Time magazine, excerpted in the Sunday New York Times magazine, and is currently in its 28th printing. He devised a therapeutic technique, Mutual Story-Telling, that is included in child psychiatry curriculums and listed as one of 35 significant events in the history of play therapy. In addition, he originated a new therapeutic modality with his introduction of the first therapeutic board game for use in psychotherapy with children. The use of such games has since become standard in child psychotherapy with many games following Gardner’s lead. One noted expert in psychotherapy called Gardner’s creation "one of the most popular therapeutic games available" and a Website for therapeutic resources claimed that, "Most child therapists consider it an indispensable part of their playroom equipment." Gardner’s books and therapeutic games have been translated into nine languages. The American Psychological Association, in addition to citing three of Gardner’s books in a list of references pertinent to child custody evaluations, honored him by selecting him as one among a few professionals included in a series of training videotapes by "distinguished psychotherapists."

Gardner suffered from reflex sympathetic dystrophy syndrome and he took his own life in 2003. His final ambition, to have PAS included in the DSM, was not realized in his lifetime.

Selected Books

• Doctor Garner's Modern Fairy Tales (1977) ISBN 0933812094
• Protocols for the Sex-Abuse Evaluation (1995) ISBN 0933812388
• Psychotherapy With Sex-Abuse Victims: True, False, and Hysterical {1996) ISBN 0933812418
• Sex-Abuse Trauma?: Or Trauma from Other Sources? (2001) ISBN 0933812477

External Links

• List of 40 Gardner writings mostly dealing with PAS
• See the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine for additional information about Gardner via his old web site http://www.rgardner.com/
• Cincinnati PAS Anti-Gardner site
• What's That on My Head? Example of Gardner game
• Dr. Richard Warshak
• Is psychologists’ testimony going unheard?
• Psychotherapy of Children with Conduct Disorders using Games and Stories