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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Hannah Summers and Beatrix Campbell

Questions over use of ‘psychological experts’ in parental alienation cases

Silhouette of little girl holding parent's hand at sunset sky.
Details of the courts’ childcare decisions are rarely made public. Photograph: Nadezhda1906/Getty Images/iStockphoto

Mothers are having their children taken away by court-appointed “psychological experts” who are unregulated and do not have the necessary qualifications, the Association of Clinical Psychologists UK has warned.

The only psychologists subject to statutory regulation in the UK are those registered with the Health and Care Professionals Council (HCPC), although experts who do not qualify for registration can still be appointed, within the legal framework, at the discretion of the courts. However there are increasing concerns that some experts who fall into this category are making life-changing decisions about families and young children based on what the ACP-UK has described as “inappropriate diagnoses”.

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