On October 10^th and 11^th of this year, about a dozen of us adult alienated or formerly alienated children will be speaking at a conference—our conference—and telling in-person and virtual attendees what it has been like to be alienated from a loving parent.

I have spoken many times to audiences of alienated parents, professionals, and other people interested in hearing about this pathology. But I always wondered where all the other adult alienated children were. Where are my brothers and sisters in alienation? I’ve known that many remain in the fog of the alienation, unaware of the coercion that has altered their perception and their reality. But I knew I couldn’t be the only one to have awakened to the truth.

Now, at long last, we have found each other (Thank you Anti-Alienation Project!).  I think that I can speak for all of us when I say that we consider this conference an expression of our conscious uprising- together. To be alienated from a loving parent is to be coercively controlled, and oppressed. To speak out about it, to educate, and to tell of our lived experiences, is to claim our authentic power. It is to honor our responsibility to ourselves, to those trying to navigate alienation today, and to all the children who are at risk of alienation tomorrow.

I am so excited to join my fellow speakers, my fellow Thrivers, in this mission. In the darkness that is alienation, we will shine the brightest light, not only so that this pathology is better understood, but also so that the way home, back to self, to healing, is illuminated.