I received several written and oral responses to the previous article, A Mothers Pain, which was published in the New Hampshire Bar News on March 13, 2009. I asked the responders if I could quote them, without attribution. Some of the responses which I received were very poignant.

Over many years of practicing family law certain patterns of behavior in families have become evident to me. While the family law practitioner is not ordinarily trained in family therapy or psychology, certain fact patterns regarding family behavior seem to repeat themselves in divorcing and divorced families so as to represent a discernible pattern of behavior in the family dynamic.

The parents of Amy (age 10) and Kevin (age 7) are divorcing after 13 years of marriage. Their father, by temporary stipulation, has moved from the marital home. He is entitled to visit with the children on alternating weekends and one evening, during the week. Soon, the children begin to refuse to go with him. At first, they do not want to leave Mom; they say that they are afraid to go.