A Tribute to Richard Gardner, M.D.
(1931-2003)

Suddenly, on Sunday, May 25 2003, Dr. Richard Gardner passed away.

Dr. Gardner's passing is a terrible loss to his family, friends and to the research and therapeutic communities as well as to divorcing families. My deepest sympathies to all those for whom he held meaning.

I feel fortunate in having known Dr. Gardner and trained under him. Although our contacts were limited, he always made himself available to me either by telephone or by email. He appeared to have an endless amount of energy and over the years, he proved to be an exceptionally productive clinician, teacher and publisher.

Dr. Gardner was a feisty and cantankerous man who was both brilliant and passionate about his work. His keen understanding of children as well as the dynamics of families and divorce led to his conceptualization of parental alienation syndrome (PAS) . His strong commitment to helping children systematically abused by parents so caught up in their own anger and despair that they were unable to recognize the damage they inflicted, left him vulnerable to a broad range of venomous political assaults including SEVERAL SINCE HIS DEATH!.

Unfortunately, Dr. Gardner did not live long enough to see PAS accepted as part of the DSM. Please rest in peace knowing that your memory and your work with be carried forward...

For those of you who wish to express your condolences or share your reflections about the life, career and contributions of the late Dr. Richard Gardner, I have created a guestbook for that purpose.

To view and sign the guestbook, please click here! .

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