About Amanda Sillars

Drawing on her own deeply personal journey of childhood alienation and the devastating loss of her mother, followed by years of separation from her own children, now successfully reunified, Amanda Sillars has lived the realities of loss, survival, and healing across generations.

With a strong ethical commitment to helping others, she supports individuals and families affected by psychological manipulation, coercive control within families, and parent–child relationship breakdowns. She coined the term Survival-Based Rejection to describe a child’s rejection of a safe, loving parent as an adaptive, fear-driven response to pressure and control, not a voluntary choice or mere preference. Her work focuses on recognising how emotional control and fear shape a child’s perception, influence attachments, and fracture family bonds.

Through the creation of support groups, educational programs, workshops, and advocacy initiatives, Amanda raises awareness and promotes understanding of these often unseen forms of family-based psychological harm.

Holding a Bachelor of Psychological Science from Griffith University, and completing a Bachelor of Counselling, she draws on a strong foundation in human behaviour, mental health, and psychological science to guide her work with compassion, clarity, and integrity.

Amanda Sillars is the founder of the Eeny Meeny Miney Mo Foundation (EMMM) and co-founder and director of Co-Parenting Australia (CoPA). She established Parental Alienation Awareness Day in Australia and New Zealand, held on 12 October during Mental Health Week, and Co-Parenting Awareness Day, recognised on 15 May, aligning with the United Nations International Day of Families.

She is widely recognised as a leading authority on child psychological manipulation, survival-based rejection, and coercive family dynamics. Through her education, advocacy, and consultancy work, Amanda promotes understanding of how fear, control, and emotional manipulation can distort a child’s perception, fracture attachments, and cause lasting harm.

Her mission through EMMM and CoPA is to educate and empower parents, professionals, and policymakers — building awareness, promoting safe co-parenting, and improving outcomes for children affected by complex relational trauma.