Court Involved Therapy Services: What Parents Need to Know During Family Court Proceedings
Understanding how court-involved therapy differs from traditional counseling.
Navigating family court can be one of the most challenging experiences a parent will face. When therapy becomes part of your divorce litigation, understanding how Court Involved Therapy Services differ from traditional counseling is crucial for protecting both your interests and your children's wellbeing. This comprehensive guide can help you understand what to expect and how to approach therapy within the legal system.
Understanding Court-Involved Therapy: More Than Traditional Counseling
Court-involved therapy refers to mental health services provided to parents or children who are engaged in family court proceedings. Unlike community therapy, where confidentiality is paramount and the therapist's sole focus is therapeutic progress, court-involved therapy operates at the intersection of mental health and the legal system—creating unique dynamics that every parent should understand.
A Court-Involved Therapist (CIT) is any mental health professional providing treatment to a parent, child, couple, or family who is involved with the legal system at any time during treatment. This involvement fundamentally changes how therapy works, how information is shared, and what you can expect from the therapeutic relationship.
A Critical Difference: Confidentiality in Court-Related Therapy
Perhaps the most important distinction parents must grasp is how confidentiality works differently in court-related therapy. In traditional therapy, what you share with your therapist can generally be assumed to remain confidential. In court-involved therapy, however, your therapist may be required to share information with evaluators, attorneys, parenting coordinators, or the court itself.
Before beginning therapy, your therapist should provide thorough informed consent explaining:
The limits of confidentiality in your specific case
Who may have access to therapy information
Circumstances under which the therapist might communicate with the court
How therapy records could be used in legal proceedings
Whether one or both parents must consent to release information
Critical insight: The stress of court involvement—and the high stakes of your case—can unconsciously affect what you share and how you perceive events. Court-involved therapists are trained to recognize these dynamics, but you should also be aware that your therapeutic alliance—while valuable—exists within a legal context that may ultimately require disclosure of sensitive information.
You should consult with your attorney before signing consent forms for court-involved therapy, especially regarding provisions about information sharing.
Family Reunification Therapy: Rebuilding Parent-Child Relationships
Family reunification therapy — more often called “family systems therapy” — addresses one of the most challenging situations in family court: when a child’s relationship with a parent has been disrupted or suspended. This specialized intervention focuses on restoring and strengthening the parent-child relationship under circumstances that often involve high conflict, allegations of abuse or neglect, or prolonged separation.
The Family Systems Therapist: A Specialized Role
A family systems therapist works specifically with families where a child has rejected a parent or where court orders mandate therapeutic intervention to rebuild the relationship. This role requires specialized training in:
High-conflict family dynamics
Child development and the impact of parental separation
Resist/refuse and estrangement dynamics
Trauma-informed approaches
Managing resistance from children or parents
Family systems therapy often involves individual sessions with the child, individual sessions with the parent, and gradually progressing toward joint sessions as appropriate. The therapist must maintain objectivity while actively working toward the therapeutic goal of relationship repair—which may sometimes mean therapeutic confrontation that frustrates either the parent or child.
Important consideration: Family systems therapy is not about forcing relationships or ignoring legitimate concerns. A qualified family systems therapist will differentiate between children's realistic fears based on past parental behavior versus unrealistic beliefs that may have been influenced by the other parent, by others in the family system, or by the stress of divorce itself.
Finding an AFCC-Informed Therapist in Utah: Why Specialized Training Matters
If you're seeking therapy services during a custody case in Utah, finding a therapist trained in AFCC guidelines can make a significant difference in both treatment outcomes and how the court often views the therapeutic intervention.
What Makes an AFCC-Trained Therapist Different?
The Association of Family and Conciliation Courts publishes guidelines that represent commonly held best practices for working with court-involved families. In Utah, family courts increasingly recognize the value of therapists who follow AFCC standards. These professionals understand:
The impact of legal processes on families: How litigation stress affects parent and child behavior, decision-making, and therapeutic engagement
Professional role boundaries: The critical difference between being a treating therapist versus a forensic evaluator, and why mixing these roles is problematic
Developmental considerations: How children of different ages understand divorce, express preferences, and cope with parental conflict
High-conflict dynamics: Specialized knowledge about how chronic parental conflict affects children and evidence-based interventions
Ethical obligations in court contexts: How to balance therapeutic duties with legal requirements and court expectations
When looking for a qualified therapist in Utah, ask about their specific training in family court issues, their familiarity with AFCC guidelines, and their experience working with custody cases. Utah family courts tend to view AFCC-trained therapists as having specialized expertise in navigating the complex intersection of therapy and legal proceedings.
The Family Court Involved Therapist Role: What It Is and What It Isn't
A family court involved therapist must maintain clear boundaries about their role. Understanding these limitations protects both you and your children.
What a Court-Involved Therapist Can Do:
Provide treatment focused on improving psychological functioning and coping skills
Offer observations about your progress in therapy, behavioral changes, or therapeutic participation
Identify treatment needs and make recommendations about continued therapy
Discuss parenting skills, co-parenting progress, or relationship dynamics observed in session
What a Court-Involved Therapist Should NOT Do:
Make custody or parenting time recommendations (this is the role of a custody evaluator)
Determine the validity of abuse allegations (this requires forensic and/or DCFS assessment)
Testify about who is the "better parent"
Provide opinions on legal custody or decision-making authority
Make recommendations about legal issues
A critical principle: Your therapist's natural alliance with you as their client can create bias. While this alliance is valuable for therapeutic progress, it can impair the therapist's ability to provide objective information about contested legal issues. For this reason among others, AFCC guidelines strongly discourage therapists from serving dual roles as both therapist and evaluator.
Managing Multiple Professionals: Coordination in Your Case
Court-involved therapy rarely happens in isolation. Your case may involve:
Custody evaluators
Parenting coordinators
Guardian ad litem or minor's counsel
Individual therapists for your child
Your own individual therapist
Your ex-spouse's therapist
Your court-involved therapist should understand how to coordinate with these professionals while maintaining appropriate boundaries. They may need to communicate about your progress, share observations relevant to parenting plans, or clarify their recommendations—but they should do so in a balanced manner that respects both parents' rights when working in a neutral role.
For parents: If your child has a separate therapist, understand that your child's therapist should generally avoid taking sides in the custody dispute. They may need to communicate with both parents and should maintain objectivity about adult issues while focusing on your child's developmental needs and wellbeing.
When Children Are Involved: Special Considerations
If therapy involves your child, several unique factors apply:
Consent requirements: Generally, both parents should be notified before a child begins therapy. Check your custody orders to understand who has the authority to consent to treatment.
Age-appropriate explanations: The therapist should explain therapy to your child in developmentally appropriate language, adapting explanations as treatment progresses.
Balancing parental rights with child privacy: The therapist must respect both parents' right to information about their child while protecting the therapeutic relationship and the child's privacy.
Children's expressed preferences: If your child expresses opinions about custody or parenting time in therapy, understand that therapists are trained to consider multiple factors—including the child's developmental ability to make such decisions, potential external influences on their perceptions, and whether fears are realistic or unrealistic.
Preparing children for disclosure: If therapy information will be shared with the court or evaluators, good therapists prepare children for this, address their feelings, and help them cope with resulting stress.
Red Flags: When Court-Involved Therapy Goes Wrong
While most therapists operate ethically, parents should watch for concerning patterns:
Role confusion: A therapist who shifts from treating you to evaluating you, or who offers custody recommendations without proper forensic assessment
One-sided information gathering: Especially in children's therapy, therapists who only hear from one parent or who don't seek balanced information
Inappropriate advocacy: Therapists who become aligned with one parent's legal position rather than maintaining therapeutic objectivity
Pressure to waive confidentiality: While some information sharing is normal in court cases, be cautious about therapists who push you to release all information without helping you understand the implications
Lack of specialized knowledge: Therapists who don't understand family court processes, child development in divorce, or high-conflict dynamics
If you observe these issues, consult with your attorney about whether to raise concerns with the court or seek a different therapist.
Questions to Ask Before Starting Court-Involved Therapy
To make informed decisions, ask potential therapists:
What is your training and experience with court-involved families?
Are you familiar with AFCC guidelines for court-involved therapy?
How will you handle confidentiality in my case?
Under what circumstances would you communicate with the court, evaluators, or attorneys?
What are your policies about testifying or providing reports?
How do you maintain objectivity when working with families in litigation?
What are your fee arrangements, and what happens if there are payment disputes?
Have you worked with cases similar to mine (reunification, high-conflict, domestic violence, etc.)?
Moving Forward: Making Court-Involved Therapy Work
Despite its complexities, court-involved therapy can provide genuine benefits:
Skill development: Learning communication, co-parenting, and emotion regulation skills
Support during stress: Professional guidance through one of life's most difficult transitions
Child-focused interventions: Helping children cope with divorce and family changes
Relationship repair: Rebuilding parent-child connections when estrangement has occurred
Demonstrating commitment: Showing the court your willingness to work on identified issues
Keys to success:
Approach therapy with genuine openness to growth, not just to "look good" for court
Be honest with your therapist while understanding the limits of confidentiality
Focus on your children's needs, not just winning your case
Work collaboratively with your co-parent when possible
Stay engaged even when therapy feels frustrating or confrontational
Conclusion: Informed Participation Makes a Difference
Court-involved therapy services occupy a unique space between the mental health and legal systems. Understanding how this intersection works—from confidentiality limits to specialized roles like reunification therapy—empowers you to participate effectively while protecting your interests and your children's wellbeing.
The AFCC guidelines represent the gold standard for ethical, effective court-involved therapy. Seeking therapists who understand and follow these principles, particularly if you can find an AFCC-informed therapist familiar with Utah family court practices, gives you the best chance of positive outcomes both therapeutically and legally.
Remember that while court involvement changes the therapeutic dynamic, the ultimate goals remain focused on healing, growth, and your family's wellbeing. By approaching court-related therapy as an informed participant rather than a passive recipient of services, you can make the most of this intervention during a challenging time.
Endnotes and Additional Resources
For finding qualified therapists: The Utah Chapter of the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts maintains a searchable professional directory of court-involved therapists throughout the state of Utah.
Legal consultation: Always consult with a qualified family law attorney in your jurisdiction before making decisions about therapy consent forms, information releases, or testimony. Laws governing confidentiality, privilege, and therapist roles vary significantly by state.
For professionals: The full AFCC Guidelines for Court-Involved Therapy are available at afccnet.org and provide comprehensive guidance about ethical practice, role boundaries, informed consent, confidentiality, and professional communication.
Child-focused resources: Organizations like the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts and the American Psychological Association offer research-based information about helping children cope with divorce and custody transitions.
Acknowledgements
Many thanks to Dr. Katrina Kuzyszyn-Jones for her feedback on this article.
