Senate committee hears wide-ranging testimony on bill to limit court-ordered reunification "therapy"

The Texas Senate Committee on Jurisprudence took testimony on House Bill 3783 on May 7, 2025, a bill that would restrict certain kinds of court-ordered counseling often described in testimony as "reunification therapy." Proponents said the bill would prevent coercive, unregulated programs that isolate children from safe parents; opponents warned the bill in its current form could strip courts of necessary tools to address severe parental alienation and psychological harm to children.

Senator Parker, the bill's sponsor, told the committee the legislation does not ban all court-ordered family therapy but would prohibit practices that, supporters said, remove children from their custodial parent or use coercion and unregulated private transporters. "This bill simply places legal guardrails around this practice, particularly by banning forced separation from the primary custodial parent," Parker said while laying out the measure.

Several people who said they had direct experience with intensive reunification interventions testified in favor of the bill. Jeff Diamond, an attorney and adoptive…