Texas lawmakers limit use of parent-child reunification therapy in custody battles

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Abbey O’Brien, 18, went to the Texas Capitol in May to publicly support lawmakers’ attempt to restrict a type of family therapy a court ordered her to participate in after her parents’ divorce.

Her dad was there to persuade legislators to continue allowing judges to require the therapy.

House Bill 3783 targeted court-ordered use of reunification therapy, a treatment designed to reconcile parents with children who reject relationships with them after a divorce. The treatment often aims to prevent so-called parental alienation, a theory that a parent in the midst of a custody battle will manipulate children to reject the other parent or to accuse the other parent