Parental Consent - Separation & Divorce
You have taken a very positive step by deciding to seek therapy for your child. Clients and families have the best experience when therapy is viewed as a collaborative process relying on supportive parent involvement.
In order to authorize mental health treatment for your child (under the age of 16), you must have either sole or joint legal custody of your child. If you are separated or divorced from the other parent of your child, we will need you to provide us with a copy of the most recent custody decree that establishes custody rights of you and the other parent, or otherwise demonstrates that you have the right to authorize treatment for your child.
If you are separated or divorced from the child’s other parent, please be aware that it is our policy to notify the other parent that we are meeting with your child, as long as you both have joint legal custody. We believe it is important that all parents have the right to know, unless there are truly exceptional circumstances, that their child is receiving mental health evaluation or treatment.
One risk of child therapy involves disagreement among parents and/or disagreement between parents and the therapist regarding the child’s treatment. If such disagreements occur, we will strive to listen carefully so that we can understand your perspectives and fully explain our perspective. We can resolve such disagreements or we can agree to disagree, so long as this enables your child’s therapeutic progress.
Ultimately, parents decide whether therapy will continue. If either parent decides that therapy should end, we will honor that decision, unless there are extraordinary circumstances. However, in most cases, we will ask that you allow us the option of having a few closing sessions with your child to appropriately end the treatment relationship.
Using a Minors Therapy Records/Information in Custody Litigations
When a family is in conflict, particularly conflict due to parental separation or divorce, it is very difficult for everyone, particularly for children. Although our therapists responsibility to your child may require helping to address conflicts between the child’s parents, our role will be strictly limited to providing treatment to your child.
Involving our therapists in your court proceedings can be damaging to our therapeutic relationship with your child. In any child custody/visitation proceedings, neither parent/guardian is authorized to seek to subpoena our records or ask our therapists to testify in court, whether in person or by affidavit, or to provide letters or documentation expressing our opinion about parental fitness or custody/visitation arrangements.
Please note that your agreement may not prevent a judge from requiring our therapists testimony, even though we will not do so unless legally compelled. If we are required to testify, we are ethically bound not to give our opinion about either parent’s custody, visitation suitability, or fitness. If the court appoints a custody evaluator, best interest attorney, or parenting coordinator, our therapists will provide information as needed, if appropriate releases are signed or a court order is provided, but we will not make any recommendation about the final decision(s).
Furthermore, if we are required to appear as a witness or to otherwise perform work related to any legal matter, the party responsible for our therapists participation agrees to reimburse us at our hourly rate for time spent traveling, speaking with attorneys, reviewing and preparing documents, testifying, being in attendance, and any other case-related costs.