Exposing the Fraud Behind Reunification Therapy: Part 1 of 3
Note from Tina Swithin: Every once in a while, I come across something—or someone—that reignites my passion for advocacy and strengthens my resolve to fight for justice. This guest blog, written by an anonymous licensed mental health professional, is one of those moments. It sheds light on a critical issue within the reunification industry—a system built on collusion, corruption, and profit at the expense of vulnerable families.
Part of my personal mission is to expose the dark underbelly of the family court system: the “alienation industry.” This industry has infiltrated every aspect of the family court system with reunification profiteers who exploit families in crisis. These individuals and organizations promote unscientific, harmful practices under the guise of “reunification therapy,” causing lasting trauma to children and families while lining their pockets. They perpetuate the dangerous myth that children cannot thrive without relationships with both parents, even when those relationships are rooted in abuse or neglect.
This blog is a courageous and vital exposé by a mental health professional who has seen the industry’s fraudulent practices firsthand. Their insights reaffirm the urgent need for reform. Together, we must continue shining a spotlight on the family court crisis.
GUEST BLOG: PART 1 OF 3
I can no longer stay silent. As a licensed mental health care provider with over 20 years of experience and a reunification therapist myself, I feel an ethical obligation to warn the public, legal professionals, and judges about the pervasive fraud within reunification therapy, also called reintegration or reconciliation therapy. While it is often marketed as a legitimate solution for parent-child conflicts, usually following an abusers’ false allegations using the unscientific concept “alienation”, the reality is that reunification therapy is riddled with deceptive and fraudulent practices, financial exploitation, and a lack of accountability that causes significant harm to families.
This unregulated and unethical practice thrives in a legal and therapeutic gray zone, allowing practitioners to manipulate families and courts for financial gain. Here is an in-depth analysis of how fraud is a core element of reunification therapy and why immediate reform is necessary.
1. Fraudulent Claims of Legitimacy
How It Happens:
Unregulated Practice: There are no educational, professional, or legal standards required to practice reunification therapy. Anyone can be a reunification therapist, there is no oversight or accountability.
Use of Licenses to Mislead: Licensed professionals, including social workers and mental health providers, often leverage their credentials to make reunification therapy seem legitimate, even though their licenses do not extend to this unregulated field. There is no Standard of Practice/Care for it.
Why It’s Fraudulent:
Families are deceived into believing they are receiving a regulated, evidence-based service.
Professionals use their licenses as a shield to justify exorbitant fees of $20,000 to $100,000 for an unproven, experimental practice.
Impact:
Vulnerable families pay tens of thousands of dollars for services that are not evidence-based or safe.
The lack of regulation leaves families with no protection against harm caused by unethical, money-grubbing, reunification therapists.
2. Manipulative and Changing Definitions
How It Happens:
Reunification therapy is intentionally defined differently depending on the audience:
For Families: It is called an "intervention" or "psychoeducation” or “family support” or “the process” to sidestep licensing regulations and avoid the need for informed consent.
In Court: The same therapists present themselves as licensed professionals offering legitimate psychotherapy services, often testifying as expert witnesses.
To Regulatory Bodies: When complaints are filed, reunification therapists claim they were not providing psychotherapy or treatment for a mental health condition, arguing they are outside the scope of regulation.
For Billing: Practitioners categorize reunification therapy as psychotherapy when submitting receipts to insurance companies or for tax purposes.
Why It’s Fraudulent:
Reunification therapists exploit these shifting definitions to evade accountability while maximizing financial gain.
This manipulation deceives families, courts, and regulatory bodies, allowing unethical practices to continue unchecked.
Impact:
Families have no recourse when reunification therapy causes harm, as practitioners argue they are not bound by professional standards.
Regulatory bodies are unable to hold therapists accountable, perpetuating harm and exploitation.
3. Fabricated Guidelines and Financial Exploitation
How It Happens:
Reunification therapy has no evidence-based framework or standardized guidelines. Instead, practitioners create their own methods, prioritizing profit over the well-being of children and their families.
The process is intentionally prolonged to maximize billable hours, with families often paying tens of thousands of dollars for ineffective interventions.
Why It’s Fraudulent:
Families are led to believe they are participating in a structured, proven program when, in reality, the guidelines are arbitrary and experimental.
Practitioners profit from exploiting families during emotionally and financially vulnerable times.
Impact:
Children suffer significant psychological harm from untested and unsafe interventions.
Parents are financially drained, often left with no resources to pursue other forms of support.
4. Court Orders as a Tool for Deception
How It Happens:
Reunification therapists often draft the court orders mandating their own services, which judges sign without understanding the lack of regulation, safety, or evidence behind these methods.
Therapists enforce these orders that they wrote for the judges by telling children and their families they must comply with the “judge’s court-ordered therapy."
Why It’s Fraudulent:
Therapists use court orders to legitimize their own unregulated practices.
Families are coerced into compliance, believing the orders have been vetted and are in their best interest. Little do they know that the “judge’s orders” were actually written by the reunification therapist.
Impact:
Judges unknowingly legitimize harmful practices, further entrenching unregulated and fraudulent reunification therapy in family law cases.
Parents and children are forced into a process that can exacerbate trauma and conflict.
5. Exploitation of Legal and Financial Loopholes
How It Happens:
Reunification therapists manipulate how they categorize their services to evade regulation and increase profits.
They alternate between calling reunification therapy "an intervention”, “psychoeducation”, “the process”, “family support” or “psychotherapy," depending on what benefits them in a given situation.
Why It’s Fraudulent:
This inconsistency allows reunification therapists to dodge accountability while exploiting families financially.
Families are misled about the nature of the services they are receiving and their recourse when harm occurs.
Impact:
Parents face significant financial strain, paying for services that are neither legitimate nor effective.
Insurance companies and tax authorities are defrauded by misrepresented billing practices.
6. Long-Term Harm to Children and Families
How It Happens:
Reunification therapy is marketed as a way to repair relationships, but anecdotal evidence shows it often causes significant long-term trauma, especially for children.
Practitioners downplay the risks and ignore the harm caused to families, prioritizing financial gain over outcomes.
Why It’s Fraudulent:
Families are sold a service that is marketed as beneficial but often results in lasting emotional damage.
Practitioners fail to disclose the lack of evidence supporting the therapy or the risks involved.
Impact:
Children and parents suffer long-term psychological harm, often exacerbating the conflict the therapy claims to resolve.
Families lose trust in both the legal and therapeutic systems.
Conclusion: Fraud is Central to Reunification Therapy
The pervasive fraud within reunification therapy exploits vulnerable children and their families, courts, and regulatory systems. Reunification therapists manipulate definitions, fabricate guidelines, and misrepresent their services to evade accountability and maximize profit, all while causing significant harm to children and parents.
As a licensed professional and reunification therapist myself, I believe it is imperative to expose these fraudulent practices and demand reform. Families deserve better than an unregulated and unethical system that preys on their vulnerabilities. We must hold practitioners accountable, educate the legal system, and implement strict regulations to protect children and families from further harm. Without reform, this cycle of fraud, deception, exploitation, and trauma will only continue.
