Is the Child’s Mental Health Improving Beyond the Courtroom?

In the family court system, the success of a therapist working with children is often measured by one thing:

Does the child comply with the court’s reunification orders?

Not:

Are they emotionally safe?

Are they expressing their feelings without fear?

Are they building genuine relationships based on trust, not coercion?

The system doesn’t ask those questions.

It only asks:

Did they hug the rejected parent?

Did they smile in the therapy session?

Did they show up for visitation without protest?

This isn’t healing.

It’s performance.

The Danger of Compliance-Based “Therapy”

A child forced to comply out of fear is not healed, they’re silenced.

A child who hugs a parent to avoid punishment is not reunited, they’re trained.

A child who pretends everything is fine in front of a therapist to stop the court battle hasn’t recovered, they’ve shut down.

And when therapists report compliance as “progress,” they’re not protecting the child.

They’re protecting the court order.

Real Therapy Isn’t Measured in Compliance.

Real therapy asks:

Is the child free to express their truth, even if it’s messy?

Are relationships being rebuilt with empathy, not threats?

Is the child’s mental health improving beyond the courtroom?

Until courts and therapists stop confusing obedience with well-being, Children will keep being forced into false reunions that look good on paper and destroy them silently inside.

This is why they are two SEPARATE degrees. Stay in your lane!