Piqui's Law advances

This California law would ban the use of reunification therapy, among other issues.

California Democratic State Senator Susan Rubio

A state bill meant to reform family courts is one step closer to becoming law.

Piqui’s Law would do several things, but the most noteworthy is that it would eliminate court ordered reunification therapy.

A bill known as Piqui’s Law would prohibit court-ordered family reunification therapy or “camps” as part of a child custody or visitation rights proceeding, that is predicated on cutting off a child from a parent with whom the child is attached, is moving through the legislature.

Authored by Senator Susan Rubio, the intent of SB 331 is to increase the priority given to child custody court proceedings affecting the custody and care of children, excluding child protective, abuse, or neglect proceedings and juvenile justice proceedings.

Scientifically unproven, reunification therapy is a controversial method in which children are removed from their preferred parent or safe parent, often used as a tactic to deflect allegations of abuse or mistreatment directed towards the other parent and cost tens of thousands of dollars.

Earlier this month, the bill made it through a key committee. Robert Hansen, of Davis Vanguard, has more.

A bill that would prohibit family courts from ordering children to reunification “treatments,” and a bill that would expand the statute of limitations on reporting domestic violence both were passed through their respective Committees last week.

Piqui’s Law or SB331, is named after a 5 year-old-boy who was brutally murdered by his father, would prohibit court-ordered family reunification therapy or “camps” as part of a child custody or visitation rights proceeding, that is predicated on cutting off a child from a parent with whom the child is attached.

{Check out my previous interview with Robert Hansen}

Reunification therapy is part of the pseudoscientific treatment of parental alienation. When former Major Leaguer David Segui was deemed a parent alienator, his kids were moved across state lines to a reunification camp run by the notorious Randy Rand, where he and his staff proceeded to torture them. Here is part of what his son said the treatment was like.

They Didn’t listen to a single thing I said Dr. Rand said that I’m a liar and none of the abuse happened and got pissed off any time I brought it up. I went outside and was talking with the Therapeutic Interventionist and I told her how are you going to send me and my brother back to her when she abused us and she told me that I need both parents in my life and I said no she physically and sexually abused me and I’ve been doing perfectly fine with my dad staying out of trouble unlike when I was living with her. She also tells me that my brother needs to have both parents and saying it’s harder for him since he stopped living with her when he was only 8 and maybe he misses her. She blatantly ignores the fact that me and {my brother} were abused by her and want nothing to do with her. Once we walked back in and said were not going through with the Program they had my mom contact multiple wilderness camps for kids with behavioral issues and they were three months long and me and my brother were going to be split up. While all of this was happening he read me the report and it stated that since my dad didn’t coerce us to go back to my mom. Coerce which means persuading an unwilling person to do something by force or threats. I told him so my dad was supposed to send us back with my mom when we don’t feel safe around her and he said yes. Since I didn’t want to be split up from my brother so I just said ok I’ll just bull shit the program and go through with it because I don’t want be separated from my little brother.

The Rucki girls were treated to the reunification therapy of Dr. Rebecca Bailey who practices threat therapy. That so-called treatment goes something like this. Children are threatened, told they will never leave the camp until they acknowledge their abusive parent is really a good parent and they only believe they are being abused because of the alienating parent.

According to her then fifteen-year-old son, Dr. Bailey said the only way for him to leave the therapy was to admit that his father loves him and his mother was trying to alienate him- called threat therapy.

This technique is rooted in Gardner: “‘I don’t believe you. I’m going to beat you for saying it. Don’t you ever talk that way again about your father.’” Gardner said was the proper response when a child alleges abuse.

He only left the program after complying with these instructions. Dr. Bailey has since insisted that Michelle Anderson see a psychiatrist of Dr. Bailey’s choosing before being allowed to see her children.

Gardner is Dr. Richard Gardner, the father of parental alienation quackery.

Meanwhile, the Tsimhoni kids from the notorious Michigan case where a judge, Lisa Gorcyca, sentenced them to juvenile hall for refusing lunch with their father had their reunification therapy with Dorcy Pruter.

Gorcyca quietly ordered the kids to reunification therapy with Dorcy Pruter.

“Well, I have a high school education and then all of my certifications and classes afterwards.” Pruter stated in a deposition in another case of her so-called qualifications.

Reunification therapy is supposed to be a therapeutic intervention when the children find difficulty visiting with the noncustodial parent, but because she’s a high-school graduate, Pruter is not a therapist but a reunification coach- a term she created- and thus practices with little trainging.

She’s still considered an expert in the parental alienation industry; she was recently a featured speaker at the PAAO conference in April 2017. Her mentor, Dr. Craig Childress, was the other featured speaker at the conference. Childress has rebranded parental alienation pathogenic parenting. 

Technically, what Pruter does is not therapy because Pruter can’t do therapy with her high school diploma. It doesn’t stop courts from all over the country from appointing her.

The Tsimhoni kids were eventually allowed to live with their mother after a year of the court trying to force a relationship with their father.

Let’s hope other states follow suit and ban reunification therapy.