Group Therapy Vs Individual Therapy: How To Choose In 2026
Group therapy vs individual therapy: what head-to-head trials, NICE guidance, and Florida privilege law say, from Dr. Cathy Colet. Book a 15-minute call.
Dr. Cathy Colet, Psy.D., is a Licensed Clinical and Forensic Psychologist and founder of FC PsychExperts in Jupiter, Florida. She provides expert witness testimony across criminal, family, and immigration law, with advanced training in competency evaluations, criminal responsibility, child custody assessments, and VAWA hardship waivers.
How Does Family Therapy For Blended Families Work?
Written By: Michael Vale, Content Writer
Medically Reviewed By: Dr. Cathy Colet, Psy.D., Licensed Psychologist
Last Reviewed: October 29, 2026
Family therapy for blended families helps a stepfamily agree on who’s in charge of what, and how kids move between 2 homes. The therapist works on the patterns between people instead of treating 1 child as the problem. In Florida, a custody case adds 2 legal questions: who can consent to a child’s therapy, and what from therapy can reach the court.
What Is Family Therapy for Blended Families?
Family therapy for blended families is counseling for a household where at least 1 adult brings children from an earlier relationship. A licensed clinician meets with different combinations of parents, stepparents and children to agree on roles, discipline, house rules and how children move between homes, so conflict stops landing on the kids.
Some people call it stepfamily therapy or blended family counseling.
Who comes to the first family therapy session depends on the problem, and our office helps sort that out on the intake call.
Therapists who work with stepfamilies often borrow from 2 models. Structural family therapy looks at who makes the rules. Bowen family systems therapy looks at patterns that repeat across generations.
Blended Families in 2026: Less Common, Same 5 Pressure Points
The share of U.S. kids in blended families has dropped. Pew Research Center found that 17% of U.S. children lived in a blended family in 2023, down from 23% in 2013.
Pew counts a family as blended if a child lives most or all of the time with a stepparent, a stepsibling or a half sibling. Most of the drop came from fewer kids living with a half sibling, down from 17% to 12%. The share living with a stepparent barely moved.
Teens are the most likely to be in one, at 22% of kids ages 13 to 17. And nearly half of children in blended families (46%) live with a parent and a stepparent.
You’ll still see stepfamily articles say the number keeps rising. They’re leaning on older figures.
Blended-family households also tend to have less wealth. Pew found the median net worth of households with children in blended families was $86,300, compared with $194,400 for households with children in other families.
Psychologist Patricia Papernow, drawing on 30 years of clinical work, names 5 challenges in her 2013 book Surviving and Thriving in Stepfamily Relationships.
Insiders and outsiders
The parent and kids share years of history and inside jokes. The stepparent walks in as the outsider, and the parent gets stuck in the middle. Papernow calls these positions intense and stuck. Regular 1-on-1 time between the parent and each child helps kids feel they haven’t lost their parent to the new partner.
Kids’ losses and loyalty binds
Kids in a stepfamily have lost something, even when the new relationship is a good one: a parent in the house, a bedroom, a school, a routine. Liking a stepparent can feel like betraying the other parent. A child who turns cold on a stepparent is often protecting the parent who isn’t there.
New stepsiblings can mean sharing a room and a parent’s attention overnight. Papernow groups too much change with these losses, so space out the big moves when you can.
Parenting splits the adults
Parents tend to go easier on their own kids, and stepparents often want more structure. The more 1 adult pushes, the more the other protects. In Papernow’s words, parenting tasks polarize the adults.
2 family cultures under 1 roof
Every household has defaults: bedtimes, screens, chores, what counts as rude. A blended family starts with 2 sets, and every small difference feels like a vote on whose way is right. Papernow calls this the work of creating a new family culture. Agree on 2 or 3 house rules first and leave the rest for later.
The ex is still part of the family
In Florida, the other parent is part of your family by law. Shared parental responsibility is the default under s. 61.13, and it means both parents keep full parental rights and confer so major decisions get made jointly (s. 61.046). Since 2023, Florida law also presumes equal time-sharing is in a child’s best interest, though a parent can rebut that. So a new household runs partly on a schedule set by someone outside it.
Should a Stepparent Discipline Stepchildren?
Usually not at first. A common approach is for the parent to handle consequences early on while the stepparent builds the relationship and backs up the house rules.
Backing up a rule the parent set keeps the stepparent out of the rule-maker role while trust builds.
Research backs the bonding part. A 2022 review of 37 studies in the journal Family Relations sorted what works in stepfamily parenting into 5 areas. Among them are “exercising parental control” and “supporting stepparent-stepchild relationship development.” In a 2019 study in the Journal of Family Psychology, stepfathers who worked at building a bond with their stepchildren had less conflict with them and better couple relationships.
A 2018 Family Process study of 191 stepchildren, ages 10 to 12, in rural Pennsylvania and Iowa found that warmth from the stepparent predicted fewer behavior problems 6 months later, with a weaker link to emotional problems. Warmth meant affection and appreciation, without yelling or insults.
Discipline can come up in a custody case, too. Florida’s best-interest factors look at each parent’s ability to provide “a consistent routine for the child, such as discipline,” and at how much parenting will be handed to third parties (s. 61.13(3)). If your new spouse runs the discipline during your time-sharing, that’s a handoff those factors ask about.
Who Sits in the Room, and When
It depends on the problem, and the lineup should change over time. A psychologist describes 1 way to start: the co-parents first, then the new couple in each household. A plan can rotate through these formats:
- The couple, parent and stepparent: roles, money, discipline rules and how to back each other up.
- Both parents, without new partners: handoffs, school, medical decisions and rules that clash across homes.
- A parent and 1 child: grief and loyalty binds, or repair after a blowup.
- Stepparent and stepchild: low-stakes time together, with the therapist setting the pace.
- Everyone in the household: house rules and holidays, once the adults are on the same side.
Sessions run 50 to 80 minutes, at our Jupiter office or by secure video from anywhere in Florida.
The other parent belongs in some sessions when the problem crosses houses. Using kids as messengers and arguing in front of them are 2 common co-parenting mistakes, and fixing either one takes both parents.
Couples can start before the wedding or the move-in, while the stepparent’s role is still a plan.
Can a Parent Start a Child’s Therapy Without the Other Parent in Florida?
Usually yes, if you share parental responsibility and your parenting plan doesn’t say otherwise. A stepparent can’t consent on their own authority.
Since 2021, Florida law has required written parental consent before a health care practitioner treats a minor, with exceptions set by other laws (s. 1014.06). For that rule, a parent is a person with legal custody of the child as a natural or adoptive parent or a legal guardian (s. 1014.02).
A parent can give a stepparent that power by naming them the child’s health care surrogate in a document signed in front of 2 adult witnesses. Unless the document says otherwise, that covers mental health treatment too (s. 765.2035).
When parents share responsibility for health care decisions, Florida’s custody statute answers the signature question: “either parent may consent to mental health treatment for the child unless stated otherwise in the parenting plan” (s. 61.13(2)(b)3.a). So read your plan first. Some plans require both signatures or name a specific therapist.
What’s legal and what’s wise can split here. The Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (AFCC) tells court-involved therapists to “generally avoid accepting a child into treatment without notifying or consulting with both parents.” When parents can’t agree, its guidelines send the question back to the court. Greenberg adds that therapy started on 1 parent’s say-so can leave a child keeping a secret from the other. Telling the other parent before the first session, when it’s safe to, keeps a child out of that spot.
When a court order is involved, bring it to the first call. Our office confirms what the order requires and what will be reported.
The teen crisis exception
Florida carves out a narrow exception for teens in crisis. A minor 13 or older in an emotional crisis can consent on their own to outpatient evaluation and crisis therapy (s. 394.4784). The limit is 2 visits in any 1-week period. After that, a parent’s consent is needed, and the exception doesn’t cover medication.
This is general information about Florida law, not legal advice. Your family law attorney can tell you how your own order reads.
Can Therapy Records Be Used in a Florida Custody Case?
Sometimes. Florida protects what you say in therapy, but the protection has exceptions, and family therapy adds a consent rule of its own.
Under s. 90.503, a patient can refuse to disclose, and keep others from disclosing, what they told a psychotherapist in confidence. The privilege doesn’t apply to court-ordered exams. It also doesn’t apply when a patient makes their own mental condition part of a claim or defense.
Florida’s confidentiality laws for therapists add the family rule. When more than 1 person in a family is receiving therapy, a waiver of confidentiality needs each family member’s agreement in writing (s. 490.0147 for psychologists, s. 491.0147 for clinical social workers, marriage and family therapists and mental health counselors). So 1 adult can’t sign away what the whole family said. Court orders and the privilege exceptions are separate routes.
Parents have records rights too. Florida’s custody statute says access to a child’s records, including medical records, can’t be denied to either parent unless a court order specifically revokes it. Palm Beach County’s 15th Judicial Circuit publishes a “Notice of Joint Parental Rights” form that asks providers to send information about a child to both parents.
Our clinicians explain Florida’s confidentiality limits in writing at intake, so ask then who can get copies and who has to sign a release. In court-referred family cases, our office sends dated attendance records and progress summaries written for a legal reader, as the order requires.
Parents in an open case often ask whether they should wait until it’s over. Usually, no. The reasons for starting therapy mid-case come down to how the privilege works.
Family Therapy vs. Co-Parenting Therapy, Reunification and Custody Evaluations
Pick the service by the question you need answered. Therapy changes how a family works, and a custody evaluation answers a legal question for a judge.
Our practice offers all 4. Co-parenting therapy helps 2 parents in 2 homes make decisions together, in joint or separate sessions. Reunification therapy rebuilds contact when a child resists or refuses contact with a parent.
| Family therapy | Co-parenting therapy | Reunification therapy | Custody evaluation | |
| The job | Change how the household works together | Help 2 parents in 2 homes make decisions together | Rebuild contact when a child resists or refuses a parent | Answer a legal question for the judge |
| Who attends | Parents, stepparents and kids in changing mixes | The 2 parents, in joint or separate sessions | The child alone at first, then joint sessions with the estranged parent | Both parents and, when old enough, the children, plus testing and collateral sources |
| Stays private? | Yes, within Florida’s limits. Court-referred cases send attendance records and progress summaries | Yes, unless a court order sets what gets reported | No. The therapist reports progress to the court | No. Everything said can end up in a report to the court |
| How it starts | You call, or an attorney, guardian ad litem or the court refers | You call, or a court order requires it | A court order or a voluntary start | A judge orders it when parents can’t agree on a parenting plan |
| Typical length at FC PsychExperts | 8 to 12 sessions of 50 to 80 minutes | 6 to 10 sessions for focused work | Longer, with a staged plan. Outpatient work typically runs 8 to 20 sessions | Most run 2 to 4 months |
A Florida custody evaluation is the only option of the 4 that isn’t therapy, so nothing said in it stays private.
How Long Does It Take a Blended Family to Settle?
Plan on years. Published estimates differ: some books say 2 to 4 years, others 5 to 7.
A 2018 study of stepmothers in the journal Psico-USF cites McGoldrick and Carter (2001) and Papernow (2013) for 2 to 4 years, and Hetherington and Kelly (2002) for 5 to 7. In that study’s own sample of 16 stepmothers, adapting took at least 3 years.
Therapy is shorter than the adjustment. At our practice, family therapy typically runs 8 to 12 sessions, and the adjustment keeps going after the last session.
Progress looks like smaller things: handoffs without a fight, a stepparent who can say no without a blowup, a teen who comes out for dinner, a parent and stepparent who argue about the kids less.
Therapy is the wrong first step when someone in the home is unsafe or when the real fight is over custody. Those call for safety planning or an evaluation.
Family Therapy for Blended Families at FC PsychExperts
We offer blended family therapy at our Jupiter office at 210 Jupiter Lakes Blvd and by secure video anywhere in Florida.
Jessica T. Aloise, LCSW, leads our family therapy cases and has more than 20 years of practice. Dr. Cathy Colet oversees court-referred family cases and the documentation they require. Referrals come from family-law attorneys, guardians ad litem and the court directly, and parents can call on their own.
The page for family therapy in Jupiter walks through what the first 80 minutes look like.
If anyone in your home is in danger right now, call 911. For a mental health crisis, call or text 988, the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.
If you’re weighing family therapy for blended families and there’s a court order in the picture, book a 15-minute call with FC PsychExperts at 561-870-0411. Have your parenting plan and any court order nearby when you call.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is family therapy for blended families?
Family therapy for blended families is counseling for a household where at least 1 adult has children from an earlier relationship. The therapist meets with different mixes of parents, stepparents and kids to settle roles, discipline and the move between homes. In Florida, a parenting plan can also limit who consents to a child’s therapy.
How many sessions does family therapy for blended families take?
At FC PsychExperts, family therapy typically runs 8 to 12 sessions of 50 to 80 minutes each. Reunification cases take longer and follow a staged plan. The family’s own adjustment takes longer than therapy: published estimates run 2 to 4 years in some books and 5 to 7 years in others.
Should a stepparent discipline stepchildren?
Usually not at first. A common approach is for the parent to handle consequences early on while the stepparent builds the relationship and backs up the house rules. A 2018 study of 191 stepchildren found that warmth from the stepparent predicted fewer behavior problems 6 months later.
Can a stepparent consent to a child’s therapy in Florida?
Not on their own authority. Florida law asks for written consent from a parent, meaning a natural or adoptive parent or a legal guardian with legal custody. A parent can name a stepparent as the child’s health care surrogate in a document signed in front of 2 adult witnesses, and that covers mental health treatment unless the document says otherwise.
Can we do family therapy for blended families by video in Florida?
Yes. At FC PsychExperts, sessions run 50 to 80 minutes, in person at the Jupiter office or by secure video from anywhere in Florida. The office helps decide who should attend the first session during a 15-minute call.
Can my teenager start therapy without my consent in Florida?
Only in limited cases. Under s. 394.4784, a minor 13 or older in an emotional crisis can consent to outpatient evaluation and crisis therapy, up to 2 visits in any 1-week period. After that, more sessions need a parent’s consent, and this exception never covers medication.
Are blended families becoming more common?
No. Pew Research Center found that 17% of U.S. children lived in a blended family in 2023, down from 23% in 2013. Most of the drop came from fewer kids living with a half sibling, while the share living with a stepparent didn’t change much.
Dr. Cathy Colet, Psy.D., is a Licensed Clinical and Forensic Psychologist and founder of FC PsychExperts in Jupiter, Florida. She provides expert witness testimony across criminal, family, and immigration law, with advanced training in competency evaluations, criminal responsibility, child custody assessments, and VAWA hardship waivers.
Individual Therapy For Anxiety In 2026: How Long It Takes
Individual therapy for anxiety: a focused concern often shows change in 6 to 12 sessions. See guideline numbers, when to test first, and book a 15-minute call.
Life Coach Vs Therapist: What Florida Law Says
Life coach vs therapist in Florida: a forensic psychologist explains court privilege and the March 2026 change to the 2-year rule. Book a consult today.
Parent Coaching Vs Family Therapy In Florida: 2026 Guide
A Florida forensic psychologist since 2008 compares parent coaching and family therapy: who is licensed and what a judge can see. Book a 15-minute call.
What To Talk About In Therapy: What Stays Private
Whatever took up the most room in your head since your last session is a good place to start. A court-appointed Florida psychologist explains what to talk about in therapy, what stays private under Florida law, and the 4 situations that change that.
When To Stop Therapy: A Psychologist’s 3 Checks
A Florida psychologist’s 3-check test for when to stop therapy: goals met, PHQ-9 or GAD-7 scores under 5, gains that hold. Book in Jupiter or Fort Lauderdale.
Couples Therapy When Only One Partner Wants It
Roughly 7 in 10 first calls to our Florida office come from 1 partner. What actually works when your spouse will not go, and the 1 to 5 session format.
Can A Court Order Therapy In Florida?
Written By: Michael Vale, Content Writer
Medically Reviewed By: Dr. Cathy Colet, Psy.D., Licensed Psychologist
Last Reviewed: October 3, 2026
Yes. A Florida judge can order you into therapy, your child into therapy, or both. It happens in divorce cases, paternity cases, and any fight over a parenting plan.
But the power has edges, and almost nobody explains where they are. A judge can’t order counseling nobody asked for. A judge can’t hand the therapist the job of deciding whether you finished. Reconciliation counseling in a divorce stops at 3 months. And the phrase “the judge ordered therapy” covers 5 different orders that carry 5 different sets of rights.
Our Florida forensic psychology practice evaluates and treats families under these orders. Parents usually arrive knowing what court-ordered therapy is and still not knowing what their own order allows. Here’s what the statutes and rules say.
What Is Court-Ordered Therapy In Florida?
Court-ordered therapy is counseling a judge requires as part of a family law case. Florida has no single statute for it. The authority is split across Chapter 61 of the Florida Statutes and the Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure, and each source has its own trigger, its own time limit, and its own rules about who takes part.
Yes, And Here’s The Law That Lets A Florida Judge Do It
There is no one Florida statute that says “the court may order therapy.” A judge draws on 5 separate sources depending on what’s being ordered and who it’s aimed at.
| What’s ordered | Authority | Time limit | What triggers it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reconciliation counseling in a divorce | Fla. Stat. 61.052(2) | Continuance not to exceed 3 months | A minor child, or the respondent denies the marriage is irretrievably broken |
| Parent education course | Fla. Stat. 61.21 | Minimum 4 hours, done before final judgment | Automatic in any dissolution with minor children |
| Evaluation of a minor child | Fla. Fam. L. R. P. 12.363 | Report due before the evidentiary hearing | A party’s motion, or the court’s own motion |
| Mental exam of a parent | Fla. Fam. L. R. P. 12.360 | None set by rule | A party’s motion, then a hearing |
| Therapy written into a parenting plan | Fla. Stat. 61.13(2)(b)3. | None set by statute | Whatever the parenting plan says |
Can A Judge Order My Child Into Therapy If I Object?
Usually yes, and often the judge doesn’t have to. Under Fla. Stat. 61.13(2)(b)3., when a court orders shared parental responsibility over health care decisions, the parenting plan must provide that either parent may consent to mental health treatment for the child. One parent can start a child in therapy without the other agreeing.
That provision exists so a child isn’t stuck without care while 2 adults argue. It isn’t a tool for one parent to take over. It doesn’t say one parent picks the therapist, sets the schedule, and controls what the other parent hears.
When the court wants a professional to examine a child rather than treat one, that runs through Florida Family Law Rule of Procedure 12.363. A party moves for it, or the judge orders it on the court’s own motion. The parents can agree on an expert, subject to the judge’s approval. If they can’t agree, the court picks. The appointment order has to state the issues the expert will address.
So a child can end up in front of a mental health professional 2 ways, and they are not the same thing. One is treatment a parent consented to. The other is an examination the court ordered to answer a question. Knowing which one you’re in changes what you should expect from the clinician, and what a child’s stated preference does or doesn’t count for.
Can A Judge Order A Parent Into Therapy?
Yes, but the path is narrower than it is for a child, and it starts with a motion.
A psychological examination of a parent runs under Florida Family Law Rule of Procedure 12.360. A party has to move for it and the court has to hold a hearing. The rule carries a wrinkle worth knowing: the examiner can be called as a witness by any party, but is not identified as appointed by the court.
Counseling aimed at saving the marriage is different. Under Fla. Stat. 61.052(2), if there’s a minor child or the responding party denies the marriage is irretrievably broken, the judge can order the parties to consult with a marriage counselor, psychologist, psychiatrist, minister, priest, rabbi, or any other person the court considers qualified. The statute adds a condition most summaries skip: that person has to be “acceptable to the party or parties ordered to seek consultation.” You get a say in who it is. And the judge can only pause the case up to 3 months for it.
Then there’s the parenting course under Fla. Stat. 61.21, which isn’t optional at all. Every party in a dissolution with minor children, or a paternity action involving parental responsibility, has to complete the Parent Education and Family Stabilization Course before the court enters a final judgment. It runs a minimum of 4 hours. The petitioner has 45 days from filing. Everyone else has 45 days from service. Skip it and the court can hold you in contempt, deny you shared parental responsibility or time-sharing, or sanction you some other way. The judge can also order extra courses for children with special needs or emotional concerns.
What Happens To The Report, And Who Sees It?
Under Rule 12.363, the expert’s written report goes to the parties and any guardian ad litem. It does not go to the judge unless the parties and their attorneys agree in writing that the court will consider it.
That surprises most parents. The report isn’t automatically filed. Somebody has to put it in front of the judge, and in an evaluation of a minor child that takes written agreement from both sides.
There’s one more line in that rule almost nobody quotes. The committee note says the rule “is not intended to prevent a mental health professional who has engaged in long-term treatment of the child from testifying about the minor child.” Your child’s regular therapist is not automatically shielded from the witness stand. Long-term treatment doesn’t buy immunity from being called.
Which raises the bigger question of what stays private through any of this. That answer turns on Florida’s evidence code and on which kind of order you have, and we’ve covered it separately.
The 4 Limits On A Florida Therapy Order In 2026
1. It has to be asked for. A judge can’t order counseling that nobody pleaded for. Relief outside the pleadings is relief the court didn’t have in front of it. If an order appeared that neither side requested, raise it with your attorney.
2. The judge decides whether you finished, not the therapist. In Malley v. Malley, No. 4D2023-0332 (Fla. 4th DCA, June 20, 2024), a trial court made the father submit proof of treatment to a court-appointed doctor, who would assess whether it was enough before he could petition for modification. The Fourth District reversed that piece. A court may condition increased time-sharing on completing parenting courses and therapy, but as the opinion put it, “Courts may not delegate their statutory authority to determine visitation to GALs, attorneys, or experts.” Your clinician reports what happened. The judge rules on what it means.
That distinction isn’t a technicality. It decides who you’re talking to when you sit down. A clinician who believes they hold your time-sharing in their hands behaves differently from one who knows they’re a witness to facts. So does the parent across from them.
3. Reconciliation counseling stops at 3 months. Fla. Stat. 61.052(2) lets the judge continue the proceeding for that purpose, not to exceed 3 months. That cap applies to reconciliation counseling and nothing else. It does not cap therapy written into a parenting plan, which is where most long-running orders live. If you miss sessions or stop going, the consequences track the order you’re under, not the statute.
4. The order has to define the job. Under Rule 12.363, an appointment order states the issues the expert will address. An order with no scope and no end point is an order nobody can comply with cleanly, and it’s the kind that produces a clinician doing work the court never asked for.
Malley is a June 2024 Fourth District decision, not a ruling of the Supreme Court of Florida. Ask your attorney how courts in your circuit are applying it.
Court-Ordered Therapy Or Court-Ordered Evaluation: What Changes
These 2 get used as if they mean the same thing. They don’t, and the difference changes almost everything about the room you walk into. If your case involves a custody evaluation, you are not in a therapy process at all.
| Court-ordered therapy | Court-ordered evaluation | |
|---|---|---|
| Goal | Help the family function | Answer a question the judge asked |
| Who the clinician serves | The patient | The court’s question |
| What you get | Sessions over time | A written report |
| How it reaches the judge | Through testimony or agreement | Under Rule 12.363, only if the parties agree in writing |
| What ends it | The order’s terms are met | The report is delivered |
| Who the clinician can be | Your ongoing provider | Someone with no prior role in the family |
Our forensic evaluations follow a fixed sequence: clinical interview, mental status exam, collateral interviews, record review, psychological testing, scoring and interpretation, then the written report. That’s roughly 10 hours of work per evaluation. Therapy has no such sequence, because it isn’t trying to answer anything for a court. Which evaluation a judge orders depends on the question in front of the court.
If your order uses the word evaluation, examination, or assessment, you’re in the right-hand column. Read it before your first appointment.
Why We Won’t Be Your Therapist And Your Evaluator
When a family we’ve been treating later needs a forensic opinion, we hand the evaluation to someone else. Every time.
The reason is in the table above. A treating clinician works for the patient’s improvement and owes that patient loyalty. A forensic evaluator works for the question in the court order and owes it objectivity. One person cannot hold both jobs without damaging both. An opinion written by someone who has sat in the therapy room with your family is an opinion the other side will attack, and they’ll usually be right to.
It starts before we take the case. When someone calls, we talk through the scope first and tell them whether we can provide an objective evaluation or whether we have to decline. Declining is common. It’s better than an opinion that falls apart at deposition.
Our doctors have testified in the 1st, 2nd, 15th, 17th, 19th, and 20th Judicial Circuits, covering Palm Beach, Broward, Martin, St. Lucie, Indian River, Okeechobee, Escambia, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, Walton, Leon, Gadsden, Franklin, Jefferson, Liberty, Wakulla, Charlotte, Collier, Glades, and Hendry Counties. Dr. Christopher J. Beltran has been licensed in Florida since 2007, Dr. Matthew J. Jalazo since 2008, Dr. R. Lauren Miller since 2013, and Dr. Cathy Colet since 2014. We’re typically booked about 3 weeks out, which matters when your order carries a deadline.
What Florida Hasn’t Copied From California
On paper, a Florida judge’s therapy order is less bounded than a California one.
California caps court-ordered counseling at 1 year under Family Code 3190. In 2023, SB 331 went further and barred California courts from ordering family reunification treatment premised on cutting a child off from, or restricting contact with, the primary custodial parent, absent abuse or neglect. It also made judges state their reasons and the evidence they relied on.
Florida has no equivalent. Our only hard time cap is the 3-month continuance in 61.052(2), and that one is for reconciliation counseling, not for therapy in a parenting plan. In reunification cases specifically, that gap is the whole argument. The real limits on a Florida order come from appellate decisions like Malley, not from the statute book.
That’s a description of the law as it stands, not a complaint about it and not advice about your case. If you think an order in your case reaches too far, that’s a conversation for your attorney.
What Should You Do Before Your First Session?
Get a copy of the actual order and read what it names. Therapy or evaluation. Who is required to attend. How long it runs. What question, if any, the clinician is being asked to answer.
Then pick a provider who will tell you which role they’re in before the first appointment, in plain words. Ask directly: are you treating my family, or evaluating us for the court? A provider who won’t answer that cleanly has told you something.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a court order therapy in Florida?
Yes. A Florida court can order a parent, a child, or both into counseling as part of a family law case. The authority comes from Chapter 61 and the Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure rather than a single therapy statute. Different orders carry different time limits, and a reconciliation counseling continuance under Fla. Stat. 61.052(2) cannot exceed 3 months.
Can a judge order my child to attend therapy if I disagree?
Often the judge doesn’t need to. Fla. Stat. 61.13(2)(b)3. requires that when shared parental responsibility over health care is ordered, the parenting plan let either parent consent to mental health treatment for the child. For an examination rather than treatment, Rule 12.363 requires a party’s motion or the court’s own motion, and an order stating the issues the expert will address.
Can my child’s therapist testify in my custody case?
Yes. The committee note to Rule 12.363 states the rule “is not intended to prevent a mental health professional who has engaged in long-term treatment of the child from testifying about the minor child.” A treating therapist is not automatically shielded from the witness stand.
How long can court-ordered therapy last in Florida?
There is no general statutory cap. The 3-month limit in Fla. Stat. 61.052(2) applies only to a continuance for reconciliation counseling. Therapy written into a parenting plan runs for whatever term the order sets, and how long these orders usually run varies by circuit. Florida has no 1-year ceiling like California Family Code 3190.
Can a Florida judge make my therapist decide whether I get more time-sharing?
No. In Malley v. Malley, No. 4D2023-0332 (Fla. 4th DCA, June 20, 2024), the Fourth District held that courts “may not delegate their statutory authority to determine visitation to GALs, attorneys, or experts.” A judge may condition increased time-sharing on completing therapy, but the judge decides whether the condition was met.
Is the mandatory parenting class the same as court-ordered therapy?
No. The Parent Education and Family Stabilization Course under Fla. Stat. 61.21 is a minimum 4-hour class required in every dissolution with minor children. The petitioner has 45 days from filing and other parties have 45 days from service. Missing it can bring contempt or a denial of shared parental responsibility or time-sharing.
What is the difference between court-ordered therapy and a court-ordered evaluation?
Therapy is treatment aimed at helping the family function, delivered over a series of sessions. An evaluation answers a specific question the judge asked and produces a written report. Under Rule 12.363, an evaluation report of a minor child reaches the judge only if the parties and their attorneys agree in writing.
Dr. Cathy Colet, Psy.D., is a Licensed Clinical and Forensic Psychologist and founder of FC PsychExperts in Jupiter, Florida. She provides expert witness testimony across criminal, family, and immigration law, with advanced training in competency evaluations, criminal responsibility, child custody assessments, and VAWA hardship waivers.
9 Signs You Need Couples Therapy In Florida
9 signs it’s time for couples therapy, plus what Florida law says about whether your sessions stay private if a custody case starts.