A longtime therapist in the Focus on the Family Christian Counselor Network and one of only 42 disciplined therapists in 2001 has been scrutinized again. Christine ‘Chris’ Bassett of Lighthouse Christian Counseling in Fort Collins, Colorado, has made news by supporting two children’s “reunification therapy” with their father. The purpose of the controversial therapy is to encourage a restored relationship between a father and his sons. Critics of the practice claim that forcing children to interact with a potentially abusive parent harms and terrifies vulnerable children.
A Mother’s Dedication to Protecting Her Children
Rachel Pickral-Hawkins, the mother of the boys at the center of the situation, has defied attempts to force reunification with her children’s father, accusing the therapist of abusing her children. Her opposition to the court-ordered process led to Pickral-Hawkins being sentenced to seven weeks in jail. Public protests at the state supreme court led to her sentence being suspended and to the end of the therapy until the completion of the father’s criminal case—a fundraiser for Pickral-Hawkins’s legal fees raised over $80,000.
The children’s father stands accused of trying to drown the boy’s now adult older brother and sexually abusing their sisters. He is a retired police sergeant seeking full custody of his minor sons. The local child protective agency had purportedly confirmed the abuse of the siblings.
System Failures, Harmed Children
Colorado’s family court system has ordered reunification camps where children were made to spend time with an estranged parent for weeks with no contact with the trusted parent. Additionally, custody evaluators for the court system who had themselves been accused of domestic violence continued to work in that capacity.
An advocate has filed a complaint against Bassett alleging abuse. Pickral-Hawkin’s lawyers allege that Basset played a pivotal role in another case where the mother was wrongly convicted while the father was permitted to co-parent. The father later killed his 8 and 6-year-old children.
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