A nonreligious mother in New Mexico said she had received court orders to attend religious family therapy as part of her custody battle and her sons were taken away when she refused. Holly Salzman said she was told the therapy sessions would teach her how to raise her twin sons as a single parent once she divorced her husband. However, Salzman said she could not continue attending the counseling sessions as the lessons explicitly promoted religious values.
“I walked into the session and the very first thing she said to me was, '’I start my sessions by praying,’” she told the media. “When I expressed my concerns that I didn't pray she said, ‘Well this is what I do’ and she proceeded to say a prayer out loud.”
Last year, a court in Albuquerque assigned Salzman 10 sessions with counselor Mary Pepper who was supposed to assist her and her husband with co-parenting and communication skills. After attending the first session, Salzman informed the court that she did not agree with the teachings of Pepper, as they seemed offensive to her personal beliefs. However, the court did not respond to Salzman’s complaint.
When Salzman decided to stop attending therapy, the court denied her custody of her two 11-year-old sons.
“It's probably the worst thing I've ever been through in my life,” she said.
Salzman was then compelled to complete the remaining nine sessions, as she wanted custody of her children. She completed all the remaining sessions in one month.
At this point, KRQE News 13 decided to help Salzman by carrying out a sting operation. They provided Salzman with a secret camera that would help her record the proceedings of the counseling sessions.
“The meaning in my life is to know love and serve God,” Pepper told Salzman in one of the meetings, the camera captured. “If you want to explore how God was in your past, how God was in your life and not in your life. … I know you don't believe in God which is fine but I know at some points he was in your life in some way.”
Salzman was handed quotes from the Psalms and other religious texts. Pepper also assigned the single mother homework titled ‘Who is God to me?’
When asked to clarify, Pepper denied that her counseling had any religious overtones.
“I'm a believer myself and if a person is open, we talk about God,” she told reporters. “If they're not open, it's a secular program that I provide. I'm a private business that people decide to come through or not.”
Even though the court paid for Salzman’s counseling sessions, she was allowed to leave after KRQE News 13’s expose.
American Civil Liberties Union said that the counseling sessions were in fact unconstitutional since the court had ordered them.
“No one should be put in a position where they are forced to accept training or therapy that violates their own religious beliefs and morals,” Peter Simonson, ACLU Executive Director, told the media.
Photo Credits: Patheos
