Our counseling client engages in ‘talk therapy,’ which is the common practice of counselors and the city of Tampa has no authority to prohibit counselors from helping their clients achieve their goals
TAMPA, FL – Liberty Counsel is in federal court today seeking to permanently block the city of Tampa’s ordinance which violates the First Amendment by prohibiting licensed counselors from providing voluntary talk therapy to minors seeking help to reduce or eliminate their unwanted same-sex attractions, behaviors, or identity. The ordinance imposes significant monetary fines on counselors who provide this voluntary counseling.
Liberty Counsel represents marriage and family therapist Robert Vazzo and his minor clients, as well as the Christian ministry, New Hearts Outreach Tampa Bay. The sacred trust between counselors and clients establishes a unique relationship that permits the clients to inform their counselors of their goals and receive counseling consistent with those goals. That therapeutic alliance has long been held sacred and inviolable.