My experience with Elizabeth Rivas is that she does not have her client's best interest at heart, and is easily susceptible to bias and taking advantage of her position as a child therapist. I am writing this review because of my concern about how she treats children’s mental health, who have no way to defend themselves and should be protected, not exploited. My daughter came to Ms. Rivas for help, and instead of getting the support she deserved, Ms. Rivas broke her trust repeatedly and took advantage of her "power".
If your child is seeing Ms. Rivas, please make sure you have an agreement with her in writing. The things that she agreed to verbally, she later denied. The ONLY time I met Ms. Rivas in person was to sign paperwork. That day, she said she would NOT be involved in any court matter, after I expressed my concern that therapy was going to be used as a custodial pawn and, as a consequence, the focus of therapy would no longer be on her client's emotional health. Since then, I have never met Ms. Rivas in person or had a single session with her before she came to court. Yet, she was used as only the father's witness, testifying on behalf of the father of her client, not on behalf of the client herself. If you or your child is going to see Ms. Rivas, please be aware of this office's ethical standards and practices. They seem to use gray areas to their advantage.
Ms. Rivas broke her client's confidentiality by talking about her client to a third party who is not a parent, a therapist, professional, or educator. Furthermore, she did NOT ask for consent from both her clients' parents. When asked, in Court, under oath why she did not seek consent, she replied that she didn't have to. When I asked Mr. Wayne Brazil, the owner of the practice, why Ms. Rivas should not need consent when her client's a minor, he stated his practice could even treat my daughter without any parental consent, even though therapy was NOT court-ordered. He was not concerned at all that Ms. Rivas' client was experiencing emotional hardship because Ms. Rivas broke confidentiality with an outside person. Ms. Rivas also had her own relationship with this third party, a conflict of interest. Even when the father testified on the stand that this third person saw Ms. Rivas as a client herself, there still was no culpability.
Ms. Rivas was oddly eager to be involved in a custodial case of her client where she had no business being since her client would not open up to her. The father and I had to postpone our court case so Ms. Rivas could come as the father's witness, due to conflicts in her schedule from going to other court cases. This is despite the fact she is not a court therapist or considered an "expert". It should be noted that the father paid her very well to go to Court as his witness. Most therapists I'm told try and avoid going to court because they want to protect their client’s confidentiality. But, again, her client's best interest did not seem to be her concern, as she made up stories that never happened in her sessions with her client. She also made up conversations she and I never had. In fact, she would not communicate with me whatsoever for over a year.
When she was asked on the stand why she regularly met with the Client's father alone and in dual sessions with her client but did not meet with me, the Client's mother, in dual sessions, she responded this was never requested by the mother. She was, then, impeached with evidence of an email I had written her, asking for a dual session so I could better support my daughter at home. Though she was caught in a lie, and I have the court transcripts to prove it, Mr. Brazil was unresponsive when I offered to show him this evidence among many other contradictions. In conclusion, the practice brought more conflict to a very young child's life. Children come to therapy for help, not to be played with, manipulated, and have their peace of mind messed with in such a cruel manner.
