The Victims of Jessica St. Clair, MFT – Part Two

Parents and Children Share Their Trauma

May 20, 2025

Dr. Sue Tonkins and Jessica St. Clair, LMFT with two males from Reunification Specialty Team website via WayBackMachine . Photo Way Back Machine, April 15, 2022.

Originally published on NewsBreak, October 2024. Updated.

This second installment further exposes reunification therapist Jessica St. Clair’s role in harming abuse survivors, who was recently discovered to have treated victims of domestic violence and child abuse in family law cases without the proper credentials. Before proceeding, readers are encouraged to read part one in the series for background context.

In April, St. Clair abruptly withdrew from all of her family law cases, (see article Orange County’s First Reunification Therapist Removes Herself From All Family Court Cases). Shortly after, reports surfaced that St. Clair misled the courts by falsely claiming she held—or was about to obtain—a doctorate, despite never earning a Ph.D. (see article Former Orange County Reunification Therapist Mislead Courts About Credentials).

Reunification Specialty Team website via WayBackMachine . Photo Way Back Machine, April 15, 2022.

St. Clair operated within a network of mental health providers and minors’ counsels who worked together to "reunify" children with parents in Orange County family court cases—often involving serious abuse. Multiple sources, including Orange County's How to Manual for Racketeering in Child Custody and Racketeers in Action in OC, have linked this group together.

This technique of reunification therapy was honed and publicly demonstrated in an instructional webinar hosted by the Orange County Bar Association, (see article: OC Bar Association says “I just want to protect my children” means “I just want to screw my ex”).

The webinar showcased prominent OC family court professionals as speakers, including Nicole Schmidt, CFLS (Bremer Whyte Brown & O'Meara, LLP), Kristen Przeklasa, Esq. (OC Child & Family Formation Law Group, LLP), Dr. Linda Grossman (The Center for Positive Solutions), Dr. Sue Tonkins (Creative Custody Solutions), and Stacey White Kinney, MS, LMFT. None responded to requests for comment.

Below is the introductory video that was previously available on the Reunification Specialty Team website, run by St. Clair, Tonkins, and Stark:

The following allegations come from parents and children who spoke anonymously—out of fear and due to their ongoing involvement in the OC family court system. They describe a pattern of court professionals dismissing abuse claims—professionals who are supposed to act in the best interests of their clients—all while Orange County family courts, including judges and Children & Family Services (CPS), looked the other way.

As covered in part one, we concluded with Parent C’s testimony.

Parents and Children Continue Sharing Their Trauma Under Jessica St. Clair

Parent D—a medical professional and mandated reporter—shared that their experience with family court and Jessica St. Clair led to diagnoses of Complex PTSD (CPTSD) and Legal Abuse Syndrome. Parent D said:

“Because I worked in the medical field, they [the court and CPS] said I knew all the pediatricians in Orange County, so the medical reports confirming child sexual abuse by doctors who were not on the court's approved lists couldn’t be trusted. They called me crazy. It was astonishing.”

Parent D also shared that they became homeless as a result of the extreme stress and financial burden caused by sessions with Jessica St. Clair ordered by the family court.

Abuse and Signs of Suicide Ignored

In 2018, Parent E and their children—Child E, Child E-1, and Adult Child E-2—faced threats, intimidation, and violence during and after their marriage and subsequent divorce from the other parent. The children witnessed and experienced this abuse firsthand.

Adult Child E-2 recounted ag‐ gressive behavior from the other parent, which sometimes result‐ ed in injuries to Child E and Child E-1, including a bloody facial wound. Child E-2 described the other parent physically dominating Parent E, often “cornering [Parent E] at the top of the stairs, standing over them with wide shoulders to intimidate.” The children were also subjected to shoving, gaslighting, and bullying.

Orange County Child Protective Services (CPS) was notified multiple times beginning in 2013, and eventually the other parent was placed on monitored visitation.

However, in 2019, Jessica St. Clair was appointed by the court as a reunification therapist. St. Clair began therapy sessions between the children and the other parent, also involving her colleagues, professionals like Stacy Kinney MS, LMFT, Dr. Sue Tonkins, and Dr. Amy Stark, all on Orange County’s list of approved providers.

Shortly after her appointment, St. Clair petitioned the court to replace the visitation monitor, stating she had the credentials and experience to fill the role. St. Clair wrote to Parent E’s attorney in 2019:

“I have been appointed by the court several times to conduct therapeutic monitoring of visits between a parent and a child or children. Therefore, I have the credentials and experience to fill this role.”

Child E-1 recalled that St. Clair appeared to align with the other parent almost immediately, using emotionally manipulative tactics during therapy. One repeated question stood out: “Don’t you think it hurts [the other parent’s] feelings when you don’t want to visit?” Both Child E-1 and Adult Child E-2 confirmed that St. Clair insisted they call her “Dr. St. Clair,” though she did not hold a Ph.D.

Despite the children’s continued anxiety and fear regarding the other parent, St. Clair urged them to “put the past aside” and focus on future visits, ignoring ongoing abuse.

Parent E, struggling financially, told St. Clair in late 2019, “I can’t afford all these sessions. I can’t buy food or pay rent.”

After Parent E told St. Clair and Kinney they could not afford therapy anymore, Kinney made recommendations to the court for "no contact" between Parent E, Adult Child E-2, and the younger two children "effective immediately,"accusing Parent E and Adult Child E-2 of undermining the allegedly abusive parent’s relationship with Child E and Child E-1. St. Clair supported Kinney's recommendation, also sending a letter to the court, to terminate contact. Despite repeated reports of abuse, the court adopted St. Clair and Kinney's recommendation.

In a 2019 letter to the court St. Clair cites Australian research (Templer, Matthewson, Haines & Cox, 2017) as her primary supportive reasoning in Parent E’s case—arguing that “more time with the rejected parent” would resolve supposed “alienation”— led her and colleagues to suggest to the court to cut off all contact with the safe parent and siblings in addition to flipping custody. This research supports utilizing reunification camps and programs like Family Reflections Reunification Program (FRRP) and Overcoming Barriers Family Camp (OBFC), all documented in court records.

2019 court documents also show that what was initially intended as a temporary 30-day separation lasted until mid-2021. During this extended period, Child E-1 made multiple suicide attempts and was placed on psychiatric hold.

Upon returning to the other parent’s home from the hospital, Child E-1’s mental state worsened, until finally being able to live with Parent E weeks later, where they still currently reside.

Child E-1, now an adult, shared with this reporter the trauma they endured before moving back in with Parent E, including an incident in their teens where they were sexually assaulted by a peer. Child E-1 reported the other parent dismissed the incident and bruising, responding, "I don't believe you." Parent E and Adult Child E-2 both confirmed this.

Now in their early 20s, Child E-1 reflects,

“We were subjected to constant verbal abuse, insults about our appearance. I’m finally processing the trauma now. And they all [St. Clair, Kinney, Tonkins] prolonged our exposure to the abuse. I feel free to just be a regular young adult, but I’m grieving the childhood that was stolen from me.”

Adult Child E-2, now a successful adult, reflected on the damage caused by the so-called court experts, explaining,

“Requiring my mother to apologize for protecting us from an abuser and then cutting off contact was not only wrong, but it set the stage for future manipulation and gaslighting. St. Clair destroyed my siblings’ lives and our family.”

The siblings, now adults, have called for the removal and accountability of St. Clair, Kinney, Tonkins, Stark, and the judge involved.

(More victims’ stories continued and professionals react in part three.)

The time for action is now. Justice and protection for our children must not remain distant ideals—they must become lived realities.

This ongoing investigative series on the Orange County family court crisis seeks to bring national attention to systemic failures and advocate for urgent reform and accountability. Lawmakers, the media, and the public must come together to demand justice for families and protection for children.

Are you committed to protecting American children and restoring integrity to our legal system?

Contact your legislative representatives. Speak out. Reach out to media outlets. And vote.

Whistleblowers and victims of family court, CPS, probate court, or foster care corruption anywhere in the U.S.—please contact this reporter atjuliea005@proton.me.

Together, we can ignite a national movement and create lasting change.

Julie M. Anderson-Holburn is a California-based investigative journalist reporting on family court corruption, judicial abuse, and systemic failures. Her work is published on NewsBreak, Substack, and The Family Court Circus, and has been featured by the Center for Judicial Excellence and National Safe Parents. Julie believes that exposing the truth is the first step toward meaningful reform.

This article was made possible by the support of readers like you. Thank you.