Holly Salzman discussed the Christian-based counseling she was forced to attend.
Holly Salzman and her ex-husband were wanting help from a the New Mexico Family Court Division as they navigated shared parenting after their divorce. The divorce court's clinic, which helps to minimize custody conflicts, ordered Holly Salzman to attend 10 counseling sessions with Mary Pepper, a self-described "educator and mentor for couples." Salzman says from the minute she walked in the door for her first session, things took a
religious turn that made her uncomfortable:
“I walked into the session and the very first thing she said to me was, ‘I start my sessions by praying,'” Salzman said. “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.”
Salzman wondered how this did not cross the line between church and state. After that first meeting with Pepper, she says she left a message with Family Court staff, complaining about the religion. Salzman says she never heard back. She says the second session with Pepper opened with a prayer again.
The third session was more of the same, with religion creeping in throughout their meetings. She again approached the court:
“We went back to court. I expressed concerns again about the religious overtones and they stated they hadn’t heard any problems concerning Mary Pepper with religion,” Salzman said.
Frustrated, Salzman quit going to the sessions, unwilling to sit through the religious "counseling." That got the court's attention—and they took away custody of her children. The only way to get her parental rights back? Continue the sessions. So, she went back, but this time taking undercover video and audio of Mary Pepper's religious-based counseling and her questionable pay practice:
“The meaning in my life is to know love and serve God,” Pepper told Salzman in one of the meetings. “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 now at some points he was in your life in some way.”
Watch an interview with Holly Salzman and Mary Pepper, who became more camera shy as the interview rolled on: