Texas Therapist Regulators Put Three Transgender-Care Disputes on Their Agenda as Information Only

The state agency that licenses Texas psychologists, counselors, social workers and marriage therapists meets Oct. 27 with three fights over care for transgender patients on its agenda — a federal lawsuit, a Texas Supreme Court ruling and a federal demand letter — all listed as information, none up for a vote. Written comments count only if they reach the agency by noon Oct. 26; after that the only way in is to raise a hand on the Zoom feed.

The Texas Behavioral Health Executive Council is the umbrella agency the Legislature built in 2019 over four licensing boards: psychology, social work, marriage and family therapy, and professional counseling. The three items run back to back under a heading for staff updates. First is the Federal Trade Commission’s suit against the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, filed in June with Texas and three other states as co-plaintiffs, which alleges the group gave providers the means to make unsupported claims to parents about treating minors. The association has moved to dismiss; briefing closed Oct. 13 and no judge has ruled.

Second is Aldaco v. Wood, decided June 26. The Texas Supreme Court held that a woman’s claims against her former therapist were filed in time and sent the case back to the trial court; it ruled on nothing else, and the reasoning that mattered most drew only a plurality. Third is what the agenda calls an Oct. 14 federal release “regarding evidentiary basis for gender affirming care for minors.” No release by that name exists. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services did publish one that day, giving six medical organizations 10 business days to account for their guidance, but it asks those groups for their evidence rather than laying out any.

Almost everything the council can actually decide is rulemaking. Thirteen rules proposed in August come back for final adoption, among them tighter limits on what a counselor-in-training may do unsupervised and a change letting a supervisor’s four hours a month be met on average rather than monthly. The council will also take up how it handles complaints against licensees doing court-ordered work such as custody evaluations, whose rules now refuse most complaints until the case that produced them ends.

Members may go into closed session over a suit by two women with felony convictions who were denied social work licenses. An appeals court threw their claims out in June on immunity grounds; their lawyers said they would petition the Texas Supreme Court, which the Dispatch could not confirm has happened. Also listed: a $200,000 budget rider to field a Spanish-language social work exam by November 2027, and the choice of meeting dates for 2028 and 2029.

Meeting at a glance

Council members

• John K. Bielamowicz — presiding member; Waxahachie.
• Ryan T. Bridges — Katy; public member, psychology board.
• Mark E. Cartwright, Ph.D. — professional member, psychology board.
• Jodie Elder, Ph.D., LPC-S, LMFT — professional member, marriage and family therapy board.
• Steven Hallbauer — Rockwall; public member, counseling board.
• Lee A. Hampton, Jr. — public member, marriage and family therapy board.
• David T. Marsden, LCSW-S — Weatherford; professional member, social work board.
• Quida J. Pryor — Sugar Land; public member, social work board.
• Christopher S. Taylor, Ph.D., LPC-S — professional member, counseling board.

Names and cities are from the council’s roster page, checked October 19, which lists nine members and no vacancy. The council has nine seats under Occupations Code §507.051 — one professional and one public member named by each of the four boards, plus one public member named by the governor. The page does not say which member holds the governor’s seat and gives no term dates, and the Dispatch found no appointment release for this council later than 2024. Cities are shown only for the five members whose entries give one.