Relating to required reintegration therapy coursework and training for certain mental health professionals.
relating to required reintegration therapy coursework and training
for certain mental health professionals.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. This Act may be cited as the Reintegration
Therapy Training Act of 2025.
SECTION 2. The legislature finds that:
(1) mental health professionals require comprehensive
training to effectively address the complexities associated with
identity confusion and gender dysphoria;
(2) reintegration therapy is essential for assisting
individuals, particularly minors, who experience difficulties
after attempting to transition socially or medically from their
sex; and
(3) there is a need for specialized training in
reintegration therapy to better support individuals experiencing
alienation from self and familial conflicts due to identity issues
and gender dysphoria.
SECTION 3. Subchapter F, Chapter 51, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 51.306 to read as follows:
Sec. 51.306. REINTEGRATION THERAPY COURSEWORK. (a) In
this section:
(1) “Coordinating board” means the Texas Higher
Education Coordinating Board.
(2) “Institution of higher education” has the meaning
assigned by Section 61.003.
(3) “Mental health professional” has the meaning
assigned by Section 61.601.
(4) “Reintegration therapy” means therapeutic
practices designed to assist an individual who has undergone or
considered social or medical transition from the individual’s sex,
focusing on alleviating distress over the individual’s sex and
fostering reconciliation with the reality of biological sex.
(b) Each institution of higher education that offers a
mental health professional degree program shall require students
enrolled in the program to complete a course of instruction on
reintegration therapy. The coordinating board, in consultation
with the Texas Behavioral Health Executive Council, by rule shall
prescribe the curriculum and other requirements for the course.
The curriculum must cover:
(1) alienation from self and resulting psychological
impacts;
(2) familial attention and strategies for
reconciliation;
(3) gender stereotypes and that stereotypes do not
determine an individual’s sex;
(4) the binary reality of sex;
(5) coping strategies for individuals who feel a loss
of self due to attempts at social or medical transitioning; and
(6) other topics as determined by the coordinating
board related to the psychological, social, and medical
implications of social or medical transitioning, including but not
limited to the negative consequences of surgical intervention,
puberty blockers or other hormones, binding, and tucking.
SECTION 4. Subchapter F, Chapter 507, Occupations Code, is
amended by adding Section 507.260 to read as follows:
Sec. 507.260. REINTEGRATION THERAPY TRAINING. (a) A
license holder shall biennially complete three hours of continuing
education in reintegration therapy, as defined by Section 51.306,
Education Code.
(b) The executive council may not renew the license of a
license holder who does not complete the training required by this
section.
(c) A license holder may complete the training required by
this section:
(1) as part of any continuing education required by
the executive council under Section 507.157; and
(2) in more than one training session.
SECTION 5. Section 51.306, Education Code, as added by this
Act, applies beginning with students initially enrolling in a
mental health professional degree program at a public institution
of higher education in the 2025-2026 academic year.
SECTION 6. Section 507.260, Occupations Code, as added by
this Act, applies only to the renewal of a license or registration
permit on or after January 1, 2027.
SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.
