In the April of 2022, four months into the proceeding, Sophia began seeing a therapist.

Not a court-appointed one.

A private one, selected by Fernando, paid for by Fernando, seen weekly at his house.

Her name was Dr.

Brenna Kowalczyk and she wrote three letters into that proceeding and the third one is the reason I lost.

It said, in substance, that Sophia presented with elevated anxiety around transitions, that the child had expressed reluctance about overnight contact, and that in the therapist’s clinical opinion a period of reduced and structured contact with the non-custodial parent would support the child’s stability.

That letter was written by a licensed psychologist about a five-year-old she had seen eleven times, in a house, with the father in the building.