The one-sentence difference

Supervised visitation is a neutral monitoring service. A trained supervisor is present to observe, document, and ensure safety. Therapeutic visitation is a clinical service. A licensed mental health professional facilitates the visit and provides therapy directly, often with treatment goals built around repairing or building the parent-child relationship.

Supervised visitation — quick recap

  • Provider: a trained, certified supervised visitation professional
  • Role: neutral observer, safety presence, documenter
  • Output: a written, court-formatted session report
  • Used when: the court needs documentation of visits, has safety concerns, or wants accountability — but no clinical intervention is required

Therapeutic visitation — what it is

  • Provider: a licensed mental health professional (LCSW, LPC, LMFT, psychologist) in Georgia
  • Role: clinician actively working with the family during the session
  • Output: clinical notes plus session summaries for the court
  • Used when: there is clinical work to do — reunification therapy, trauma-informed contact, addressing relational rupture

Side-by-side

  • Who provides? Supervised: certified supervisor. Therapeutic: licensed mental health clinician.
  • What is the professional doing? Supervised: observing and documenting. Therapeutic: facilitating clinical work.
  • What does the report look like? Supervised: objective, factual, timestamped. Therapeutic: clinical impressions, interpretive language.
  • What does it cost? Supervised: $65/hr (TruVisit Atlanta). Therapeutic: $150–$300+/hr (clinical rates).
  • Insurance coverage? Supervised: no. Therapeutic: sometimes, if billed as behavioral health.

Which one does your Georgia court order require?

  • "Father's parenting time shall be supervised by a professional supervisor" — supervised visitation.
  • "Mother shall participate in therapeutic visitation with a licensed mental health professional" — therapeutic visitation.
  • "The parties shall engage in reunification therapy" — typically therapeutic visitation.
  • "Visits shall be monitored" — likely supervised visitation (occasionally monitored exchange).
The wrong service can hurt the case Using a supervised visitation provider where the court ordered therapeutic visitation may not satisfy the order. Using a therapist for a case that just needs neutral monitoring is unnecessarily expensive and may produce reports that read more clinical-interpretive than the court expected. Match the service to the order.

When both are needed

Some complex cases involve both — for example, the family is in reunification therapy with a clinician, but the court also wants neutral supervised monitoring of separate parenting time visits. TruVisit Atlanta handles the supervised visitation piece; the therapeutic work is provided by a licensed Georgia clinician.

How TruVisit Atlanta fits in

TruVisit Atlanta provides professional supervised visitation and monitored exchange — neutral, observational, factual documentation. We are not a clinical practice and we do not provide therapy. If your case requires therapeutic visitation specifically, we are happy to refer you to qualified Georgia clinicians. If your case requires supervised visitation, that's what we do — at a flat $65/hour.

Frequently asked questions

Can a Georgia therapist do supervised visitation?
A licensed therapist can supervise a visit, but they are essentially performing two different roles at once — and the clinical hourly rate typically applies. For most families that need monitoring rather than treatment, a dedicated supervised visitation provider is more cost-effective.
Will my health insurance cover therapeutic visitation?
Sometimes. Therapeutic visitation, when billed as a behavioral health service by a licensed clinician, may be reimbursable through behavioral health benefits. Supervised visitation is not a medical service and is not reimbursable.
Can the same provider do both?
Generally no — they require different professional licensure and serve different purposes.
If the order is unclear, what should I do?
Ask your attorney to clarify in writing, or file a motion to clarify the order with the Georgia Superior Court that issued it.