124 lines
5.0 KiB
Plaintext
124 lines
5.0 KiB
Plaintext
SUBJECT: THERAPIST SUED IN "CLOSE ENCOUNTERS" FILE: UFO3157
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THERAPIST SUED IN `CLOSE ENCOUNTERS'
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Byline: Ramon Coronado Bee Staff Writer
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07/12/93
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THE SACRAMENTO BEE
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Edition: METRO FINAL
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Section: METRO
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Page: B1
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Psychologist Richard Boylan's belief in extraterrestrial life
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is no secret.
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In his published writings, the Sacramento clinical psychologist
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describes his own alien abduction. He advertises in the Yellow Pages
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as a "close-encounter specialist." In a letter to President Clinton,
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Boylan has called for the appointment of "extraterrestrial
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emissaries."
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And now, Boylan's belief in extraterrestrial life has become the
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focus of a court battle.
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In lawsuits filed by two former female patients, Boylan is
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accused of using extraterrestrial phenomena to diagnose and treat the
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women's emotional problems SO THAT HE COULD GET THEM TO JOIN HIM IN
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"NAKED HOT TUB SESSIONS."
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Boylan is a licensed marriage and family counselor and current
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president of the Sacramento Valley Psychologists Association.
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Through his attorney, he denies the allegations.
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Several members of the 150-member association, including
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President-elect Lisa Farquhar, declined to comment about Boylan and
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his controversy.
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In separate suits filed in Sacramento Superior Court over the
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past two months, Diana Woycheshin and Dorothy Stone maintain that
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through Boylan's counseling, THEY BECAME DEPENDENT UPON HIM AS A
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"FATHER-LIKE FIGURE."
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At his home, Boylan and Woycheshin would SIT NUDE IN A HOT TUB,
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her suit alleges. Stone's suit said Boylan encouraged her to go with
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him to Harbin Hot Springs in the Napa Valley for NUDE EXERCISES.
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A THIRD former patient, Karla Grant, filed suit three weeks ago,
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claiming that although Boylan DIDN'T discuss extraterrestrial close
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encounters, he FOSTERED THE SAME DEPENDENT "DUAL-ROLE" RELATIONSHIP
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as Woycheshin and Stone allege and INVITED HER TO PARTICIPATE IN NUDE
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HOT TUB SESSIONS.
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Boylan declined to discuss the suits last week, but he defended
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his research with people who say they have had encounters with UFOs
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and extraterrestrial life.
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"My research doesn't involve whether UFOs exist. That's already
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been well established," he said. "There is much worth in making the
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scientific inquiry, and that's what I and a number of other people
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are doing."
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Regarding the suit, Boylan's lawyer, Richard Linkert, said his
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client's therapy meets acceptable standards and that Boylan hasn't
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committed any sexual improprieties.
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"The whole subject of extraterrestrial beings is controversial
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and I think its controversy is being used as a weapon against Dr.
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Boylan," he said. "This portrait of victims led around by this
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psychological Svengali is simply not true."
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Joseph C. George, the Sacramento lawyer who filed the suits, said
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Linkert is wrong.
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"Who cares if it is politically sensitive? THE HARM HERE,"
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George alleged, "IS THAT THEY FEEL THEY HAVE BEEN HURT, MANIPULATED
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AND EXPLOITED."
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According to the suits, the women hired Boylan to help them with
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their emotional problems. Woycheshin saw Boylan for about a year,
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and Stone saw him for about two years.
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In the suits, Woycheshin and Stone said Boylan told them that
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based on his interpretations of their life experiences, they had
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separate close encounters with extraterrestrial life.
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They were then referred to support-group meetings at Boylan's
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home, which he led. Known as "CE-4" meetings, people discussed close
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encounters, extraterrestrial beings and related subjects.
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BOYLAN FURTHER ADVISED THE WOMEN THAT THEIR EXTRATERRESTRIAL
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EXPERIENCES WERE OF INTEREST TO THE "CIA AND/OR FBI," WHICH WOULD
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HAVE AN INTEREST IN KEEPING THEM UNDER SURVEILLANCE, the suits said.
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George, who is also a psychologist and specializes in mental
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health suits, said that although Boylan did not physically touch the
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women, HIS THERAPY CROSSED THE LINE OF PROPRIETY.
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Shirley Glass, an expert on ethical standards in therapy and a
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former member of the board of examiners that licenses psychologists
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in Maryland, said that AS A GENERAL RULE, PSYCHOLOGISTS SHOULD NOT
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SOCIALIZE WITH PATIENTS OUTSIDE THE OFFICE.
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"There is something sterile in the office environment that the
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therapist has an obligation to create and maintain," Glass said.
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But Mark Foster, a licensed marriage and family therapist in
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Sacramento and former associate of Boylan's, said there are also gray
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areas in the rules of conduct.
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Boylan, Foster said, was known to provide therapy for free and to
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spend a lot of time in research on people who believe they have had
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close encounters.
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"Was he doing community service? Were these people going to him
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as research subjects?" Foster asked. "A therapist needs to define
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the therapist-patient role. If that isn't provided, then you have a
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problem."
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