--------------------------------------------------------------------------- THERAPIST SUED IN `CLOSE ENCOUNTERS'
Byline: Ramon Coronado Bee Staff Writer
07/12/93
THE SACRAMENTO BEE
Edition: METRO FINAL
Section: METRO
Page: B1

Psychologist Richard Boylan's belief in extraterrestrial life
is no secret.

In his published writings, the Sacramento clinical psychologist
describes his own alien abduction. He advertises in the Yellow Pages
as a "close-encounter specialist." In a letter to President Clinton,
Boylan has called for the appointment of "extraterrestrial
emissaries."

And now, Boylan's belief in extraterrestrial life has become the
focus of a court battle.

In lawsuits filed by two former female patients, Boylan is
accused of using extraterrestrial phenomena to diagnose and treat the
women's emotional problems SO THAT HE COULD GET THEM TO JOIN HIM IN
"NAKED HOT TUB SESSIONS."

Boylan is a licensed marriage and family counselor and current
president of the Sacramento Valley Psychologists Association.
Through his attorney, he denies the allegations.

Several members of the 150-member association, including
President-elect Lisa Farquhar, declined to comment about Boylan and
his controversy.

In separate suits filed in Sacramento Superior Court over the
past two months, Diana Woycheshin and Dorothy Stone maintain that
through Boylan's counseling, THEY BECAME DEPENDENT UPON HIM AS A
"FATHER-LIKE FIGURE."

At his home, Boylan and Woycheshin would SIT NUDE IN A HOT TUB,
her suit alleges. Stone's suit said Boylan encouraged her to go with
him to Harbin Hot Springs in the Napa Valley for NUDE EXERCISES.
A THIRD former patient, Karla Grant, filed suit three weeks ago,
claiming that although Boylan DIDN'T discuss extraterrestrial close
encounters, he FOSTERED THE SAME DEPENDENT "DUAL-ROLE" RELATIONSHIP
as Woycheshin and Stone allege and INVITED HER TO PARTICIPATE IN NUDE
HOT TUB SESSIONS.

Boylan declined to discuss the suits last week, but he defended
his research with people who say they have had encounters with UFOs
and extraterrestrial life.

"My research doesn't involve whether UFOs exist. That's already
been well established," he said. "There is much worth in making the
scientific inquiry, and that's what I and a number of other people
are doing."

Regarding the suit, Boylan's lawyer, Richard Linkert, said his
client's therapy meets acceptable standards and that Boylan hasn't
committed any sexual improprieties.

"The whole subject of extraterrestrial beings is controversial
and I think its controversy is being used as a weapon against Dr.
Boylan," he said. "This portrait of victims led around by this
psychological Svengali is simply not true."

Joseph C. George, the Sacramento lawyer who filed the suits, said
Linkert is wrong.

"Who cares if it is politically sensitive? THE HARM HERE,"
George alleged, "IS THAT THEY FEEL THEY HAVE BEEN HURT, MANIPULATED
AND EXPLOITED."

According to the suits, the women hired Boylan to help them with
their emotional problems. Woycheshin saw Boylan for about a year,
and Stone saw him for about two years.

In the suits, Woycheshin and Stone said Boylan told them that
based on his interpretations of their life experiences, they had
separate close encounters with extraterrestrial life.

They were then referred to support-group meetings at Boylan's
home, which he led. Known as "CE-4" meetings, people discussed close encounters, extraterrestrial beings and related subjects.

BOYLAN FURTHER ADVISED THE WOMEN THAT THEIR EXTRATERRESTRIAL
EXPERIENCES WERE OF INTEREST TO THE "CIA AND/OR FBI," WHICH WOULD
HAVE AN INTEREST IN KEEPING THEM UNDER SURVEILLANCE, the suits said.

George, who is also a psychologist and specializes in mental
health suits, said that although Boylan did not physically touch the
women, HIS THERAPY CROSSED THE LINE OF PROPRIETY.

Shirley Glass, an expert on ethical standards in therapy and a
former member of the board of examiners that licenses psychologists
in Maryland, said that AS A GENERAL RULE, PSYCHOLOGISTS SHOULD NOT
SOCIALIZE WITH PATIENTS OUTSIDE THE OFFICE.

"There is something sterile in the office environment that the
therapist has an obligation to create and maintain," Glass said.
But Mark Foster, a licensed marriage and family therapist in
Sacramento and former associate of Boylan's, said there are also gray
areas in the rules of conduct.

Boylan, Foster said, was known to provide therapy for free and to
spend a lot of time in research on people who believe they have had
close encounters.

"Was he doing community service? Were these people going to him
as research subjects?" Foster asked. "A therapist needs to define
the therapist-patient role. If that isn't provided, then you have a
problem."

Robert,
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