Therapist Will Lose License in Client Sex Case

Judith M. Doyle, a well-known activist in this city’s gay and lesbian community, is losing her license to practice family therapy following accusations by the state Board of Behavioral Science Examiners that she had sex with a client.

“I feel tremendously saddened,” Doyle said of the decision, which takes effect July 18. “This was a witch hunt.”

The charges of professional misconduct stemmed from Doyle’s personal relationship with Patricia A. Lamis, a former interior designer who came to Doyle for counseling in 1982. During several weeks of testimony before an administrative law judge last year, Doyle admitted that she had entered into a sexual relationship with Lamis, but maintained that it had not begun until after Lamis ceased being a client.

Lamis, on the other hand, testified that in her mind she had remained Doyle’s client even during the relationship and consequently had suffered great psychological damage resulting, among other things, in the loss of her career.

Earlier this year Judge Rosalyn M. Chapman sided with Lamis, recommending that Doyle be put on professional probation. Then last week the state licensing board, apparently accepting the judge’s finding but not her recommended verdict, upped the ante by announcing the revocation of Doyle’s license.

By beginning a sexual relationship with Lamis “before properly terminating their professional therapeutic relationship,” the board’s written decision said, the therapist “was grossly negligent.” Doyle’s “failure to keep separate the personal and professional relationships,” the decision concluded, “was reckless and irresponsible, causing Lamis emotional and mental harm.”

Lamis, who has become active in a group called Advocates for Responsible Therapy, said she was pleased by the board’s action. “It sends a message that sex with patients is harmful and should not be done,” she said.

Doyle, meanwhile, said she plans to appeal the decision in civil court. “I am very concerned for my profession,” she said, adding that the board’s decision, in effect, makes it almost impossible for therapists to legally terminate their professional relationships with clients. “This is setting them up to be subject to erroneous complaints that will create the kind of overwhelming distress that has been experienced in my life,” she said.

Without her license, Doyle said, she will be forced to give up her position as director of mental health for the AIDS Response Program of Orange County, as well as the private counseling practice she has maintained since 1977.

Doyle, a Long Beach resident, took the Orange County job six months ago after resigning as executive director of One in Long Beach Inc., operator of the city’s largest gay and lesbian social service center. The resignation was not related to the charges of professional misconduct. Previously, she had served as chairwoman for the first AIDS Walk/Long Beach and helped found the city’s annual gay pride parade and festival.

Lamis has also filed a civil suit against Doyle seeking about $1 million for lost income and mental suffering. A non-jury trial on the matter is scheduled for July 17 in Long Beach Superior Court. In addition, Doyle’s insurance carrier--American Home Assurance--is seeking to avoid liability in the case, claiming that Doyle failed to inform them that she was sexually involved with a client.