Women Accuse Therapist of Sex Abuse : Medicine: San Diego psychologist Charles Hansen agrees to surrender license to practice in light of allegations that he had sex with woman patients during therapy.

Accused of sexual misconduct and gross negligence in the treatment of eight female patients, San Diego psychologist Charles Hansen has agreed to surrender his license to practice in California.

In graphic detail, eight women described alleged abuses that included having sex with Hansen during therapy, as well as being drugged and forced to have sex, according to court documents.

“I feel his misguided and exploitative behavior has left me with bad scars,” one woman said during an interview. “All I can say is that I believe this was staged, deliberate, and that he knew exactly what he was doing.”

Five of the women say they had sought treatment with Hansen because of marital problems, according to an accusation filed by the attorney general’s office. Several of the women also acknowledge that they had been sexually or physically abused as children--an experience that would make them “the most vulnerable of prey,” said one source familiar with the case.

“He’d say sex with therapists is OK in a lot of situations,” one former patient said. “He was really interested in my sexual abuse history. At the time, I assumed he needed the information to help me. But now I realize that he was getting kicks out of it. In retrospect, he spent months trying to seduce me. I didn’t see that then.

“He tried to tell me it was normal for a therapist to have a relationship with a patient. I was abused, and my self esteem was really low--I accepted what he said.”

Deputy Atty. Gen. Sanford Feldman said he could not discuss the case until the medical board approves a formal agreement with Hansen. But, he added, “We’ve entered into an agreement to resolve this case.”

Hansen agreed last Friday to surrender his license, canceling a hearing scheduled March 4, said his lawyer, Pamela Ann Thatcher. Thatcher added that Hansen admitted gross negligence in treatment of his patients but did not address the question of sexual misconduct.

“There was no admission as to any sexual misconduct by way of surrender (of the license)--the admission was to gross negligence in treatment of clients,” said Thatcher. “The only thing we admitted to was gross negligence in treatment of patients.”

Thatcher added that Hansen decided to give up his license because “he did not want to put the claimants through the trauma of a hearing.”

Thatcher also criticized the state for having no substance abuse program available to psychologists who, like Hansen, develop a drug problem.

Hansen did not return phone calls.

Experts say that a therapist having sex or sexual contact with a patient can be devastating for the patient.

“Therapist-patient sex has always been considered unethical and clinically damaging. It’s a tremendous abuse of trust, “ said Ken Pope, former chairman of the American Psychological Assn.’s ethics committee and co-author of “Sexual Intimacy Between Therapists and Patients.”

Pope and a colleague surveyed 1,300 psychologists nationwide to assess the effects of therapist-patient sex. According to that 1991 study, one of every 100 victims of therapist-patient sex commits suicide. But, they found, only 15% of victims ever report the offense. And the impact can be debilitating--14% of all such victims require hospitalization, Pope said.

“Under no circumstances is a woman patient responsible for abuse any more than a child is for child abuse or a rape victim is for rape,” Pope said. “This has to do with the power of a therapist and the way therapy works: clients tell therapists their deepest secrets, they let themselves become completely vulnerable and begin experiencing the therapist as a parent, for whom they’d do anything to gain approval.”

Across California, half of all complaints about psychologists involve claims that they had sex with patients, said Janie Cordray, spokeswoman for the Medical Board of California.

Since August, eight decisions and seven accusations have been filed by the Medical Board’s Board of Psychology against therapists statewide for sexual misconduct. The medical board conducts investigations for the Board of Psychology.

Since 1990, sexual exploitation by a psychotherapist has been considered a misdemeanor.

In Hansen’s case, six women sued for medical malpractice and reached out-of-court settlements that stipulated that they cannot discuss their cases.

But many who are familiar with such cases believe that because women tend to shy away from reporting such abuses, there could be others who have not yet come forward.

“There is a strong likelihood that there are other cases,” said attorney Dave Miller, who represented the six women. “This is a particularly insidious type of problem because the more injured the victim, the more likely they are to subliminate and bury the injury.”

The complaints against Hansen, filed starting last year and as recently as two weeks ago, all spring from incidents that allegedly occurred from 1977 to 1984.

Because victims are often reluctant to come forward and because it can take years for them to understand that a therapist’s overtures were inappropriate, sexual misconduct cases can take years to surface, said Cordray of the medical board.

In an amended pre-hearing brief, Hansen attributed some of his behavior to a substance abuse problem.

Hansen “acknowledges that some of the conduct alleged . . . did indeed occur,” the brief says. “However, he also disputes many of the allegations in their entirety. In spite of these factual disputes, he is very remorseful for any damage he may have caused a client during the period in which he was impaired by emotions and substances.”

Since then, Hansen has received treatment and, every month on a random basis, he voluntarily subjects himself to drug testing, his lawyer, Thatcher, said.

“Dr. Hansen has made tremendous strides to overcome his drug dependency problems as well as his personal issues. He participated in inpatient and outpatient treatment. He has been involved in ongoing marital treatment with his wife,” according to an amended pre-hearing brief.

But the case against Hansen is particularly strong, some say, because so many patients have alleged misconduct.

One patient first started seeing Hansen in 1977 with her husband when the couple sought treatment for communication problems, according to court records. In December, 1980, she began seeing Hansen for individual therapy sessions, scheduled up to three times a month for the next four years. She also attended group therapy once a week from 1981 to 1983.

During therapy, Hansen, who realized his patient had a crush on him, told the woman that he loved her, according to the medical board complaint. From December, 1980, to December, 1984, the two had a sexual relationship. Though Hansen allegedly told the woman about his drug problem, he apparently neglected to tell her he would be unavailable for three months in 1981 while he attended a drug rehabilitation program, according to court records.

Nonetheless, the relationship continued. During a therapy session in December, 1984, Hansen offered the woman a small vial of white powder. After she declined, she watched Hansen inhale the substance, according to court records.

Another woman sought treatment from Jan. 5, 1984, through December of that year, for help with her troubled marriage, extramarital affairs and a substance abuse problem. This woman also wanted therapy to help her deal with giving up two children to adoption.

She, like some of the other women, had a history of physical and sexual abuse. Her husband joined her for the first six sessions with Hansen. Then she attended therapy by herself. In the first individual session, she said Hansen gave her a drug that made her hallucinate and become disoriented, according to court records.

While she was “incapacitated,” Hansen held her down and had sexual intercourse with her, according to court records. Afterward, he called her and himself “whores.” Over the next months, the sexual encounters continued, according to records.

Another patient alleged that Hansen had administered a drug that disoriented her, according to the court documents. In this case, the woman began therapy in March, 1978, for marital problems. For two years, she also attended individual therapy sessions once or twice a week.

During therapy, Hansen advised this woman to invest $2,000 in a financial deal in which he was involved, according to records. He also told her he would return her money with interest in six months.

When she later asked about her money, he told her not to worry about it. In October, 1980, Hansen offered to return her money if she would come to his house in La Jolla, according to court records.

Once there, Hansen showed her around his home. In the master bedroom, Hansen played a videocassette showing his wife having sex with another man, the court records allege.

Hansen then gave a substance to the woman that made her disoriented, the documents say. When she came to, she was being held down on the bed, she told investigators.

After intercourse, Hansen wrote her a check for $300 over her investment and said: “It was for services rendered,” according to records.

Today, some of Hansen’s former patients say it has been difficult to restore order to their lives.

“I feel guilty even testifying against him,” one woman said. “You know intellectually that it’s very wrong but emotionally you are kind of confused. But I also know there are other victims out there.”