State Seeks to Lift License of Therapist : Counseling: Paul F. Dorin is accused of using channeling, exorcism and psychic healing on patients.

State officials are seeking to revoke the license of Torrance therapist Paul F. Dorin, claiming he has used techniques such as channeling, exorcism and psychic healing on his patients.

In a wide-ranging accusation filed by the state Board of Behavioral Science Examiners, Dorin was accused of engaging in unprofessional conduct. The board is seeking to lift Dorin’s license as a marriage, family and child counselor.

According to the accusation, Dorin advised a reportedly suicidal patient that she should telephone psychic healers. He also suggested that a patient leave his military job because he was possessed by an Army officer’s spirit, the board alleges.

An attorney for Dorin, Philip M. Rosten of Beverly Hills, declined to respond to the state’s claims point by point.

“We can’t comment any more than to say the charges are totally unfounded,” Rosten said Friday. “It’s just premature to say anything else.”

The state has accused Dorin of negligence or incompetence, causing physical or emotional harm to clients, failing to maintain confidentiality and claiming to be able to offer services outside his field of expertise, according to the 13-page accusation.

The accusation, which allegedly describes the experiences of four patients, was written after a state investigator interviewed the patients. It stated that Dorin used such treatments as channeling, psychic healing and exorcism.

“It’s pretty clear on the face of it that channeling and psychic healing are not part of the scope of practice of marriage, family and child counseling,” said Kathleen Callanan, executive officer of the state board. “This would be considered a departure from prevailing standards of practice.”

When Dorin was working with one patient, a woman suffering from an eating disorder, he placed his hands on her back to “channel” energy into her and produce a “psychic healing,” the accusation stated. He later attempted “psychic surgery” on her back and reportedly observed a “black goo” inside her.

Months later, after Dorin told the woman that her therapy was done, she cut her arm with a knife and was hospitalized with major depression, the accusation stated.

Dorin conducted an exorcism and psychic healing on a second woman patient and “channeled” her dead father, the state said.

In another case, Dorin allegedly did not provide proper referral to a patient who was suicidal.

Dorin told a fourth patient, a man, that he had witnessed his mother’s rape in a jungle in a past life. Dorin advised the patient to leave his job as an Army officer because he was possessed by “an Army officer’s spirit,” and the patient left the Army, the accusation stated.

A hearing has not yet been scheduled in the case, according to Deputy Atty. Gen. Jaime R. Roman, who is representing the state board. The case will be heard by an administrative law judge, whose decision will go to the state board for final action.

A second state agency, the Board of Psychology, is trying to revoke Dorin’s registration as a psychological assistant on the same grounds as those cited by the behavioral science board.

The Board of Psychology is also attempting to block Dorin’s application to be licensed as a psychologist, said Suzanne Taylor, enforcement coordinator for the board.