newjerseynewsroom.com

She was treated to trip to Bahamas, shared former client's bed

A state appeals court Thursday upheld the State Board of Psychological Examiners' suspension of a Clifton psychologist for having an inappropriate relationship with a patient that involved, among other things, accompanying him to a professional convention in the Bahamas at his expense, and sharing his bed.

In the decision a two-judge panel ruled that the Board of Psychological Examiners acted appropriately in suspending the license of behavioral therapist Samuelle Klein-Von Reiche for a year and requiring her to pay a total of $37,855 in penalties, fees and costs.

"We are gratified by the Appellate Division's ruling," state Acting Consumer Affairs Director Thomas R. Calcagni said. "This case is further confirmation that when a health professional disregards the code of professional conduct at the jeopardy of the patient's well-being, he or she will be held accountable."

In issuing its original decision against Klein-Von Reiche last year, the Board of Psychological Examiners found that the therapist not only engaged in an "inappropriately close, personal and social relationship" with a patient, but had also misled the board and withheld information from it regarding that relationship.

In the ruling, the judges held, "Appellant (Klein-Von Reiche) not only engaged in professional misconduct ... but she also exacerbated the situation by her less than forthcoming response to the board's initial inquiry, as well as her ongoing effort to minimize the highly inappropriate and unprofessional nature of her conduct."

Klein-Von Reiche treated her 53-year-old patient, a police officer with anger-management issues and stress problems linked to troubled relationships with his son and girlfriend, for approximately a year. Treatment ended Sept. 7, 2004, ostensibly because the patient had achieved his treatment goals.

The Bahamas trip took place 12 days later, and Klein-Von Reiche maintained the excursion was not inappropriate because her professional relationship with the patient had ended. In responding to the Board of Psychological Examiners, she characterized the episode as no more than "a psychologist's social interaction with a former client."

Both a state Administrative Law judge who heard the matter initially, and later the Board of Psychological Examiners, held that Klein-Von Reiche had exploited her patient's trust and dependence in her. In so doing, they determined, the therapist had essentially foreclosed her patient from ever returning to her for further treatment.

The appeals court was also not swayed by assertions from both Klein-Von Reiche and her patient that there was no romantic or sexual activity involved with the two sharing a bed in the Bahamas, or that the therapist spent much of her time at the beach and in the hotel work-out room while he attended conference-related functions.

The board's finding that Klein-Von Reiche exercised poor professional judgment and dishonesty in responding to its initial query about the matter are "adequately supported by the record," the appeals court judges held. The judges added, the board "properly exercised its authority" in suspending and fining her.

Under terms of the discipline imposed on Klein-Von Reiche, he license is suspended for six months, with an additional six months' suspension stayed pending her compliance with certain conditions.

Upon completion of the six months' active suspension, Klein-Von Reiche can petition the board for reinstatement subject to the condition that a licensed New Jersey psychologist provides supervision of her practice for at least a year.

Following its decision, the Appeals court granted Klein-Von Reiche's emergent request to stay her suspension pending review of a motion that her attorney is expected to file on Tuesday.

Deputy Attorney General Siobhan B. Krier of the Professional Boards Prosecution Section prosecuted is prosecuting the case.

— TOM HESTER SR., NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM