Unlicensed Psychologist Convicted of Sex with Patient

(Morristown, New Jersey) A 45-year-old unlicensed psychologist at the Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital, Lisa Anne O'Neill Ryan, was sentenced Friday by Superior Court Judge Salem Ahto to probation and forfeiture of her job for engaging in sex with a patient in her care.

Ryan also was ordered to complete 250 hours of community service, to pay a fine of $200 and to undergo a psycho-sexual evaluation. Ryan apparently had sex with the patient on and off hospital property in 2004 and 2005.

As an aside, having a "psychologist" undergo psycho-sexual evaluation is not the same as having a lifeguard undergo swimming classes. Uh -- or maybe not. Of course, since Lisa Anne O'Neill Ryan is not licensed as a psychologist, she may need some evaluation.

O'Neill Ryan declined Ahto's offer to speak in her own defense. The thin woman, with short spiky red hair and an assortment of earrings and rings, stood quietly as her attorney, Paul Selitto, spoke on her behalf.

Selitto said the criminal case has had a "tremendous mental and physical impact" on his client, who is married and has a 10-year-old son.

O'Neill Ryan was a $65-000-a-year "staff clinical psychologist," but she did not have a psychology license. An exemption in the law for federal, state and county government facilities allows unlicensed people to serve as clinical psychologists and counselors.

While the sentence does not bar her from trying at a future date to obtain such a license, Selitto said she has voluntarily agreed not to ever pursue a license.

It's strange that the law exempts government facilities from needing to employ licensed people. Logically, any experience dealing with the public, whether as a fast-food worker or a taxi driver or a stripper, would appear to qualify an individual for a clinical psychologist position.

One must wonder just how successful government mental hospitals are in curing diseased minds. At the same time, one might suggest that the cure rate would increase dramatically if the hospitals employed people with actual credentials. Of course, Lisa Anne O'Neill Ryan won't be one of them. The "unlicensed clinical psychologist" has promised that she won't even try to get a license.

TIP: Don Morgenstern