December 3, 2014 by Robert Franklin, Esq, Member, National Board of Directors, National Parents Organization
In what has to be a precedent of some sort, the New Jersey State Board of Psychological Examiners has revoked the license to practice psychology of Marsha Kleinman for a second time. I wrote here about her first revocation. Put simply, Kleinman’s one of those true believers who’s always ready to conclude that a father should be removed from a child’s life. If there’s an objective basis for doing so, so much the better, but Kleinman’s never needed that. As my first piece indicated, coercing children as young as three to make the most shocking and salacious allegations against their dads is part and parcel of Kleinman’s modus operandi.
Here’s just a taste of what the judge hearing Kleinman’s case said — and the Board concurred — about her:
Like the judge’s findings, the Board’s ruling is replete with the most damning descriptions of Kleinman and her behavior. The terms “gross malpractice,” “gross misconduct,” repeated acts of misconduct,” and the like appear time and again throughout the 57-page Decision and Order. According to the Board, Kleinman’s conduct “fell far below the degree of care, knowledge, and skill ordinarily possessed and exercised in similar situations by the average psychologist.” Her questioning of the three-year-old was “coercive” and “was inherently wrong, was unprofessional, and tainted any possible investigation of sexual abuse against [the father].”
So is lying.
Kleinman also lied repeatedly to the family court, to the father, the child and to the ALJ. She and the mother were plainly working in concert to get the little girl to accuse her father, which she never did. At one point, the mother is seen on one of Kleinman’s videotapes appearing in her office to inquire if the child had “gotten it right.”
So back in 2013, the New Jersey Board revoked her license to practice and fathers, children and family lawyers across the state fist-pumped and shouted ‘Yes!’ in unison. But Kleinman didn’t care. She just went right on practicing psychology as this report describes (ABC News12, 12/2/14). Indeed, the video shows Kleinman’s dogged efforts to coerce a small child into making claims of sexual abuse against her father. Amazingly, the child refuses to do so. The image of a little kid standing up for the truth against the browbeating of an adult is something to behold. One wonders if Kleinman, at such a young age, had a similar respect for the truth. If so, she lost it along the way.
Kleinman has appealed the revocation of her license, so it looks very much like the Board is just taking a “belt and suspenders” approach; if the first revocation doesn’t hold up, the second one is bound to. As I’ve mentioned before, professional disciplinary bodies don’t like to punish their members. It takes a lot to lose one’s license to practice, law, medicine, psychology, etc. In fact, what it takes is either one truly outrageous offense (e.g., the lawyer murdered her husband) or a series of offenses that convince the disciplinary body that the individual is a lost cause. Kleinman, I suspect, fits into that second category. My guess is that she’s had so many complaints against her that the Board is sick of hearing about her and from her. That’s why they’ve gone ahead and revoked her license for a second time. Clearly, they want her gone.
So do all people who value fairness and children’s well-being and, with any luck, following this latest hearing, she will be. After all, it’s possible that, if she continues to practice without a license, she could end up in prison.
But whatever the case, with her out of the way, it’ll make it a bit easier for fathers in New Jersey family courts. Every little bit helps when you’re trying to play a real role in your children’s lives.
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