The Professional Response
How do other members of the mental health community and law enforcement regard this new movement?

First of all, many point to the troubling disregard for scientific research that is available to all
mental health practitioners. Dr. Richard Ofshe, professor at University of California at Berkeley
and a nationally recognized expert in suggestibility and brainwashing techniques, writes,"Even if
well-intentioned, the therapists [in this movement] are like the physicians who once bled patients
in order to cure them. But unlike those physicians, who were limited by the primitive state of
medical knowledge of their time , the promoters of repressed memory theory ignore reliable research, misuse their authority and techniques, and damage the lives of their clients and their clients' families." 4 The best example of the movement s unwillingness to use scientific and
verifiable findings is its perception of memory, the cornerstone to their philosophy and therapy techniques.

While proponents believe that memory records experiences accurately and cannot be corrupted or changed later in life, the overwhelming fact is that memory is indeed malleable and pseudo
memories can be easily implanted. That conclusion comes from over 100 years of research
and experience.

Creating Pseudo Memories
Perhaps the best proof of how memory can be manipulated is revealed in a study done by
Dr. Elizabeth Loftus, the preeminent scholar on the subject. She points to over twenty years of
studies that clearly show that one's recall of events can be easily influenced by fictitious descriptive
details, inserted characters and fictitious plot elaboration. To prove this, Dr. Loftus's researchers enlisted the brother of a fourteen year old boy named Chris. The older brother wrote a short
account of Chris's having been lost in a nearby mall when he was five and then being found by
an older man. It was an event that never happened. Within two days of reading the brief narrative, Chris said that he remembered being afraid that he would never see his family again. Two days
after that, he remembered the man's flannel shirt, a conversation with him and eventually remembered that the man was bald and wore glasses.

Even after being told that the event never happened, Chris clung to his memories. He was so
positive that he had been lost that he even remembered his mother coming up and telling him
never to do that again. 5

This example of how memory actually works has been borne out repeatedly in other studies and countless hours of scientific research. It is accepted by the leading mental health practitioners and professional organizations throughout the United States. The California Therapist, a magazine of the Association of Marriage, Family, and Child Counselors has stated,"Some therapists contribute to the problem [of recovered memories] by, among other things, inappropriately helping patients to remember sexual and other abuse, sometimes satanic ritual abuse, when it may never have happened... One must exercise caution when utilizing hypnosis in repressed memory and related cases because of the power of suggestion under hypnosis." 6

The Board of Trustees of the American Psychiatric Association has warned that,"It is not known
how to distinguish, with complete accuracy, memories based on true events from those derived
from other sources... Memories also can be significantly influenced by a trusted person (e.g., therapists, parent involved in a custody dispute) who suggests abuse as an explanation for
symptoms/problems, despite initial lack of memory of such abuse. It has also been shown that
repeated questioning may lead individuals to report memories of events that never occurred." 7.
The board continues by saying the corroborating evidence is necessary for an accurate
assessment of sexual abuse and that psychiatrists should maintain a neutral stance toward
reported memories of such abuse.

Implications and Solutions
In light of reputable research and the admonitions of nationally renowned scholars, researchers
and professional organizations, it is difficult to understand the reason that some mental health professionals continue to believe in a highly suspect kind of therapy and use techniques that have been described as damaging. One answer is suggested by Kenneth Lanning at the Behavioral Sciences Unit at the FBI Academy in Quantico. He writes,"Therapists are probably in the best
position to influence the allegations of adult survivors. The accuracy and reliability of the accounts
of adult survivors who have been hypnotized during therapy is certainly open to question?
Satanic and occult crime and ritual abuse of children has become a growth industry. Speaking
fees, books, video and audio tapes, prevention material, television and radio appearances all bring egoistic and financial rewards." 8

Implications of repressed memory therapy are frightening. Left in its wake are thousands of
family members who have been or who are currently being sued for allegedly molesting
daughters, sisters, nieces or grandchildren. This movement has divided families and, in some
cases it has even led to criminal prosecution.

For those children who actually are abused, this therapy diverts time, attention, and money
from legitimate programs and projects. True incidents of abuse are being diluted by a chorus of
insecure adults who claim they, too, are victims. As a result, each year thousands of children
still die from neglect and abuse or suffer from molestation.

For mental health practitioners as a whole, such therapy brings into question the ethical duty and integrity of the entire profession. Dr. Paul McHugh, Chair of the Psychiatry Department at Johns Hopkins University, summed up such implications for his field: ...to treat for repressed memories without any effort at external validation is malpractice pure and simple; malpractice on the basis of standards of care that have developed out of the history of psychiatric service... and malpractice
be cause a misdirection of therapy will injure the patient and the family. 9

Then why does this kind of therapy continue?
If the mental health profession cannot appropriately sanction its members, then therapists must
be held accountable for their actions in another arena. Margaret Singer, nationally known research psychologist urges patients to exercise their own rights when therapists practice suggestive and invasive techniques of recovered memory therapy. 10

Only when irresponsible therapists are sued for the abuse of their patients and the patients'
families will this dangerous fad end."...perhaps the most serious danger is that true accusations
of childhood sexual abuse will be trivialized or discredited. As the psychologist Carol Tavris puts it, 'The reality of victimization of children is diluted by a chorus of insecure adults clamoring that they are victims too." -Elizabeth Loftus, Ph.D.

References:
1. Blume, E. S. (1990) Secret Survivors: Uncovering Incest and Its Aftereffects in Women.
New York: John Wiley and Sons.
Summit, R. (1990), Oct. 29-Nov. 1, 1990. Revealing the Unreachable. Midwest Conference in
Child Abuse and Neglect, Madison, Wisconsin.
2. Bass, E. and Davis, L. (1988) The Courage to Heal: A Guide for Women Survivors of
Child Sexual Abuse. New York: Harper & Row.
3. Blume, E. S. Secret Survivors: Uncovering Incest and Its Aftereffects in Women.
New York: John Wiley and Sons.
4. Ofshe, R. J. (1993) Making Monsters: An American Tragedy Society,
March/April 1993, Vol. 30 No. 3.
5. Loftus, E. F. Repressed Memories of Childhood Trauma: Are They Genuine?
The Harvard Mental Health Review, Feb. 1993.
6. Leslie, R.S. (1994) Child and Sexual Abuse: Repressed Memories Real or Imagined?
Staying Clear of Unethical Behavior. The California Therapist, pp. 22-25, Vol. 6, Issue 1,
Jan/Feb 1994.
7. American Psychiatric Association, Statement on Memories of Sexual Abuse News Release,
Dec. 12, 1993. American Psychiatric Association, Washington, D.C.
8. Lanning, K. V. (1992) Investigator's Guide to Allegations of Ritual Child Abuse,
Behavioral Science Unit, National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime, Federal Bureau of
Investigations, FBI Academy, Quantico, Virginia.
9. McHugh, P. (1994) To be published: History and the Pitfalls of Practice
10. Singer, M.T. (1993) Therapist Zeal and Pseudomemories. Paper presented at Memory and
Reality: Emerging Crisis, False Memory Syndrome Foundation Conference,
April 16-18, 1993, Valley Forge, PA.

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