Here's an interesting story from the BBC... 
 
In short, "I used a technique that may create false memories, but, hey, I 
wasn't actually treating her."
 
 
***************************************************
BBC
Sailor 'recalled rape in therapy' 
A Royal Navy junior rating regained her memory of being raped by a colleague 
after undergoing a controversial psychotherapy technique, a court heard. 

Chief Petty officer Phillip Coates, from Devon, denies a charge of raping the 
24-year-old while at sea. 

The alleged victim told the naval court in Portsmouth she only fully recalled 
the attack after seeing a psychologist. 

Dr Susanne McGowan, who advised her, has told the court memories of incidents 
can be "fantasy not fact". 

This is believed to be the first time a navy petty officer has faced a trial 
accused of raping a female colleague. 

Drunken party 

The trial at HMS Nelson, Portsmouth Naval Base, Hampshire, has heard the female 
junior rating was allegedly raped by the medical assistant while the Royal Navy 
ship was in the Mediterranean last March. 

The alleged victim told the court she was raped in a small room between decks 
after getting drunk at a barbecue that was held to mark the end of the training 
event. 

The trial has heard that in the days following the alleged attack, the rating 
could not remember anything of the incident apart from "gut feelings" and 
"images". 

But two months later she attended a session with Dr Susanne McGowan, a 
consultant psychologist for the community mental health department at HMS Drake 
in Plymouth. 

The trial has heard that following these sessions, the alleged victim could 
remember the incident in much greater detail. 

Dr McGowan said that she used a part of a technique used in Eye Movement 
Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) to help the rating recall some of her 
lost memories. 

But Dr McGowan admitted the technique was controversial as there was no 
guarantee that the recalled memories were not fantasy. 

She said: "The controversy is the suggestion that the therapist is putting 
ideas into the memory of the person being seen. 

"Memories can always be fantasy or fact." 

Dr McGowan said she was not treating the alleged victim as a patient but was 
giving her "support and an environment to help her recall memories". 

The trial continues. 

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/england/hampshire/6427919.stm

Published: 2007/03/07 16:37:30 GMT

© BBC MMVII

 
--
Sue Frantz                   Highline Community College       
Psychology                Des Moines, WA
206.878.3710 x3404    [EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://flightline.highline.edu/sfrantz/ 
--
Office of Teaching Resources in Psychology
Assistant Director
Project Syllabus
http://www.lemoyne.edu/OTRP/projectsyllabus.html 

 

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