On 29 Jan 2011 at 8:50, William Scott wrote: > This is a local case where I live here in Wisconsin. Of particular > interest is the fact that the patient and therapists claim that the > patient arrived in therapy with the memory of abuse and that the > therapists claimed that they "challenged" the memory (although clearly > ineffectively). No "recovered memory" techniques were used. The > therapists did, of course, facilitate the accusations and family > destruction that insued and were found liable by the jury.
>From what I've seen by browsing, including in records of previous court decisions in this case available on the web, a significant factor was that the patient admittted (to a friend) that she had received hypnosis during therapy, a discredited technique which is part of recovered memory therapy. In addition, the therapists were found not to have provided an adequate "standard of care" which would have included a duty to inform their patient that the memories might be false. The patient also admitted to owning a copy of the mendacious "Courage to Heal" although she claimed not to have read it! A relevant section from an earlier court judgement is this one. I believe "waiver" refers to the issue of waiving therapist-patient confidentiality of records. Opening these records proved crucial in the case. "143 Given all this information, the grounds for waiver may be summarized as follows: (1) Charlotte disclosed that she entered therapy due to an eating disorder and alcohol abuse before ever having a flashback; (2) she underwent psychotherapy; (3) she was the subject of hypnosis as part of her therapy; (4) she experienced flashbacks and body memories of childhood abuse; (5) she purchased The Courage to Heal, the "Bible" of repressed memory therapy; (6) she "confronted" her parents during therapy sessions; (7) she kept a journal and did artwork detailing her experiences; (8) she filed a restraining order against her parents and cut off all contact with them; (9) she changed her name; and (10) she threatened to file a civil lawsuit against her parents, and as part of that threat, her attorney referenced repressed memories. Reference to the literature discussed above reveals that all these events are hallmarks of recovered memory therapy." In my previous post I had noted: >The daughter apparently still has these beliefs [memories of > abuse, including rape by her father at age 3], has >had no contact with her parents for the past 18 years, >and opposed the lawsuit. Allen Esterson asked: > Is this a first? I can't recall any previous such case where the > patient has not repudiated the supposed "memories" No, my understanding is that some repudiate, some do not. The False Memory Foundation calls those who repudiate "retractors". A recent book by a retractor, "My Lie: A True Story of False Memory" has been receiving attention lately (see http://tinyurl.com/4ncvymj ). One case I know of of an individual who has not retracted is ironically, that of the daughter of the founders of the False Memory Foundation, Peter and Pamela Freyd. They started this organization in response to the accusations of childhood sexual abuse by their daughter, and the organization has been highly influential in combatting the spread of recovered memory therapy. Yet their daughter Jennifer never retracted, and has instead founded an academic career based on her beliefs. You could look her up in Wiki. Stephen -------------------------------------------- Stephen L. Black, Ph.D. Professor of Psychology, Emeritus Bishop's University Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada e-mail: sblack at ubishops.ca --------------------------------------------- --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=8231 or send a blank email to leave-8231-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
