OARMHP

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Recovered Memories:  Fact or Fiction?
By Paul Simpson, Ed.D.

Joe and Alice sit in my office, trying to grasp the crisis that has erupted in their family. Lifelong Christians, they raised their three children, now grown, with a respect and knowledge of God. With a look of embarrassment, Joe hands me a letter they received from their youngest daughter.

Sue

With this one letter, Joe and Alice were devastated. Like thousands of other families, their lives have been shattered by Recovered Memory Therapy (RMT).

We've all heard dramatic stories of people who assumed they had a happy childhood, only to discover they grew up victims of horrific abuse. These discoveries are linked to graphic "recovered memories," said to have been repressed in the unconscious decades before. Since its inception early in Sigmund Freud's career, RMT's popularity waxed and waned until the late 1970s, when RMT was reborn and touted as a phenomenal form of healing for myriad ailments.

I was part of this movement. As a psychologist specializing in treating victims and perpetrators of sex crimes, I became involved in RMT during the early 1990s. However, further research soon led me in the opposite direction.

Defining the Terms Freud viewed repression of painful memories as a psychological defense mechanism. In the late 1800s he experimented with 18 patients diagnosed with hysteria, which he suspected was caused by repressed memories of sexual abuse. His explanation: "At the bottom of 

every case of hysteria there are one or more occurrences of premature sexual experience, occurrences which belong to the earliest years of childhood but which can be reproduced through the work of psycho-analysis in spite of the intervening decades." Strachey, J., ed., The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, Vol. 14, London: Hogarth, (1957), 16.

To eliminate hysteria, Freud sought to help patients have a cathartic release — to make them consciously aware, through hypnosis, of hidden trauma.

Today, RMT counselors utilize various memory-enhancement techniques to "unlock" memories in five categories:

· Repressed incest. According to this line of thought, millions of adults have been sexually abused but have repressed the memories of their trauma.

· Satanic Ritual Abuse (SRA). Practitioners contend there are multigenerational satanists who have committed countless atrocities, including murder, blood rituals, human sacrifices and vile sexual acts with children. Nationally, 18 percent of recovered memory claims include SRA themes. FMS Foundation, "Family Survey," presented at the 1st National Conference on FMS, Memory & Reality: Emerging Crisis,(April 16-18, 1993). (Interestingly, of the 12,000-plus claims of SRA, not a single one has been proven true when investigated by law enforcement. Goodman, G.S., et al, Characteristics and Sources of Allegations of Ritualistic Child Abuse, Grant No. 90CA1405, University of California, Davis, (1994). )

· Past lives. A national survey revealed that 28 percent of therapists believe hypnosis can be used to recover accurate memories of past lives. Yapko, M., "Suggestibility and Repressed Memories of Abuse: A Survey of Psychotherapists' Beliefs," American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 36:3 (1994), 163-171.

· Space-alien abductions. Some RMT therapists point to a Roper poll conducted in 1991 that suggested that two out of every 100 people in the United States have been abducted by space aliens but have repressed their trauma. Barker, J., "Survey Alters Doctor's Views of UFO Tales," Arizona Republic (Feb. 16, 1993), Section A, 1-2.

· Regressing into infancy. Nationally, 53 percent of therapists believe memories can be retrieved from infancy and the womb. Yapko, op cit.

The belief that RMT can reveal such information is typically bolstered by anecdotal stories, retrospective studies and glowing testimonies of personal healing. But herein lies one of RMT's greatest dilemmas. RMT lacks predictive validity; when we know that a traumatic event has occurred, we find that victims don't repress their experiences. Instead they are often plagued by recurring memories of their trauma, sometimes resulting in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Studies tracking bona fide victims of trauma yield predictable results:

· Children who witnessed the murder of a parent didn't repress their memories. Rather, they were preoccupied with the murder and were continually flooded with disturbing emotions. Malmquist, C.P., "Children Who Witness Parental Murder: Post-traumatic Aspects," Journal of American Academy of Child Psychiatry,25 (1986), 320-325.

· Of the dozens of children kidnapped in Chowchilla, Calif., in 1976, none were found to have repressed their memories of the event. Safran, C., "Dangerous Obsession: The Truth About Repressed Memories," McCalls (June 1993), 98-115.

· Seventy-eight Holocaust survivors interviewed 40 years after World War II experienced normal memory decay. Yet none had repressed memories of their prison camp experiences, and all but one quickly remembered forgotten details with simple prompting. Wagenaar, W.A., and J. Groeneweg, "The Memory of Concentration Camp Survivors," Applied Cognitive Psychology, 4 (1990), 77.

As these case studies of actual victims show, none behave as repression theory predicts. In contrast, scientific research reveals that people remember, rather than repress, traumatic events.

"Is That So?" At this point, the reader might rightfully wonder, "Are you saying there is no such thing as repression?" Actually, no. I'm only saying there is no scientific evidence of its existence. That's an important distinction. To date, the evidence for repression is based on stories that have not been verified by science or law enforcement.

RMT proponents suggest there is a psychological defense mechanism that takes traumatic experiences and pushes them into a hidden part of the brain or body and then years later releases preserved memories into the conscious mind.

It's an interesting theory, but there's no empirical or scientific evidence to back it up. In fact, the evidence we do have is to the contrary. I can't maintain that repression never happens; that would be proving the negative, an impossible task. What we do know is that considerable portions of "recovered memories" are in fact false memories, which look and feel intensely real.

The Cast The RMT movement involves three groups: treating therapists, patients and accused families. And RMT counselors tend to be drawn from three social groups: gender feminists, conservative Christians and New Age believers. Interestingly, the practice of RMT is not limited to lesser-educated therapists. A survey of doctoral-level psychologists in the United States and England revealed disturbing results: Seventy-one percent admit to having used recovered memory techniques. Poole, D.A., D.S. Memon and R. Bull, "Psychotherapy and the Recovery of Memories of Childhood Sexual Abuse: U.S. and British Practitioners' Opinions, Practices and Experiences," Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 63 (1995), 426-437.

Research regarding clients in RMT reveals they are typically Caucasian (97 

percent), female (92 percent), young (81 percent are age 20 to 39), middle to upper class (92 percent) and highly educated (59 percent have college degrees as compared to 17 percent in the general population). FMS Foundation, op cit. From a research standpoint, these figures present an interesting anomaly. Verified cases of abuse occur throughout society and are regularly discovered in each socioeconomic class, race and educational level. But recovered memory claims are limited to a white, affluent and well-educated female population.

A national survey showed 90 percent of accused families were middle to upper class when the accusing child was growing up. They reflect stable marriages, with 71 percent of the parents still married and of those, 88 percent having been married more than 30 years. They tend to be very involved in their faith, with 81 percent identifying themselves as active Christians. Interestingly, families who described themselves as Christian were also more likely to be accused of being multigenerational satanists. ibid.

Fifty-one percent of the time the father is the only one accused: The mother is accused of active participation in the abuse 42 percent of the time. Sixty-seven percent of parents have no contact with their accusing child, and 39 percent have lost contact with their grandchildren. Also, 66 percent of the parents have never met their child's treating therapist, and 41 percent of them were served a confrontational letter informing them that they were guilty of child abuse and other crimes. Seventy-one percent of the siblings do not believe the accusing child's reports.

The Journey Begins Typically, patients don't approach therapy with RMT in mind. They contact a counselor because of a particular life problem, such as depression or poor self-esteem. The counselors have established beliefs about the nature of their clients' problems and, with sincere motivations, use a sequence of steps in developing recovered images of abuse in a client.

Patients are given a list of "indicators" of repressed abuse. To date, more than 900 symptoms of repressed memory have been published, yet not a single one has any demonstrated scientific validity. London, R.W., "Therapeutic Treatment of Patients With Repressed Memories," The Independent Practitioner, 15, No. 2 (Spring 1995), 64-67. Technically, they lack discriminate validity, meaning they are ineffective for distinguishing between any of numerous disorders or, for that matter, simply being normal. A small sampling of published symptoms includes headaches, arthritis, preference for privacy in the bathroom, skin irritations, compulsive nose-picking, asthma, allergies, paranoid schizophrenia, driving fast or an avoidance of mirrors.

Symptom lists play a crucial role in generating the belief among patients that something is hidden inside of them. This creates a state referred to as expectancy effect, which can be manipulated through various hypnotic techniques, including:

· Age Regression: A hypnotized client is told a metaphor, such as boarding a train that is going backwards. The imagery moves the person back into younger time periods and events.

· Trance Writing: A hypnotized client is given pen and paper and instructed to allow his or her "inner child" to draw and express hidden memories and feelings.

· Body Massage: A therapist massages places in the body where cells have stored the memory of a particular trauma, releasing it to the brain to be remembered.

· Dream Work: A hypnotized client is guided to re-experience a recent dream to better identify perpetrators and hidden meanings.

· Sodium Amytal: This barbiturate drug, which many clients are told is a truth serum, produces an altered state of deep relaxation. Once administered, the client is asked regression questions by the therapist.

· Spirit Guides: Popular with New Age and Christian counselors, a patient is hypnotized and then instructed to walk on a path. Eventually the patient encounters on the path a very wise person, typically "Jesus," who reveals hidden truths about the past.

Though the techniques go by various names, each involves the same process for creating a deeply relaxed state where clients are vulnerable to suggestion and are able to imagine vividly. Then, in contradiction to what is known about hypnotic trance and dream states, clients are told that these images are flashbacks of real events.

As patients experience more traumatic flashbacks, they begin to decompensate — their personality and ability to function deteriorate dramatically. As decompensation increases, they are told that their psychotic breakdown is proof that what they fantasized is real. They become increasingly vulnerable to suggestions with each hypnotherapy session and isolate themselves from family and friends who do not support these newfound revelations. As patients become alienated, they have only the counselor and group members to turn to, leading to deeper belief and dependency.

Let's Be Honest Christian RMT counselors always confidently inform me that they don't use hypnosis to unlock repressed memories in their clients. They're very aware that hypnosis has a bad reputation within the Christian community. But when I ask how they unlock clients' memories, they invariably ask clients to close their eyes and empty themselves of any distracting thoughts or images. The counselors then pray that the Holy Spirit will come upon the clients and take them back in time to forgotten traumas. With the "Holy Spirit's" help, the clients see horrific truths; the images are true because the "Holy Spirit" blessed the proceedings.

Time for a reality check. This is hypnosis, plain and simple. It involves the same, standard induction that allows a person to move into a relaxed trance. In this highly suggestible, fantasizing state, patients are then able to produce images that have been suggested by therapists, group members or reading material.

Nowhere in God's Word is it even remotely implied that the Holy Spirit can be used as a guide to bring us to repressed Freudian theories. But by relabeling hypnotic trance techniques as "Holy Spirit guidance," Christian counselors have led clients to believe they were not engaging in hypnosis, when in fact they were.

End Results Washington state, which until recently allowed individuals to receive RMT treatment under the Crime Victims Act, commissioned a study on the therapy's effectiveness. Washington State Department of labor and Industries. The preliminary results are given in the FMS Foundation Newsletter, (May 1, 1996). The findings are compelling.

Once patients began RMT:

· Suicide attempts increased by more than 500 percent.

· Average age of the earliest recalled abuse was 7 months.

· Hospitalizations rose almost 300 percent.

· 100 percent were estranged from extended family.

· Self-mutilation increased by more than 800 percent.

· Not a single patient was well after three years of intensive therapy.

· Unemployment increased by more than 700 percent.

· Nearly half became separated or divorced.

Based on the study's findings, Washington discontinued any further payments for RMT treatments. These results are consistent with what I saw my own RMT patients experience while they were hospitalized in a Christian psychiatric setting. The implications are disturbing: RMT is an expensive therapy (four and a half times higher than traditional therapy) where patients get dramatically worse, with no end or recovery in sight.

Current Standing Over the last decade, the practice of RMT has fallen into great disrepute, particularly within the secular counseling community. This has occurred primarily through education and litigation.

In 1991, the False Memory Syndrome Foundation, headquartered in Philadelphia, was formed by professionals, researchers and clinicians from psychiatry, psychology, social work, law and education. The foundation is making great strides in educating the general public, media and courts regarding the dangers of RMT.

Professional organizations have also stepped forward to set professional standards and protect the public. See: American Medical Association, Council on Scientific Affairs, "Scientific Status fo Refreshing Recollection by the Use of Hypnosis," Journal of the American Medical Association, Vol. 253 (April 5, 1985); American Medical Association, House of Delegates. Resolution 504 — Misuse of Hypnosis and Other Techniques of "Memory Enhancement/Creation" (June 1993); Amercian Medical Association, Report of the Council on Scientific Affairs, "Memories of Childhood Abuse." CSA Report, 5-A-94 (June 16, 1994); American Psychiatric Association. Statement on Memories of Sexual Abuse (news release, 1993). In 1994, the American Medical Association stated:

"Few cases in which adults make accusations of childhood sexual abuse based on recovered memories can be proved or disproved and it is not yet known how to distinguish true memories from imagined events in these cases. . . . The AMA considers recovered memories of childhood sexual abuse to be of uncertain authenticity, which should be subject to external verification. The use of recovered memories is fraught with problems of potential misapplication." American Medical Association, Report of the Council on Scientific Affairs, "Memories of Childhood Abuse." CSA Report, 5-A-94 (June 16, 1994).

In 1994, I co-authored the first national survey of retractors — those who had come to understand their recovered memories as false. Amazingly, 63 percent of those retractors were litigating against their former therapists. Nelson, E.L., and P. Simpson, "First Glimpse: An Initial Examination of Subjects Who Have Rejected Their Recovered Visualization as False Memories,"Issues in Child Abuse Accusations, Vol. 6, 3 (1994), 125. In court, RMT was readily demonstrated as malpractice, and by the mid-'90s, juries were awarding millions to retractors and their families.

RMT advocates protested they were victims of a backlash by a society in denial. Meanwhile, thousands of professionals, accused families and retractors were sounding the alarm about a movement that was out of control, harming clients and their families. By the late 1990s, the more popular aspects of RMT had collapsed, and its proponents had packed up and moved on.

But, I am saddened to say, many Christian practitioners of RMT still ply their trade under the auspices of faith-based practice. Instances of actual child abuse are all too real in our society. But in final analysis, the RMT movement is not about child abuse — or satanic rituals, past lives or space aliens, for that matter. It's about human suggestibility.

The paradigm of RMT allowed its believers black-and-white answers and promised unlimited healing. Under closer examination, it failed to meet the tests of science and Scripture and was revealed as a therapeutic deception that has destroyed thousands of lives.