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Recovered memory therapy (RMT) is a term coined by affiliates of the False Memory Syndrome Foundation (FMSF) in the early 1990s, to refer what they described as a range of psychotherapy methods based on recalling memories of abuse that had previously been forgotten by the patient. The term is not listed in DSM-IV or used by any mainstream formal psychotherapy modality. The FSMF, an organization that advocates on behalf of individuals who claim they have been falsely accused of perpetrating child sexual abuse, hypothesized that RMT can result in patients recalling instances of sexual abuse from their childhood that may not have actually occurred. Some studies state that at least 10% of physical and sexual abuse victims forget the abuse. Hopper cites several studies which indicate that some abuse victims will have intervals of complete amnesia for their abuse. Peer reviewed and clinical studies have documented the existence of recovered memory, one list cites 43 legal cases where an individual whose claim to have recovered a repressed memory has been accepted by a court.

History

The term 'recovered memory therapy' was coined between 1992 and 1993 by the False Memory Syndrome Foundation. It has frequently been used by those who believe that recovered, dormant and repressed memories are not reliable, potentially dangerous and very likely to be iatrogenic false memories created by psychotherapists. Many skeptics believe the underlying science of these phenomena is pseudoscientific.

In Australia, the term has been in use among professionals for some years. It is used by a psychotherapists' peak body, ACA, which stated in 2004 that "...'Repressed Memory Therapy' (sometimes known as 'Recovered Memory Therapy), or RMT, has been practised in some quarters by psychologists, psychiatrists, psychotherapists and counsellors..." The term has also appeared in government documents in the states of NSW, Queensland, and Victoria. A variant term, "repressed memory technique", has been used within the legal system in that country.

Best-selling self-help books from the 1980's and 1990's such as The Courage to Heal claimed it was possible to know if one had been sexually abused based on a common set of symptoms demonstrated by survivors of childhood sexual abuse. Critics of The Courage to Heal drew attention to the fact that neither of the authors had relevant qualifications in psychology enabling them to make such assertions. Psychologists say there is no such common set that permits any such inferences or claims regarding diagnostic criteria..

The term RMT has been called a reactionary construct used by activists affiliated with the False Memory Syndrome Foundation as a way to contest the efficacy of the trauma model of psychopathology. An inquiry into the practice by the Australian government found little support for or use of RMT from health professionals; rather the term was created by associations for political use. In October, 2007, Scientific American published an article critical of RMT, which was criticized as erroneous for presenting the idea that there was a coherent method or training for something called 'recovered memory therapy.'

A 1993 article in Time Magazine reported on the developing controversy over RMT, quoting researchers from both sides of the debate, both supporting and criticisizing the idea that memories of childhood trauma such as child sexual abuse can be forgotten and later retrieved. The article reports on legal issues also, indicating that some therapists who assisted patients in supposedly recovering lost memories had been sued for negligence.

In the late 1990s, one feminist writer criticised the activities of organisations such as the False Memory Syndrome Foundation, suggesting it made many therapists reluctant to treat clients with recovered memories. By 2007, most psychological and psychiatric professional bodies had issued guidelines that outlining a lack of scientific evidence for the concept of repressed memory, usually coupled with a caution against leading or 'persuasive' questioning designed to produce evidence of forgotten abuse.

Research on recovered memories

The term used in mainstream psychological and medical circles to describe memories forgotten due to psychological rather than neurological causes is psychogenic amnesia. The reality of repressed memories, as defined and used by therapists involved in repressed memory therapy, is extremely controversial. and the evidence for individuals partially or completely forgetting a traumatic event varies by source. It has been proposed that false memories can be iatrogenically created through certain techniques on suggestible clients, though this itself has not been proven and is also controversial.

Some patients later retract memories they had previously believed to be recovered. Whilst false or contrived memories are possible reasons for such retractions, other explanations suggested for the retraction of allegations of abuse made by children and adults include guilt, a feeling of obligation to protect their family and a reaction to familial stress rather than a genuine belief that their memories are false. The number of retractions is reported to be small compared to the actual number of child sexual abuse allegations made based on recovered memories.

One study states that recovered memories are unconnected to psychotherapeutic treatment and that memories are often corroborated by independent evidence, often appearing while home or with family and friends, with suggestion being generally denied as a factor in recovering memories.Very few participants were in therapy during their first memory recovery and a majority of participants in this study found strong corroboration of their recovered memories.

Critics

In 1998, the UK Royal College of Psychiatrists advised psychiatrists to avoid use of RMT or any "memory recovery techniques", stating that they had not found evidence supporting the accuracy of memories recovered by those techniques. In 2004, the government of the Netherlands issued a report in response to inquiries from professionals regarding "therapies involving recovered memories of traumatic childhood experiences, especially of sexual abuse". The report stated that "forgetting and recovering are normal occurrences" and that psychotherapy can stimulate "reinterpretation" of memories, resulting in changes in significant relationships, with both positive and negative repercussions. The report recommended that due the risk of creating false memories, "influencing memories by suggestion must be avoided", and called for professionals to review the research and create safe guidelines for practice. The Australian Hypnotherapists' Association issued a similar statement, acknowledging that "some recovered memories of Child Sexual Abuse are recollections of historical events", while also recommending that its members avoid forms of therapy that use suggestive methods of "probing" that could result in "illusory memories" and to avoid "imposing their own conclusions about what took place in childhood."

Other organizations that have issued guidelines or warnings include The American Academy of Psychiatry, The Australian Counselling Associatiion, the Canadian Psychological Association, and many others .

A review article on Potentially Harmful Therapies (Lilienfeld 2007) listed RMT among "treatments that probably produce harm in some individuals." FSMF advisory board member Richard Ofshe wrote that the practice of "recovering" memories is fraudulent and dangerous.

A study by Elizabeth Loftus concluded that it is possible to produce false memories of various childhood incidents in test subjects. This is viewed as further evidence that comprehensive false memories can be produced in therapy. A critique of the study by Lynn Crook argued that the results should not be extrapolated onto memories of sexual abuse, and that several alleged problems in the study indicate that it may not have undergone a rigorous peer review. Loftus's study did not specifically show that false memories of satanic ritual abuse can be produced in therapy. Also, it has been suggested that psychotherapy is not usually connected with memory recovery.

Even when patients who have had therapy to recover 'memories' come to decide that their memories are in fact false (and so retract their claims), they can still suffer a kind of post traumatic stress. This is due to what some therapists call "brain stain". The article "Brain stains" has been called a "onesided, misleading and unscientific account" of the dissociative disorders.

Legal issues

Discussing RMT in parliament in 1995, an Australian state Minister for Health, Dr Andrew Refshauge – a former medical practitioner – stated that the general issue of admissibility of evidence based on recovered memories was one for the Attorney General. In 2004 Australian Couselling Association issued a draft position statement regarding recovered memories in which they informed their membership of possible legal difficulties if they affirm accusations as true based solely upon discussion of a patient's recovered memories without adequate corroborating evidence.

It should be noted however that since that time, the law has subsequently evolved, and has to some extent been shaped, by the controversy over recovered memories. So in recent years, sometimes recovered memories may or may not be presented as evidence, depending on the court. . In some jurisdictions, specific guidelines have been put in place. For example, a New Hampshire state law, known as the Hungerford Law, places strict limitations on the way repressed and recovered memories are admitted in court; in some cases preventing it altogether.

Legal systems in the USA and United Kingdom have had to deal with a number of cases involving both recovered memories and RMT and have encountered many of the issues raised when therapists have used such so-called 'memory retrieval' techniques.

A degree of controversy does remain within legal circles, with some holding the view that therapists and courts should consider repressed memories the same as they consider regular memories. Three relevant studies state that repressed memories are "no more and no less accurate than continuous memories."

Recovered memory therapy was an issue in the criminal trials of some Catholic priests accused of fondling or sexually assaulting juvenile-turned-adult parishioners. RMT was used as an argument in a legal case in the UK to challenge accusations of abuse.

Several court cases awarded multi-million dollar verdicts against Minnesota psychiatrist Diane Bay Humenansky, who used hypnosis and other suggestive techniques associated with RMT, resulting in accusations by several patients against family members, that were later found to be false.

In the UK, a woman who had falsely accused her father of rape successfully sued the hospital and psychologist who had treated her with what she described as a form of RMT, and was awarded a large court settlement.

See also

• Amnesia
• Child abuse
• Incest
• Rape
• Statutory Rape
• Sexual assault
• Memory
• Emotion and memory
• False memory
• Repressed memory
• Memory inhibition
• Psychological trauma
• Post-traumatic stress disorder
• Complex post-traumatic stress disorder
• Dissociative identity disorder
• Psychology
• Psychotherapy
• Psychiatry
• Recovery model
• Self-help groups for mental health
• The Courage to Heal
• Freud's seduction theory

References

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11. ACA Newsletter Spring 2004 Draft position statement on RMT page 109
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16. Gibbs, Andrew (1997). "The reality of recovered memories" (pdf). The Skeptic. 17 (2): 21–29.
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22. *Jaroff, Leon and Mcdowell, Jeanne. “Lies of the Mind.” TIME Magazine, p.52. November 29, 1993.
23. False Memory Syndrome: A False Construct by Juliette Cutler Page
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40. BBC News 1998 : Coverage of Brandon Report
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45. Elizabeth F. Loftus and Deborah Davis, Recovered Memories, Annual Review of Clinical Psychology 2 (2006): 469-98.
46. Crook, L. (1999). "Lost in a Shopping Mall--A Breach of Professional Ethics". Ethics & Behavior. 9 (1): 39–50. Retrieved 2008-01-18.
47. Brown, Scheflin and Hammond (1998). Memory, Trauma Treatment, And the Law (W. W. Norton) ISBN 0-393-70254-5
48. Kelly Lambert and Scott O. Lilienfeld, , 'Brain Stains: Traumatic therapies can have long-lasting effects on mental health' Scientific American Mind, Oct 2007.
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52. "Attacking the Invisible: Tools for preventing the admission of 'recovered memory' evidence at trial" by Paige A. Nichols
53. Repressed memories rejected By Liz Chretien, April, 2005
54. Description of RMT in court proceedings in the UK, 2004
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58. JAMES McGREGOR FAIRLIE vs PERTH & KINROSS HEALTHCARE NHS TRUST (Outer House, Court of Sessions, UK 2004-07-08), Text.
59. Associated Press, Doctor Loses False-memory Suit, Chicago Tribune, Wed. Aug. 2, 1995, Sec. 1, pg. 12.
60. Gustafson, Paul. Jury awards patient $2.6 million: Verdict finds therapist Humenansky liable in repressed memory trial. Minneapolis St. Paul Tribune, August 1, 1995.
61. Pam Belluck (November 6, 1997). "Memory Therapy Leads to a Lawsuit and Big Settlement". The New York Times. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |accessmonthday= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
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63. Description of RMT in court proceedings in the UK, 2004
64. £20,000 payout for woman who falsely accused her father of rape after 'recovered memory' therapy Daily Mail UK 2007

Further reading

• Freyd, Jennifer J. (1996). Betrayal Trauma - The Logic of Forgetting Childhood Abuse. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-674-06805-x. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)
• Ofshe, Richard and Watters, Ethan. "Making Monsters: False Memories, Psychotherapy, And Sexual Hysteria". University of California Press; Reprint edition, 1996.
• Loftus, Elizabeth and Ketcham, Katherine. "The Myth of Repressed Memory: False Memories and Allegations of Sexual Abuse". St. Martin's Griffin, 1st St. Martin's Griffin ed edition, 1996.
• Lilienfeld, Scott. "Psychological treatments that cause harm." Perspectives on Psychological Science, Volume 2(1), pp. 53-70, 2007.
• Knopp, Fay Honey (1996). A Primer on the Complexities of Traumatic Memory of Childhood Sexual Abuse - A Psychobiological Approach. Brandon, VT: Safer Society Press. ISBN 1-884444-20-2.
• Pope, Kenneth S. (1996). "Memory, Abuse, & Science: Questioning Claims about the False Memory Syndrome Epidemic". American Psychologist. 51 (9): 957–974. Retrieved 2007-12-28.

External links

• Answers to questions about recovered memory by the American Psychological Association
• Recovered/repressed memories entry on Skeptic’s Dictionary
• Summary/history of recovered memory debate
• False Memory Syndrome Foundation
• UK False Memory Syndrome Website
• The Recovered Memory Project

• Misplaced Pages neutral point of view disputes from February 2008
• Memory
• Therapy
• Hypnosis