If your life shows the symptoms and you don't remember it, you were still abused. - Ellen Bass_______________
In America, a psychological war was fought in the 90's and into the 21st century for the souls of women everywhere. It began when pop psyche author, Ellen Bass, invented a non-fiction book entitled, THE COURAGE TO HEAL, a masterpiece of deception and pseudo-science that was immediately and uncritically praised to the skies by second wave feminists everywhere. Talk show appearances, testimonials by weeping women, and the acid tongue of leading second wavers left no doubt that tens of thousands of women in America had been secretly raped by their fathers, and that these rapes took place when they were only toddlers. As long ago as 2001, the Council Against Health Fraud summed it up quite well:
According to proponents of "repressed memory therapy" (RMT), numerous mental health problems in adults are due to subconscious damage from repressed memories of sexual or Satanic ritual abuse experienced in childhood. RMT practitioners claim to be able to help their clients recover memories of trauma and heal. Many mislead their clients into believing they have multiple personality disorder (MPD) and into accusing family members of abuse. The consequences have included divorces, family feuds, loss of employment (as charges have become public), lawsuits, and criminal convictions.
And from one of the many Ellen Bass survivors, Olivia McKillop, in the book Victims of Memory:
I gobbled up The Courage to Heal—just read it, read it, read it, particularly the stories by Survivors at the back of the book, like "Michelle and Artemis" and "Gizelle." They were so awful. The phrase kept coming back, "If your life shows the symptoms and you don't remember it, you we re still abused." I just lived with that phrase .... By the time I went for my next appointment, I was an Incest Survivor, and there was no turning back.
For those of you who recall the hysteria and torrent of accusations against shocked families and fathers that flooded our country like a toxic spill, you will also recall that whoever dared to speak out against the pseudo-science and fraud of RMT was instantly condemned (like those in the 17th century who refused to believe in witchcraft), and none more so than Elizabeth Loftus who wrote the book, The Myth of Repressed Memory: False Memories and Allegations of Sexual Abuse.
And where is Ellen Bass, the repressed-memory perpetrator and feminist celebrity who brought so much anguish, suicide, jail time, and destruction to so many? Like an ex-Nazi living another life in America, Bass has invented a new identity for herself. She is now a poet. No kidding! She is loved by her students, has won various prizes for her poetry, and now teaches peacefully at Pacific University in California.
Only in America?
Should I ask Vincent Bugliosi to prosecute her for murder, along with George Bush? ... I guess I have to admit, if I were going to have a hate list, she would be right under Bush. Why? Because her hateful writing attacked me in a personal way, and caused the death of a friend's father--falsely accused by a daughter who had become a devoted and deluded disciple.
To get the latest on the war and the efforts of real reasearchers to tell the truth, I strongly suggest a stop by the False Memory Syndrome Foundation ... Subscribe to their newsletter while you are at it. If you are contemplating a trip to a therapist, please familiarize yourself with the material, read the studies.
Please. And here are two new books that effectively debunk "The Courage to Heal" and repressed memory therapy and its mob of followers and disciples:
-Return of the Furies: An Investigation Into Recovered Memory Therapy (Paperback)
-Lost Daughters: Recovered Memory Therapy and the People It Hurts
And if you are still a victim of the poet Ellen Bass, my advice is that you find the courage to heal. It's not your fault. You were duped.
And if you are no longer a victim, please write the Pacific University in California, by email or otherwise, and freely express your views.
By the way, here is the poet in question, reading some of her awful work:
My life was ruined by a therapist who told me I was obese because my father raped me when I was too young to remember. It was all a lie, and The Courage to Heal was recommended to me by that same therapist as therapeutic.
ReplyDeleteBass took a wide range of "symptoms" and defined them all as "evidence" of abuse. As any real psychologist knows, such a broad range of behavior can manifest for a variety of reasons. Therefore, even IF repressed memory were factual, the proponents of it like Bass and others come off as overly simplistic and stove-piped with their diagnoses. Like the other commenter here says--you are obese, therefore you were abused.
ReplyDeleteIt's not only bad science but violates the rules of logic.
I am a real survivor of sibling sexual abuse.
ReplyDeleteBefore you sarcastically say “Oh, sure you are”, you are not the first to doubt my claim. And this is why I question the helpfulness of the Courage to Heal books.
It seems like the Courage to Heal book not only created a group of people claiming to suffer from repressed memory syndrome but it also created, in the aftermath of the false memories syndrome, doubt in therapist and the community about the accuracy of those claiming to be true childhood sexual abuse victims. True childhood sexual abuse victims may not be taken seriously. When they are taken seriously, then the structure of the therapy is based on “Courage to Heal” (which is also unhelpful). When I seek mental help, I have found that I frequently need to provide collaborated evidence about the sad events of from my childhood if I am to be taken seriously.
I have found the book to be very big and cumbersome to read. The book spends way too much time focused on discovering if you were sexual abused and who the perpetrators are. It makes you question every little incident that you can and (in most cases) can’t remember. This was not what I needed since I already knew I was sexually abused and by who. I needed real practical help to a real trauma and on going family relationship problems and this is limitedly provided in the “Courage to Heal”.
But I fumbled through the book because that is what my therapist recommended. There are a few helpful passages in the book but I had to have them pointed out to me by someone else.
The book did one thing to me that I regret. After reading the first few chapters, I felt more paranoid and was not sure who I could trust. One therapist had me exam if my parents abused me. Her logic was since my brothers abused me then surely my parents must have sexually abused me and my brothers. Granted my parents failed to pay attention and gave too much power to my older brothers but they did not sexually abuse me or my brothers. At that point, I had severed my ties with my parents for about 2 years. Severing those ties was extremely painful and only made me more vulnerable to domestic violence by my x-husband. I reunited with my parents (that was about 14 years ago) and have brief limited contact with my brothers but I am not completely cut off from my family anymore.
One thing that helped me the most is reading various research summaries and articles. Within that research, I was able to get a better understanding of what happened and the impact. This is much more than what I got from the Courage to Heal. Of course, Courage to Heal is not based on research.
Thanks so much for sharing, Sossa.
ReplyDeleteHistory writes the words that damn. The words change through time and culture, and for a time enlightenment overshines a damning word. But then another is spied lurking in the shadows of fear and ignorance. To have such a word sewn on your life like a scarlet letter is to lose friends, family, your job, your career, your freedom, and even your life.
ReplyDeleteThe word in 1692 Massachusetts was "witch." In early 1950s America, the word was "Communist." In early 21st century America, the word is "pedophile." Have you ever had a problem with someone who listens to birds/speaks Russian/is over the age of 18? Then you might be an unknowing victim. Have you been close to someone who listens to birds/speaks Russian/is under the age of 18? Then you are quite possibly a perpetrator.
It doesn't matter if the methodology that points to you as a victim/perpetrator is based on faith or myth or incompetent journalism or pseudoscience. What matters is that people can point to you as the bad guy, and point to themselves as the helpless victim.
It's like being a fourth grader who sees another fourth grader made fun of because of her skin color/hair color/clothes/shoes/waist size. You might think it's silly, or even mean and unfair. But it doesn't matter if it's logical or right to be cruel to her. What matters is that if you join the group who pushes her away, then you're pulled into the group. And there's safety in numbers. Especially from those outsiders who wear the damning word.
Hello, I've just happened by. With all due respect, I just googled Ellen Bass + poet, and her website quite openly shows her poetry and her Courage to Heal stuff. She co-edited a mainstream feminist poetry anthology in 1973, so she has clearly been a poet all along: there's been no re-invention!
ReplyDeleteThis blog post is such a rant that you run the risk of running a little "witch-hunt" of your own, especially since you have no hook, no news, nothing to add. The woman published what she published, sparked a trend that did a lot of damage, and now teaches writing in California.
Your Nazi remark is libellous and I'm sure she could sue you for it, at least here in England.
Her poetry, by the way, what I read of it on her site, is beyond terrible.
Ms. B,
ReplyDeleteAs far as I am concerned, Ellen Bass should be tried for murder. The fact that England would punish me for my views says more about England than about me.
But thanks to you, I will correct myself. Ellen Bass reinvented herself not as a poet, but as a really bad poet with a solid academic reputation.
Liz
Her name is Katy Evans-Bush and she's ranting about you over at Able Muse ( http://www.ablemuse.com/erato/ubbhtml/Forum9/HTML/003101.html ).
ReplyDeleteShe won't stick to facts of any kind or debate anything you've said, just keeps slamming you. Perhaps you've trampled on her recovered memory flowers. She's got an ax to grind, that's obvious, and she imagines you a victim of English justice for the opinions you've expressed.
If you would please do some actual scientific research on repressed memory, you would see that it is a viable and documented psychological phenomena.
ReplyDeletesee this link for an in depth, scientific and rational look at the issue of repressed memory
http://www.jimhopper.com/memory/#jpl
thank You
Connie
Connie,
ReplyDeleteI have done the real research, and it all debunks RMT. Even logic debunks RMT. The MO of pedophiles debunks RMT. Studies with concentration camp victims and other victims of intense trauma debunk RMT, and on and on.
As you point out though, RMT is known by its supporters as "viable and documented" and that reminds me of all those alien abductees who furiously believe the psycho-support for their own "memories" to be viable and documented.
Anyone for Intelligent Design?
LB
As a husband who watched his wife work through the healing from repressed childhood abuse, I find your rant a misplaced regurgitation of the bunk that has been perpetuated by the various groups that sprung up to warn us of the 'evil' therapists. The statistcs on childhood sexual abuse are staggering, most of which are not repressed memories. That some portion of these would suffer with PTSD symptoms and choose to bury their memories as a means of daily survival should not be a surprise to the rest of us. For the record, my wife began remembering her abuse before reading any books or talking to any therapists on the subject. She had merely reached a point in her life where she felt safe for the first time, and these memories began to flood. She thought she was going crazy. When she decided to seek therapy, one of the many resources that she used was the Courage to Heal. Not only did the book help her understand that she was not crazy and not alone, but it provided positive ways to reclaim her life. As a husband of a woman who seemed to be slipping over the edge for a time, it helped me to read and understand the symptoms she was experiencing. And before you dismiss her as delusional, I would like to add that her memories were corrobarated by an aunt - the only member of the family that didn't go into denial. Her father had alreay passed away when she began to remember, but even then most people would have preffered the truth remain buried.
ReplyDeleteYour rant on Ellen Bass and her work is wrong and hurtful to the many women helped by the Courage to Heal. The subject of childhood sexual abuse is painful for everyone involved - victim, perpetrator, and family. But ignoring the facts allows it to continue. I do not know the circumstances that brought you to write with so much anger towards Ms. Bass, but I honestly think you should consider some therapy yourself. And as for her poetry - I have been fortunate to hear her read, and I find it honest and insightful. But that is just art, and very subjective. On that we can always disagree.
I know the statistics on childhood abuse. Go to the HHS website and read "Childhood Abuse Neglect and Fatalities" report done every four years or so. The vast majority of the abuse is accomplished by mothers or mothers with their boyfriends, not by fathers. Surprise.
ReplyDeleteI hear what you are saying, but it changes nothing. Your wife believes she was a victim of abuse by her father. Fine. But that fact alone doesn't make RMT reality for thousands of others and it doesn't give RMT a scientific or logical basis.
Those who have completed RMT and believe in it have no choice, (for the most part) but to doggedly defend it and angrily attack anyone who does not. Evangelicals react the same way when you argue for evolution over faith.
Thank you for your opinion, but you are not going to change mine. I've seen lives destroyed by this person. Your anger and disbelief change nothing.
btw, Ellen Bass was NOT an expert or trained in the science of psychology. Did you know that?
LB
Ms. Brody,
ReplyDeleteObviously you are willing to negate the collective scientific research of several major universities in order to support your own magical belief system.
Also, not willing to post any more of my comments because you can't back up your research with any verifiable science.
Your ignorance on the subject is telling. Loftus's theories have been disproven by every major study after the inital "hype".
You are a lawyer. Not a psychistrist. Listen to the truth of the science. It will piss you off
Connie
Repressed Memory is a very common issue among veterans coming home from the various wars. Are you going to attempt to attack those who fight for your freedom to say things such as this? Repressed memories occur when your brain is simply unable to deal with the amount of trauma in ones life. The memories come back when the person is able to feel safe again and in a place in life where they are safe enough to tell what they were victims of. You would never fault somebody for blocking a murder out of their memory however you so willingly attack those who were raped.
ReplyDeleteThe same issues are displayed in people who have had to deal with watching their best friends head shot off by an enemy as those who were raped, molested or otherwise abused by a family member etc. I find it interesting that you are so willing to attack those who have been raped etc and yet fail to attack those who have the same issues.
Look at the real science coming from places such as Harvard, Stanford, Brown, Yale regarding this- Are you going to deny that they are fully against everything that you are saying in this article?
It feels almost as though you have personal stake in this- Was Ellen Bass somehow personally offensive to you, you do practically call her nazi.
Prehaps you or a close family has been accused?
I do not believe that you are a trained psychologist
Maybe you dont want to face that truth because that truth will piss you off to much?
I got much of my information via a widely accepted text book co-written by Dr. Zimbardo. Dr. Zimbardo is quite hooked up with Dr. Loftus, who is generally considered to have brought the general idea of "repressed memories"to much of the public idea.
While I am fully aware of the fact that some people may make up their abuse it does not negate the fact that many others who were are affected by your rant. By using those few therapists who did try and push memories on people as true examples you negate the entire community of survivors who this affected. Harming many while defending a few is not the greatest ideal.
Truth may piss you off but when Karma comes back around it will piss you even more.
To Anonymous:
ReplyDeleteYou have a lot of bitterness and rage in you, and like Connie, you are really trying to convince yourself, not me.
Rather than rant at me, please supply links to studies to prove your contentions that current Iraq vets are memory-repressing in the context we are discussing here.
In the context we are discussing here--between the barbs and insults of RMT victims who are posting here and attacking the messenger because they have too much at stake to do otherwise (rather like Evangelicals who must refute evolution or give up their religion)--RMT and theory generally allege that "trauma" suffered in early childhood will manifest itself in adulthood as a variety of "symptoms" (including obesity) that can be used to help diagnose the source of the trauma (usually pointing to the father--what a convenient surprise in this second-wave feminist age!). According to psychiatric dogma, the "recalling" of the "memory" will assist in "healing".
If you or Connie are going to defend RMT on a reality basis, you are going to have to refute all the data and studies that refute psychiatric method, and that refuted that method even before RMT became all the rage as a result of Ellen Bass and resulted in the imprisonment of uncounted numbers of fathers and the destruction of uncounted numbers of families.
Go to Amazon and BUY "The Death Of Psychotherapy - From Freud to Alien Abduction"
The entire basis of trauma going into hiding and manifesting later like symptoms of a disease, is based on a 19th century misconception of the human body.
Go back to the basics of psychiatric practice and you'll find a lot of voodoo. Are you even aware that this same voodoo accused uncounted thousands of mothers over the past century of making their sons homosexual?
Besides that, even IF IF IF you and Connie are correct about RMT, you still have flaws and rash assumptions to deal with, e.g., why does the trauma have to be "sexual" and point to the father most of the time? Trauma in the form of pain or whatever can be induced in a variety of ways. Are there lots of cases wherein RMT patients recover memories of mothers putting out cigarettes on their skin or pouring boiling water on their leg? You tell me. Let's learn together.
Also, IF you read, e.g., any recent study or poll or just about anything about obesity in women and men, and its various causes, you will NEVER see childhood repressed trauma cited as a reason. Why? Because it isn't taken seriously by professionals in the business! America's obesity has increase, what? 18% since the 1980's?
You are the one sounding angry- what with calling people Nazi's.
ReplyDeleteI am stating my opinion on this issue and guess what- Thats allowed! ( OMG NO WAY)
You have not looked at the link Connie sent you, it is clear by your continued arguments.
Obviously it is pointless to argue with somebody who is so bound in to their point of view that they lose whatever ability they had for critical thinkning
Im not fully sure as to why everybody here is so upset and angry but these are the facts:
ReplyDelete1- people do get abused sexually, physically and mentally. Typically though ( I think it was 85% las time I checked) it is the men who are the abusers. So Im not sure why it is a point of anger that somebody refrenced a "he"
2- Yeah some people do lie about beieng abused but I doubt that anybody can argue that a few people telling lies negates fact number 1
3-If people are lying about it or are easily convinced by a therapist that they have something in their past that is causing all these issues. isnt it possible that they have another mental issue going on ?
I mean look at the reprocussions of accusing your father, brother, mother sister etc...look at the amount of family discord caused by that.
Im not on either side of this argument. I am just wondering why the original poster is so vested in being right and wont listen to any other view point, or at least that is how the writing style comes off to me.
Maybe the others have been personally affected and thats why they are so vehement about this subject.
But the Original poster of the blog doesnt seem to make a statement of what exactly brought any of this up.
Im not on a side but I think that there are some huge gaps in information here.
I find myself identifying more with what Connie and annoymus wrote. Logically, it just seems more truthfull- if thats a word :)
ReplyDeleteJust my opinion.
http://books.google.com/books?id=hmcDl6l8uXwC
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of science. The above book methodically, irrevocably, and absolutely debunks psychotherapeutic thought, techniques, and all else that Ellen Bass and the RMT bunch hold dear.
If you are not afraid, read it and please report back on your findings.
The "tools" used to uncover the memory of alleged abuse are invalid, e.g., dream analysis is utter nonsense. There is not a single dream study outside the umbrella of psychotherapy that has ever supported it.
Some of you neutrals might not see harm in RMT, but that is only because you don't understand the damage it does.
We still live in a witch-burning era and recovered memories are the new spectral evidence.
And to answer the 85% men thing--the majority of convicted pedophiles are men, yes, but the majority of child abusers are mothers. Again, order a copy of CHILDHOOD ABUSE AND NEGLECT FATALITIES from HHS.
I am a little confused as to how one person who wrote one book from their own view point can be responsible for the misapplication and bandwagoning of an entire field. What ever happened to critical thinking, to professional responsibility? Ms. Bass may or may not have been correct, but unless she went out of her way to set up a clinic and went out recruiting victims...how is she responsible for how the theory that she espoused in her book has been applied?
ReplyDeleteMs. Brody, I can understand how you would be upset with the devastation that blind faith in a theory has caused, but the fault lies with those who applied it without further research. I do not think it applies to Ellen Bass. How does her writing the book absolve any professional in the psychiatric field from running amok? The blame rests on those who misapplied a theory and misdiagnosed their patients.
That being said, I also want to say that you have not proven that repressed memories themselves are not valid. You have shown that it can be misdiagnosed and that when done so reaps dangerous and hurtful results. This alone does not prove repressed memories to be absolutely false in all cases. It does show however that this field needs to be handled with much more care and wisdom than what was done in the past.
Well, I did as you suggested. I read The Death of Psychotherapy. Actually I read the chapter that deals specifically with RMT.
ReplyDeleteThe most I came away with is that there is doubt that all repressed memories are true.
"The memories may or may not be true. The therapists may or may not have found the source of psychopathology. As the next decade may prove, much of the work of these therapists borders on the search for fictional causes." (pg 86)
The author also quotes Recovered Memories of Abuse by Pope and Brown as being one of the first books that is research oriented. The quote is "In light of the current state of scientific data and knowledge, each report of recovered memory of abuse must be carefully and fairly evaluated on an individual basis." (pg 70)
While the book does call into question the frenzy that developed in the early years of RMT and does document some of the abuses by ill informed and overzealous therapists; it in no way makes an absolute pronouncement as to the validity of repressed memories in general. For the most part we are left to visit each case on its own merit and wait and see what the years bring.
The purpose of the book isn't to debunk RMT but to demonstrate that the foundation and methods to arrive at such conclusions are seriously flawed.
ReplyDeleteRMT is just one example.
Why don't you read the whole thing and let us know what you find?
TO CONNIE:
ReplyDeleteYou are not making any new points but simply trying to flood the comment section with personal attacks. That is why I am not allowing your posts.
RMT types almost always react the same way, again, just like Evangelicals forced to defend their faith. I see no difference; and the illogic is also the same.
If Jennifer self-mutilates or gets panic attacks or eats too much till she almost explodes with fat, it MUST be because she was abused by daddy at age two, yes, because that is what her therapist tells her.
It all makes perfect sense.
OMG.
So are you trying to say that people are randomly self-mutilating, and having panic attacks for no reason?
ReplyDeleteThat seems to be rather illogical to me
No, but it is illogical for anyone to attempt to intelligently comment on this thread without reading what came before.
ReplyDeleteTherefore, please go back and read and that should answer your question.
TO CONNIE:
Please stop filling the blog inbox with your ravings and child-like commentary.
Despite claims to the contrary by RMT victims posting here, I have reviewed Connie's so-called scientific proof of RMT.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, there in an inherent bias established by the fact that the "studies" are related or affiliated with the world of psychiatry (otherwise they would't be on this web page!). This is like asking the Intelligent Design "scientists" to provide studies validating their own prior conclusions.
If you wade through the pseudo-science babble on the web page, and if you have the intelligence to be discriminating, you will notice inherent flaws in the reasoning. Also, the
Sorry I was interrupted ... as follows from the "scientific" web page on RMT. This is one example:
ReplyDelete"A literature review revealed four clusters of symptoms underlying the syndrome regarding victims' belief in their memories of abuse and their identity as survivors, their current interpersonal relationships, their trauma symptoms across the lifespan, and the characteristics of their therapy experiences. The validity of these clusters was examined using data from a community sample of 113 women who identified themselves as survivors of girlhood sexual abuse. Examining the discriminant validity of these criteria revealed that participants who had recovered memories of their abuse (n = 51), and who could therefore potentially have FMS, generally did not differ from participants with continuous memories (n = 49) on indicators of these criteria."
Upon cursory examination, potential issues become evident even without examining the fine details. First, the "study" notes that half the 113 subjects had NO repressed memory of the abuse, and further, that those who could NOT forget the abuse "did not differ" from those who claimed the memories were "recovered." But how is this possible? If both groups experienced and suffered in a very similar fashion, as the study purports to show, then how to explain why one half needed therapy to "recover" the memory of abuse while the other half could not forget the abuse?
To those who do not accept RMT at face value, the answer is obvious. The half who recovered the memories in fact produced only pseudo-memories that were coaxed and manipulated into being by their therapist and their own need to produce such "memories" for purposes of healing, revenge, or whatever.
Second, what assurance there was not bias in the questions and interviews that created a resemblance between the two groups? Again, if the authors of the study are proponents of psychiatry they will introduce bias. They might, for example, only ask questions that will produce a connection and avoid those that do not. A example of this might be length and/or type of abuse. That does not appear to be a factor, and yet, it seems that would create interesting comparisons.
Third, and most importantly, perhaps the tone of the work is too pro-RMT from the start, i.e., non-objective, biased, and making the assumption RMT is valid as opposed to beginning each study without bias or assumption.
All in all, the studies need to be printed and read and examined in their entirety.
Thanks to Connie for bringing this to light, but the so-called science utilized by the Freudian types here is poor and fraught with biases, and thus, not able to be taken seriously.
I actually came across your blog yesterday while looking around on Web Del Sol. (I am an appreciator of poetry)
ReplyDeleteI was pretty surprised to see something like this on a literary web site. But that being said, I wanted to take some time to share my experiences and then thoughts about your blog. My sister and I were both sexually abused by my father for many years. I have never forgotten the details however my sister, who was in the same room, has forgotten everything. I was often in the same room and at times was made to watch what my father did to her. Yet to this day, she suffers from many psychiatrics symptoms, but does not remember the details of the abuse. I suffer with what happened to me, in my own way, but it tells me people do respond differently to trauma, and repressed memory can happen. I have never had a therapist tell me what did or did not happen to me. Nor has my sister (she is younger). Considering everything I’ve read , I do think it gives some credence to the fact that some people DO repress traumatic memories and some do not. I am actually an undergraduate student at Michigan University and am enrolled in a scientific methods and theory class. I have read your blog from the start of your thread on July 30th , and when considering the applied and scientific methods I have learned about (I am on my third advanced level class) , I don’t really believe you prove your case against RMT. Actually if you google RMT, (as I did just for preliminary review) – Wikipedia has an interesting view on the False Memory Foundation (which I understand to be tied to the RMT debate). Even Wikipedia casts doubt on the organizations who claim there are such thing as “false memories”. It seems as though “false memory” is a made up term from this “False Memory Foundation” and that there is no such thing as “false memory syndrome”. From strictly a scientific point of view, you actually have not proven your case by any means. I reviewed all of the information on your link and feel that you have not taken seriously anyone who opposes your view. If you are going to be fair, I feel you at the very least need to consider the views proposed by others without so much bias on your part. I think a more balanced view may help everyone involved.
Kelly S.
I'm glad you wrote, and I'm grateful for the other pro-RMT posts because as a whole they are demonstrating all the emotion and spurious argument, denial and faulty thinking that goes into supporting RMT and the vicious witch-hunting that goes along with it.
ReplyDeleteLet's recap.
1. I'm not balanced or fair because I don't accept the viewpoints of pro RMT people who have posted on this blog. Well, I don't accept the viewpoints of racists, xenophobes, schizophrenics, and lots of other peeps. I guess I'll just have to remain unfair.
2. Even Wikipedia is against me. Oh, God, I'm caving now! You are right. It appears overcome by psychiatrists.
3. There is no such thing as False Memory Syndrome because the undergrad at Michigan enrolled in science class says there isn't. Ok. I'll write the FMF and let them know. You must be implying that all "recovered memories" are absolutely real and can never be false.
4. My opinion can't be taken seriously or be considered since I have not used the blog to scientifically prove the non-existence of RMT. But those who believe in it don't have to prove it does exist to post opinions to the contrary.
TO ALL:
Some of you, in your effort to prove traumatic things can cause amnesia (which is sometimes true), believe you are proving the case for RMT. But you are NOT. Why? Because the RMT equation, like all Freudian-based germ, dictates that the trauma goes into hiding and manifests many years or even decades later in a wide variety of symptoms--ALL, ALL of which have alternative explanations, btw.
Let's use LOGIC. Given the existence of alternative explanations for all so-called repressed abuse symptoms (depression, obesity, anxiety, etc), alternative explanations would or should be ruled out before the therapist embarks on a course that will result in accusations against family members.
BUT THAT DOES NOT HAPPEN! Why? Wouldn't it make sense? Best case scenario, it does not happen because the therapist who practices RMT is often not schooled or learned in other psychological theory and studies and practice that clearly demonstrate and prove alternative explanations. Worst case, the therapist doesn't care and is working out his or her own sickness on their victim of the moment.
Ellen Bass, who had no psychology background, told tens of thousands of women that if they "think" they were abused and they have the "symptoms" then they were abused. Let the witch hunt begin! A bias was introduced for everyone ever influenced directly or indirectly by that book, i.e. they go into therapy wanting to believe, wanting to "recover." And the therapists who practice RMT are all too willing to oblige, of course! The guilty family member must be found and the money is good. $200.00 per hour and more for dozens of sessions needed to recover the memory, etc.?
Another thing. As any attorney will tell you, witnesses can be unreliable, sometimes in the best circumstances. With RMT you are asking someone to be an accurate witness to a crime that happened when they were often toddlers, and you are assuming the tools of psychiatric method (hypnosis, dream interp, etc) are valid and infallible in assisting the clear recollection of this so-called memory. You are also assuming the therapist is intelligent, honest, and has your best interest at heart. You are assuming he or she knows for certain that your problems have no other alternative explanations.
Lots of leaps of faith for you RMT gals.
btw, the alien abductees are just as rabid and convinced of their recovered memory correctness as you are.
The FINAL WORD from the American Psychological Association. They soft-peddle here the fact their members don't accept RMT as valid, but if you speak to any clinical psychologist or researcher in the field they will tell you that it is generally accepted that RMT is voodoo. I personally like to think of it as "spectral evidence" used in modern day witch trials. Did I say that earlier?
ReplyDeleteHere is the link and some portions:
"The reality is that most people who are victims of childhood sexual abuse remember all or part of what happened to them. Also true is the fact that thousands of people see a psychologist every day and are helped to deal with such things as issues of personal adjustment, depression, substance abuse and problems in relationships. The issues of childhood abuse or questionable memory retrieval techniques never enter into the equation in the great majority of therapy relationships."
(i.e., lots of alternative explanations exist that trump RMT explanations)
The APA goes on to note, that if you feel compelled to seek psychiatric help specifically (because a friend recommended, an RMT associate, or whatever), you should address the following issues:
"First, know that there is no single set of symptoms which automatically indicates that a person was a victim of childhood abuse. There have been media reports of therapists who state that people (particularly women) with a particular set of problems or symptoms must have been victims of childhood sexual abuse. There is no scientific evidence that supports this conclusion.
Second, all questions concerning possible recovered memories of childhood abuse should be considered from an unbiased position. A therapist should not approach recovered memories with the preconceived notion that abuse must have happened or that abuse could not possibly have happened.
Third, when considering current problems, be wary of those therapists who offer an instant childhood abuse explanation, and those who dismiss claims or reports of sexual abuse without any exploration.
Fourth, when seeking psychotherapy, you are advised to see a licensed practitioner with training and experience in the issue for which you seek treatment. Ask the therapist about the kinds of treatment techniques he or she uses and how they could help you."
---------
My advice is to NOT seek psychiatric help, but the help of a psychologist/therapist trained to evaluate your issues in a way that address all possible causes and history, not just RMT.
Freudian thought and method, again, has been debunked for a long time. RMT relies on these same general methods and approach to understanding the human brain and nervous system.
However, for those of you who are seeking RMT and can't be persuaded by sense or logic, you have to stop and evaluate your motivation. Do you want to heal, or do you want to hurt?
For those of you reading this blog who have graduated with flying colors from RMT school and who are filling my blog inbox with venom and stupidity, you need to find the courage to heal.
Fini
http://www.apa.org/topics/memories.html
=================
You are nothing more than a big coward and bully who can't face your own anger. You defend pedophiles. (Paul Shanley for one)I hope that makes you feel good. I hope you and can sleep at night knowing who you've become. You can't even host a fair blog. Once again, coward, lawyer seeking redemption, snarky, whatever you are...
ReplyDeleteI am a fiction writer and was cruising through Web Del Sol tonight and came across this blog. Wow, pretty controversial. I can see that the debate is pretty polarizing. It seems both sides have such strong feelings. Both seem to have been personally affected in some way by this spirited debate. Has Ms. Brody been personally affected by this RMT thing? My observation is that there is a lot of pain on this blog
ReplyDeleteow!
D.J.
"I guess I have to admit, if I were going to have a hate list, she would be right under Bush. Why? Because her hateful writing attacked me in a personal way, and caused the death of a friend's father--falsely accused by a daughter who had become a devoted and deluded disciple." This is your quote, Ms. Brady, and I think this explains your personal attacks upon Ellen Bass.
ReplyDeleteMs. Bass may or may not have caused damage with her words, but one can surmise that it was not with "hatred and causing harm" intent. This, on the other hand, seems to be your intention. I think you may be the one with more to learn, as you are what you are claiming Ms. Bass to be. And, shame on Web Del Sol for allowing this blog.
You have misquoted facts and figures, you attack every person on a personal level who responds negatively to your posts. I work in the field of Child Sexual Abuse, but never did graduate from RMT school. Nonetheless, I can tell you that it is blogs like this that do more to harm children who are now and in the future, being abused.
Liz, I do see how others on this blog can see you as strident and angry, but as far as I'm concerned it goes with the passion you have for this subject.
ReplyDeleteYour points on alternative therapy explanations are well taken, and seems to me pretty much stand as an effective and logical counterpoint to those who are banging the gong here for RMT. And you are right. If you google info on depression causes and treatments, childhood sexual abuse is nonexistent or really buried, but I suppose this only supports the RMT conspiracy theorists, like some who have posted here, who fantasize that non-RMT psychologists are in the pay of abuser parents or somehow secretly encouraging abuse.
It's all very sad.
For Julie Schneider:
ReplyDeleteJulie, I have admitted my anger, and right from the beginning. I'm not letting go of it either because it gives me the fuel to face the likes of you:
"Ms. Bass may or may or may not have caused damage with her words ..."
FALSE: she did cause damage, incredible damage. Get your head out of the sand and meet with victims of RMT who accused their family of abuse simply because they were overweight or depressed from lack of sleep or whatever. There are hundreds of them.
"but one can surmise that it was not with "hatred and causing harm" intent."
How do you know? Did you go back in time and read her mind? How do you know she wasn't working out revenge on her own parents? Her ancestor, Sigmund Freud, worked out his own sicknesses by projecting them onto the rest of the human race (e.g., Oedipus Complex). Was it out of malice?
"This, on the other hand, seems to be your intention. I think you may be the one with more to learn, as you are what you are claiming Ms. Bass to be. And, shame on Web Del Sol for allowing this blog."
Praise on Web del Sol for helping to bring this issue to the consciousness of people like you so you will post here and demonstrate both ignorance and hyprocrisy.
"You have misquoted facts and figures ..."
I have misquoted nothing. You find the "facts" and "figures" that support your RMT case, which you are really attempting to make by pretending to be neutral.
"you attack every person on a personal level who responds negatively to your posts."
But you are taking the moral high ground here by attacking me? Why don't you attack the points made on this blog that demonstrate RMT to be utter nonsense, or at least, a spurious and illogical explanation for psychological symptoms when much better explanations are available?
"I work in the field of Child Sexual Abuse, but never did graduate from RMT school. Nonetheless, I can tell you that it is blogs like this that do more to harm children who are now and in the future, being abused."
This is one of the biggest lies I've heard since John McCain said the government will buy every bad mortgage in the U.S. Our discussion of RMT vs. non-RMT is "harming children"? You must be losing it, Julie Schneider.
This pegs you firmly in the RMT camp because only a devoted RMT'r would ever make such an absurd and illogical statement. What you really mean is that by knocking RMT, we are supporting the cause of abusive parents, right?
On the contrary, as far as HARM goes, your attempt to censor or condemn the speech of those who dispute RMT by claiming their speech and opinions harm children, demonstrates a viewppoint that effectively harms thousands of innocent people, both therapeutically abused RMT victims and the all families, fathers, brothers, mothers, etc. yet to be accused, destroyed, and shamed by the media, The Courage to Heal by Ellen Bass, and the remaining mob of dishonest or deluded psychiatrists who practice RMT as the primary cause and cure of psychological ills, and who should be banned by federal law from doing so.
Ignorance kills, Julie.
Ellen Bass shouted "FIRE!" in a crowded theater, and by doing so, caused immeasurable anguish and the death of lots of people.
Thanks for your post! I sincerely hope you will discontinue your practice of attempting to censor the speech of those who disagree with you by falsely accusing them of harming children.
It's rather despicable.
Oh so your the only person who can censor things on this blog?
ReplyDeleteGood to know
BTW- Psychlogy and psychiatry are different things. Related fields yes, but by using them interchangeably it is rather ignorant
Ms. Brody
ReplyDeleteRegarding yourlatest post,please look inward. It is you who has censored everyone who sends you things you don't happen to agree with. You select what you will to skew the blog.Yes, despicable
Yes, sad
A writer's group I used to be in had two members with a history of having accused family members as a result of repressed memory. One night the subject came up at an informal dinner after our meeting and we talked. It degenerated into something nasty within a short time and we all regretted it. The two who were abused became defensive about it almost immediately and one of them finally shouted angrily at one of the other members who was expressing skepticism about memory recovery in general.
ReplyDeleteThey were unable to talk about the process unless they could get total sympathy. Anything approaching possible disagreement on any issue involving memory or trauma was quickly met with scowls and bitter remarks.
It was the end of the group.
One of them had been told by her therapist to forever ignore her family because they would always try to change her mind.
It looks like Kelly S. is just a sock puppet for Connie. I think Julie Schneider is also. Both the profiles were just created and both have similar hostile styles of writing and perception.
ReplyDeleteMs. Brody
ReplyDeleteI really have no idea who Connie is except for what I've seen on this blog. Now even your own paranoia has set in. I have also never heard of Julie S. either. Sounds like maybe some of us just agree.
Kelly S.
Scary.
ReplyDeletehttp://harvardmagazine.com/2008/01/repressed-memory.html
ReplyDeleteYou RMT'rs will enjoy the one above. It makes for interesting conversation. I like the premise of it.
Yours in Trauma,
Liz
Before I forget, here is one of the original Loftus studies proving false memory implantation:
ReplyDeletehttps://webfiles.uci.edu/eloftus/LoftusDavisAnnualReview06.pdf?uniq=-qcmbr3
If you honestly are seeking the truth, read this study before seeking distorted, psychiatric interpretations of the results of the Loftus research.
As I noted in the original post, Loftus was treated horribly by second wave feminists who readily embraced the notions of Ellen Bass and others who pinned the abuse tail on the daddy donkey. Again, even if RMT has validity, why does it almost always make a father the abuser when mothers are arrested every day for tortuous physical abuse of all kinds?
YOU are horrible! You are so horrible! Everything you say is a lie! You are horrible!
ReplyDeleteMy mother sexually abused her 4 children. She did so by acting out what her father did to her. She did this when each of her chidren became the age she was when her father did it to her. After 3 or 4 abuse incidents they stopped which leads me to believe she abused each of us the same number of times her father abused her. She almost always spoke praise & love of her father except for 2 or 3 odd moments when she was obviously 'out of herself' and said her father was a druken, fallen down dirty old man.
ReplyDeleteWell, we come to end of our broadcasting day. This thread has made its point and the radically different viewpoints, emotions, and so forth, are on display for everyone to see. My hope is that someone verging on RMT out there, someone with a degree of intelligence, will read this blog and make the right decision not to subject their brains to RMT therapists or their like, and thus save themselves and their families a lot of grief.
ReplyDeleteIt's too bad Roseanne Barr never read this before she went public on her own family ... What made me think of her? I must repress the memory asap.
A couple of parting quotes:
"If your life shows the symptoms and you don't remember it, you were still abused."
- Ellen Bass
"The reporter called up the American Psychological Association to find out how the Association felt about recovered memory therapy today and she was referred to an expert, therapist Michael Yapko (author of Suggestions of Abuse.) Yapko explained what went wrong. He said when clients in distress came to therapists who practiced recovered memory therapy (RMT), these therapists, believing that most of their clients problems were due to childhood sexual and /or Satanic ritual abuse, told their clients that such abuse was the cause of their problems. When their clients then told them that such abuse had never happened, the therapist would smile knowingly and say that’s all been repressed. We need to use various techniques such as hypnosis, guided imagery, medications, etc., to dig up the repressed material. “That’s the only way you will recover.”
But the memories the clients retrieved were not accurate, Yapko said. Memory is prone to all kinds of distortion through all types of suggestions, coming from thera-pists’ remarks and questions, from reading matter, from support groups, from guided imagery, hypnosis, etc. etc."
- FMS Foundation of Illinois
Repressed Memory Therapy, and Primal Therapy before that, and Scientology before that (and currently) all had similar types of bias and unscientific approaches. All damage peoples lives, and split up families; and even so, the damaged sometimes are so brainwashed they continue to promote the therapy. Logic matters. Falsifiability matters. We should be teaching young people critical scientific thinking.
ReplyDeleteMy mother and her counselor "recovered" memories of my mom being sexually abused by my grandfather as a toddler. Her "therapy" has destroyed our family. I didn't speak to my mother for over a year because her counselor said that she shouldn't be exposed to people that didn't believe her. Eventually I relented (I missed my mom!) I didn't so much say that I believed her; I just didn't argue against her when she brought the "abuse" up. When we reunited, I found that the person I missed, my mom, was no longer there. Instead of a mom, I now have a victim. A truly unstable, depressed, compulsive-buying, hoarding victim of mother that gets worse with every passing year. Yep, this therapy obviously did wonders for her. Hopefully, in a couple of years, Ms. Bass will write a book on how to re-repress "repressed" memories, and maybe my mom will finally get her life back. Too late for my grandfather though. He died a year after her accusations, with a fractured family and a broken heart. He was a good man, and didn't deserve to have his life end that way. It's been over 10 years since the beginning of the end of our family, and my anger and resentment only seems to get worse. I know that one day or another, I'll lose my mother again. One day she'll ask me outright, and I won't be able to give her what it is that she needs so, so badly - validation of her actions through the opinions of others.
ReplyDeleteThank you Elizabeth, for expressing so articulately how many of us feel. We are the less vocal set, because we haven't pinned our lives to such an outrageously illogical theory. We have so much less to defend, and more often than not, quietly resign ourselves to an outcome that is beyond our control. I too wish that Ellen Bass, and all of the practitioners of her theory, could be held legally responsible for the irreversible damage that they've done. - Megan
Thank you for your kind words, and for posting here. It's sad that you and the previous poster have to be Anonymous, but I know why.
ReplyDeleteYou can see it on this board. The deluded followers of Ellen Bass, for their own selfish reasons, will attack you like harpies if you dare to speak out against RMT. They'll hate you for it.
Thank you again.
Elizabeth-
ReplyDeleteI discovered your blog while researching RMT for a psych assignment and was quite surprised by the intense convictions these people have in this junk science written by a medicore poet whose writing appears to be on a 6th grade level:"if you are unable to remember any specific instances like the ones mentioned above but still have a feeling that something abusive happened to you, it probably did" (Bass; pg.21, The Courage to Heal)No one else see a problem with this statement? I have no idea what agenda this author(s) has, other than a financially motivated one, but jesus christ how can a rational person buy into this? This drivel is nothing more than brainwashing tactics and isolation techniques. I actually pity the individuals that fall for this mutated psychology. And I know believers in RMT probably think I'm the devil now and I really don't care. I tried to find out if she was licensed, but I kept getting links to Ellen DeGeneres and Lance Bass. I would take psychoanalytical advice from Lance Bass before I would take it from that vile, fickle woman.
Thank you, Sarah. Thank you, thank you.
ReplyDeleteWow. It's nice to be able to write to others about the years of hell my sister put my poor mother and the rest of the family through 15 years ago because of this dangerous book and the equally dangerous therapist who convinced my sister that she was abused by our father. I'll never forget the day my sister made an appointment with me because she had "something really important to tell me". What it turned out to be was this idea that she had been molested. My sister kept repeating, "My therapist says I have all the signs of having been molested, even if I can't remember it." My sister was expecting that when she told me about it, I would suddenly remember that the same thing had happened to me. She was surprised when I could not agree with her. I did not remember anything of the sort.
ReplyDeleteBy the time my sister made this accusation, my father was long dead and could not defend himself, so my sister's ire turned against my mother, who swore to her dying day that this could not have happened.
Don't get me wrong. Molestation occurs; it's horrible. We are not talking about that. What that book has done is actually weaken the case against true molestation.
How many hearts has Ellen Bass broken? How many innocent parents have died of deep betrayal? Perhaps someday Ms. Bass will acknowledge that the book she wrote had bad consequences and perhaps she will be able to come to the world owning what she did and show some remorse for publishing a book which unnecessarily hurt so many.
I have about decided the kind of psychotherapists who practice RMT are satisfied with little more scientific foundation for their practices than fortunetelling. This refusal to even consider, much less apply, therapies scientifically validated as safe and effective will eventually destroy these therapists. When they are destroyed they will have no one to blame but themselves.
ReplyDeleteI have noted the commenters who defend Bass's writings in Courage to Heal as being in the past and we should not be critical of her now notwithstanding the enormous harm her writings helped foment. Would you want to just forget about Adolf Hitler's actions killing 50 million people just because it was a long time ago, if he were to suddenly appear today? I believe Bass's actions were even worse than Hitler because she pretended to be helping people when she had absolutely no qualifications to write a book supposedly containing mental health advice. She has contributed to the destruction of thousands of women and their families and is without remorse. Unforgivable!!!
False memory recovery happened to me. I was in "therapy" with a so-called lesbian therapist in
ReplyDeleteBoulder, Colorado named dare I say, Molly Gierasch. She has retired now.
I was in therapy with her from 1983-85. Thank God I decided to quit after breaking the on-going theraputic induced dependency.
How did I break away? Hiked the Grand Canyon.
How was I convinced I was an incest survivor? I had all the symptoms. Everyone needed to recover from something back in the 80's. We all needed to transform our "sad" uncomfortable lives. So, one day, Molly Gierash took me through a visualization. She said do you feel this sensation on your hands, do you see that happening? and on and on.
The details are not the important part. The truth is not actually important anymore. What matters now is that I get to have my integrity.
I am kind of angry at Molly Gierash, the psychotherapist still. In the early 90's I told her that I was not an incest survivor. She didn't even take off her sun glasses to listen.
Back to the original FALSE memories. The day I had my first false memory, I had to walk about three miles home from therapy. On the way I vomited. Then, I was sick for two days. It was not the flu. Seems my body was fighting off the lie that was constructed in therapy.
This False Memory stuff is new to me. I thought I had given up on all of the old stories until I just happened to come by work by Ethan Watters on c-span's Book TV. He co-wrote a book with the Pulitzer Prize winning author Richard Ofshe. I was not chasing down some old heart break that I needed to resolve. The book I found, Making Monsters; False memories, Psycholtherapy and Sexual Hysteria has changed my life. It is funny what you find sometimes.
My family never recovered from all the abuse. But as my mother says, "You are never whole, you just keep getting more whole as you get older, and even then you can only be who you are."
love.
If anyone wants to see what the courts are beginning to think about RMT see a second circuit decision on "Friedman" decided August 16, 2010. The court issued a scathing rebuke to the police, the prosecutor, the clinical psychologist and the trial judge over the nonsense of RMT.
ReplyDeleteJohnsons Awarded $1 Million in Epic Wisconsin Case
ReplyDeleteJohnson v Rogers Memorial Hospital
No 1996CV001228, Dane County Court, Madison Wisconsin
January 23, 2011
In this case the falsely accused parents received a $1 million award when the jury refused to credit the allegedly “expert” testimony of five pro-repressed memory Doctors. The experts for the defense were Laura Brown, Ph.D., James Chu, MD, Peter Clagnaz, MD, Richard Kluft, MD, and William Smith. Ph.D. One of two experts for the Johnsons testified as follows. On Thursday expert Hollida Wakefield testified to the many errors present in the book The Courage to Heal by Ellen Bass and Laura Davis. Attorney Smoler then produced a chart that listed the "standards of care" to which treating doctors are supposed to adhere. Wakefield showed how the advice in The Courage to Heal failed to meet the "standards of care" and how the treating doctors who appeared to follow the advice in that book also failed to meet the "standards of care." PLEASE DO EVERYTHING YOU CAN TO STOP RMT PSYCHOTHERAPISTS FROM DESTROYING YOUNG WOMEN AND THEIR EXTENDED FAMILIES BY PROMOTING FALSE ACCUSATIONS, RAGE AND HATE WITHIN FAMILIES!!!
All this cover up of the Penn State sexual abuse - who will you side with- probably Sandusky - what a surprise! you are a pedophile defender
ReplyDeleteI do think that Elizabeth Brody takes an extreme position. But in her defense, she does not deny that.
ReplyDeleteFor those looking for verification from a more objective perspective, here's links to two articles on repressed memory and one on the memory of eye witnesses in court cases. All three mention one critical fact: memory is changeable which puts its reliability in these cases in serious question.
The first is "The Problem with Eyewitness Testimony" from the Stanford Journal of Legal Studies by Barbara Tversky and George Fisher.
"Several studies have been conducted on human memory and on subjects’ propensity to remember erroneously events and details that did not occur." Among other things, these show that what a person "remembers" can be greatly influenced by how they are questioned, and that the questioner can actually change the subject's memory.
http://agora.stanford.edu/sjls/Issue%20One/fisher&tversky.htm
The second is, "The Reality of Repressed Memories" by Elizabeth F. Loftus for American Psychologist. Among other things, she comments on assertions of the veracity of repressed memory with, "These assertions fail to recognize known examples and evidence that memory is malleable even for life's most traumatic experiences."
http://faculty.washington.edu/eloftus/Articles/lof93.htm
The third is from Time Magazine where a former patient tells of how the therapist "recovered" the patient's memories. 'While at first Gavigan had no recollection of any abuse, the therapist kept prodding. "I was so distressed and needed help so desperately, I latched on to what he was offering me," she says. "I accepted his answers."'
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,979691,00.html#ixzz1uFnT1SSj
Thank you for reminding some of us, and educating others, of how Ellen Bass & Laura Davis systematically destroyed families when women believed their book. Neither of them have psychological training.
ReplyDeleteHello -- I am Mark Pendergrast, the author of VICTIMS OF MEMORY, which Elizabeth Brody quoted in her article. My work has frequently been called the most comprehensive book about the debate over repressed memory therapy. In the book, I quite thoroughly critiqued and debunked THE COURAGE TO HEAL and other books like it. But the person who commented that Ellen Bass was a poet before she wrote this unfortunate book was correct, and I read a poem of hers quite recently in the NEW YORKER, about her joy in killing chickens. I give Ellen Bass the benefit of the doubt, as I do most of the therapists who practiced RMT, that they were trying to do good. But they were ignorant about the science of human memory and suggestibility. The road to hell is indeed paved with the best of intentions. What amazes me is that so few therapists have come forward to say that they were wrong. I know of only two.
ReplyDeleteLet me clarify and summarize my conclusions in VICTIMS OF MEMORY. There is absolutely no scientific evidence to support the theory of "massive repression" -- the idea that people can completely forget years of childhood abuse and then recall the memories as adults. It goes against the science of memory and makes no sense from an evolutionary standpoint. This includes the theory of multiple personalities as well. I could not find one convincing anecdotal case of massive repression (or massive dissociation) that would stand up to close scrutiny. Yes, people can forget limited incidents of real sexual abuse and then recall them later, but these appear to be cases of normal forgetting and remembering, not "repression." They often involve fondling that may have been confusing but was not perceived as very traumatic at the time. The more traumatic an incident, the more likely it is to be remembered, in other words.
what a angry arsehole Elizabeth Brody is.
ReplyDeleteStop defending Paedophiles!!
Get some therapy Elizabeth.Horrible vile excuse for a woman.
ReplyDelete