Beth Rutherford and our daughter Grace have a lot in common.
Beth Rutherford sought help for depression due to stress at work. Following therapy Beth claimed that her clergyman father had raped her as a child, with her mother at times holding her down. Years later a medical examination confirmed that Beth was still a virgin. Beth recanted and won an out-of-court settlement.
Beth recalls that under the influence of antidepressants during treatment "I was asked to concentrate deeply on my childhood...I went into hypnotic and trance-like states. After coming out...the therapist revealed events of sexual abuse and described things that had happened to me." Following these blackouts Beth's therapist explained, "you have just had a flashback into your past" and that "these are real events that have actually happened to you...Again, I was told that this all was repressed and was now coming out; my mind was now allowing me to know what really happened to me as a child."
According to Beth "A psychiatrist and a psychologist concluded from their testing and evaluation that indeed I had been severely traumatized as a child...Psychological testing is not a proof of history. It is only a reflection of what you believe and what is in your mind at the time of testing."
Beth continues "I was told that the only way that I was going to be able to be a healthy adult was to get away from my infectious parents, because they were like cancer and I had to cut them out in order to be a mentally healthy adult....I was told that my parents’ refusal to admit guilt meant that I must separate from them, for they were in denial."
Beth then accused her parents publicly and garnered the support of family members. Beth writes "I told them that just because they wouldn’t admit what they had done to me didn’t mean I would back down from my belief that they did it. The Therapist consistently told me that to accuse is the only way true healing can begin." The public accusations forced her father from his ministry and into any odd jobs he could find at 46 years old.
Still on medication Beth described her mind as "sinking deeper and deeper into blackness." She continued "With my last bit of energy and
in an effort to get well, my middle sister, Lynette, and I rented a U-haul and moved away from my parents in Springfield to Oklahoma
City...My youngest sister, Shara, went into hiding in Springfield, afraid that my father would murder her. Both of my sisters had come to
believe my memories of abuse. We cut off all communication with my parents." Beth concludes "I fully believed that my parents had committed these atrocities as much as they fully knew that they had never done them. What changed my mind? What brought me to the truth?"
The move away from Springfield was the best possible event. Beth was no longer meeting the therapist and the therapist suggested she find one closer (and cease phone contact). When she sought a new therapist she decided to choose one that did not dwell on "repressed memories". She reduced and then totally stopped prescribed medication. Beth later recalls this was the best decision in the entire episode. Slowly she began to recover and reflect on the experience.
Over time she came to recognize what had happened. Years later Beth Rutherford, with great courage, fully recanted the accusations.
Following the family reassembly Beth states "My family and I love each other so much and we're as close as before, but I'd say even closer because we've individually and collectively survived this almost fatal nightmare. Yes, we are still a normal family with our differences of opinion and personalities, but we cherish our times together as never before, knowing we almost lost each other.
Family love is strong and resilient. Love prevails . . . It bears all things, believes through all things, hopes through all things, endures through all things. We now walk our life's journey TOGETHER."
We will always be waiting for our Grace. We love her and her family. We will never give up on the Reynolds family.
ALL Pictures are of life before false memories were recovered.
Grace and I while visiting family in New England
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