Diagnosis for Disaster" carefully presents accounts of many different types of victims of the "recovered memory" approach to therapy. The accounts are presented by the victims in their own words which makes this book very different from others on the same subject. Included among the many accounts are those of victims who actually suffered from incest (with physical abuse), those who suffered from confabulated memories of physical incest abuse, those who suffered from source confused memories regarding the incest, those who suffered from therapist induced false memories and some that may have fabricated memories to extort money from parents or relatives (the reader would have to draw that conclusion from the accounts given.) I think, having read the book, that it does fabulous at presenting accounts of those involved including the accuser, the accused and those who love them both. The book also does explain fully how "false memory" victims have done a huge disservice to actual "incest abused" victims.
The book includes accounts by family members victimized by "recovered memories". The accusations result in numerous tragedies including deep personal hurt and sometimes physical decay of family member(s), professional careers that are derailed (or worse) and the assignment of a social stigma that can impact an entire family. Some families are amazingly healthy and contacts survive the ordeals caused by these false memories. Some of the families have real problems and could be called "dysfunctional" and often experience permanent estrangement. The book allows for accounts by all sorts of family members including those who always know the accusations were false, those who did not know and those who initially joined in the accusations after also getting therapy only to later realize the memories were false.
One of my favorite features of this book is how it answers the question often posed by "recovered memory believers: "Why would anyone believe anything so painful as being sexually abused by a parent if it weren't true?" The book first details the accounts of retractors and family members and then summarizes the accounts to specifically answer that question. The book's accounts generate sixteen different answers.
The book also has summary points at the end of each chapter that is a great deal of help to those who want to pre-read the book and read chapters of particular interest to them.
The bibliography in this book stretches from page 356 to page 381 one of the most extensive of this genre. Studies articles and research are cited from a wide variety of professional journals (such as the American Psychological Association, American Journal of Medicine, etc...), main line media (New York Times, LA Times, Newsweek etc...), talks at Seminars and Meetings of Foundations (False Memory Foundation, International Conference on Multiple Personality and Dissociative States, etc...) as well as phone interviews, television news and other media reports. This non-jargon laden and non-technical treatment is amazingly referenced so that the reader can review the sources of the facts and assertions. Assertions of fact in the text appears to be carefully annotated.
This book is not meant to be a "persuasive treatment." If you think all "recovered memories" are true then every reported story of incest, or space alien abduction, or satanic cult murder, or previous life as another human (or animal) following a reincarnation are all "true" then this book is clearly not for you. You will find repeated accounts of retractors who tell and believe the stories they create and then later explain that the memories were confused, confabulated or fabricated usually when stressed, medicated or under social pressure. These retractor accounts would be something believers in false memories would not want to read. The book would likely be discarded after going to amazon.com to give an anonymous 1 star rating (as is done here.)
In the first section below I include OTHER REVIEWS where the reviewer reveals their identity. In the second section I highlight INTERESTING QUOTES with page numbers from "Diagnosis for Disaster".
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SURVIVOR OF REPRESSED MEMORY THERAPY SHARES
OTHER REVIEWS of "Diagnosis for Disaster"
By Aimee L. Elliot on April 3, 2008
As a "survivor" of bogus repressed memory therapy, I have to strongly recommend this book. It also scares me to read the reviews of those who defend repressed memory and therapists who offer this type of quack therapy. I missed 6 years of my life believing in this crap because I trusted my therapist. I beg anyone who is being told that they have repressed memories, and that their parents were evil and a bunch of other nonsense, get out of there now, and read this book. Don't you find it kind of odd and suspicious that all of a sudden after a therapist tells you that you are D.I.D and have repressed memories, you suddenly remember all kinds of horrible abuse that you suffered as a child. Don't blame yourself if this has happened to you, these therapists know how to make you actually believe this crap because they get you dependent on them. I just wish I would have read this book before I got caught up in all this crap. Thankfully, there were people out there to help me finally see the deception. Thanks to the author for this book, also. It has not only helped me, but my family to understand what happened to me.
EXCELLENT BOOK ABOUT "RECOVERED MEMORIES"
By Steven H Propp TOP 100 REVIEWER on August 8, 2013
Format: Paperback
Claudette Wassil-Grimm is a writer and editor who has also written Where's Daddy?: How Divorced Single Widowed Mothers Can Provide What's Missing When Dad's Missing, How to Avoid Your Parents Mistakes When You Raise Your Children, The Twelve-Step Journal, etc.
She wrote in the Preface to this 1995 book, "This book is for any adult who has been depressed or disturbed and is wondering if he or she was sexually abused as a child... Herein, you will find stories of people, mostly women, who were sexually abused and who never forgot... You will also find stories of women who were told they were sexually abused, spent years trying to uncover repressed memories, and later learned that the 'recovered memories' were false. This book explores the impact of incest accusations on the siblings and parents of accusing adult children... Finally, there are stories of those who never forgot certain incidents of sexual abuse but later fabricated additional memories of abuse while in therapy."
She asks, "What has led therapists to adopt unorthodox methods that are potentially harmful to their clients? "Do it Yourself Therapy"... the most popular book being recommended and used by adult survivors and their counselors, was written by HellenBrass, a creative writing teacher, and Lie Dupor, a participant in one of her workshops. Brass openly admited that she began holding workshops and training professionals even though she had had no formal education or training in psychology or counseling... The book offers a great deal of comfort, affirmation, and useful advice. However, the authors' narrow exposure to mental health issues has caused them to see everything through the lens of sexual abuse." (Pg. 3)
She adds, "If Brass had had some formal training in psychology, she and the therapists she has trained would begin to suspect that a client who has been trying to remember sexual abuse for more than a year and has failed just might have some other problem. She might have a mood disorder, a personality disorder, depression caused by peri-menopause, or any number of other problems that could produce the same symptoms... the sufferer will never discover those alternatives as long as the group of people she depends on keeps telling her that her whole problem and cure lie in remembering her sexual abuse." (Pg. 5)
She notes, "In March 1992 a group of families falsely accused of sexual abuse formed the False Memory Syndrome Foundation (FMSF). Since then, the foundation has received eighty to one hundred phone calls a day from families who are apparent victims of false accusations. Recently, the FMSF has begun to get more and more calls from retractors---adult children swept up in the adult survivors' movement ... who now realize that their 'memories' were the result of group-induced hysteria or therapist-induced fantasy." (Pg. 8)
She observes, "People ask, Why would anyone believe anything so painful as being sexually abused by a parent if it weren't true?... here is how the retractors explain it. They had sought the advice of a professional because they were in pain, and they tried to accept that professional's diagnosis and cooperate with that professional's treatment. As they became more and more involved in the Recovery Movement, they began to spend more and more time in therapy sessions and groups. There were many voices confirming what their therapists had told them. They tried to put away their doubts. Soon they, too, were quoting their therapists and their self-help books as if they were the divine words of a guru... they began to cut themselves off from anyone who questioned their beliefs." (Pg. 22-23)
She admits, "False Memory Sundrome is a phrase coined for the False Memory Syndrome Foundation. It is not a classified psychological illness that appears in (DSM-IV)... the phrase is meant to be descriptive, to give a name to a phenomenon so it can be discussed more easily. A number of women have come to realize that the memories they 'recovered' in therapy were not memories at all; they were fantasies, fictions encouraged by their therapists that the clients were led to elaborate upon. The most common fantasy was that they had been sexually abused by a parent, and these memories often escalated over time to include involvement in satanic rituals." (Pg. 80-81)
This a sympathetic treatment that will be of considerable interest to anyone studying the "Recovered Memory" movement.
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INTERESTING QUOTES from "Diagnosis for Disaster"Seek advice from an authority and cutoff those who question...
"In a nutshell, here is how the retractors explain it. They had sought the advice of a professional (or trusted friend) because they were in pain, and tried to accept diagnosis and cooperate with the treatment...soon they were quoting the therapist or self help books...and they began to cut themselves off from anyone who questioned their beliefs."
pg 22-23
Recovered memory believers not concerned about historical truth...
"Recovered memory believers (and therapists who do recovered memory) are simply not concerned about whether recovered memories of sexula abuse are true or false. To them the historical truth- whether or not the events reported actually happened- need not be of concern...they worry that aa questioning stance would undermine trust...in addition, they feel....only concern itself with the narrative or emotional truth."
pg 49
Five Camps of views on recovered memories...
Camp One..."believe that sex abuse is rampant and the root cause of all psychological disturbance."
Camp Two..."believe that incest and sex abuse far more common than is believed...adamantly believe that no incest survivor should be exposed to the pain of doubt."
Camp Three..."concentrate on the emotional truth of memories or images presented...and are unconcerned about whether the reports of sexual abuse are factual."
Camp Four..."believe that incest and sex abuse far more common than is believed but feel that sexual deviance is just one of many factors that can affect a person's mental health"
Camp Five..."believe that there is no such thing as repressed memory. They suspect many accusations are motivated for some secondary gain such as getting custody of a child or bilking money from...parent."
pg 57
A lethal false memory...
"During the sessions the vet would cry out about the buddies he'd seen murdered or would scream out in horror at a combat memory. The experienced psychologist treating him would assure him that the war was over, and he was now safe at home.
Nonetheless, the vert could not be saved, and he committed suicide by inhaling carbon dioxide. Following his death, his widow attempted to get his name on the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C. since she felt he was justifiably a casualty of war. An extensive search of the man's military record showed that he had never set a foot in Vietnam"
.....Yapko also emphasized that the affect and testimony can be totally convincing, even when what is reported is a pure fabrication."
pg 95
Not all false memories result from therapy...
"Not all "false memories" result from poor therapy. Clients may self diagnose after hearing stories presented in the popular media and after reading self help books. Poor therapists (or friends), however, fail to help the victim separate fact from fiction."
pg 104
Good therapy described by an accuser who became a retractor...
"What I noticed about the [new] psychiatrist right way was that she didn't allow me any excuses...she would say, 'I'm sorry, bit that's not good enough. You are going to have to learn how to get along in the world as it is.' She pushed me and pushed me to come to terms with truth [that]. My recovered memory friends encouraged me to see myself as a victim, but this [good] psychiatrist really discouraged that."
pg 109
Therapy among friends technique explained...
One...technique used with friends [during group sessions] was something called Mrs John (a retractor) calls "make-up-a-story." When someone in the group would tell about a nightmare she had during the week, Ann would ask the woman where in the body she felt her fear. Then she would tell the woman to go back to a time in childhood when she felt the same physical sensation. If the friend [client] did not get any "memories," Ann would tell her to make up a story. Inevitably the stories were "repressed memories" of sexual abuse."...
The spell broke when Mrs John told Ann she would be leaving the group soon, and Ann pondered aloud that maybe Mrs John's 'memories' weren't real after all. She asked Mrs. John 'What do you think happened?'
Mrs. John was astonished that, after YEARS of being told she was in denial, the friend [therapist] now wanted to know what Mrs. John thought. She went home to think for herself."
pg 134
"Characteristics of psuedo-memories
1. They occur in distressed people with many different diagnoses
[such as in depression, stressed, medicated]
2. They begin as vague and uncertain suspicions.
3. They are affect laden. [full of intense emotion]
4. The initial 'memory' is envisioned with difficulty.
5. Later 'memories' flood in, swelling to astonishing tales.
6. Such 'memories' are sensitive to suggestion and contagious.
7. They expand in group settings and with blackouts [hypnotism, trances]
8. Post traumatic stress responses follow the memories.
9. The memories tend to block all therapy toward the here and now.
Most retractors have had moments of doubt. If they had any support for their doubts, they would have figured out much earlier that their memories of sexual abuse were fabricated"
1. They occur in distressed people with many different diagnoses
[such as in depression, stressed, medicated]
2. They begin as vague and uncertain suspicions.
3. They are affect laden. [full of intense emotion]
4. The initial 'memory' is envisioned with difficulty.
5. Later 'memories' flood in, swelling to astonishing tales.
6. Such 'memories' are sensitive to suggestion and contagious.
7. They expand in group settings and with blackouts [hypnotism, trances]
8. Post traumatic stress responses follow the memories.
9. The memories tend to block all therapy toward the here and now.
Most retractors have had moments of doubt. If they had any support for their doubts, they would have figured out much earlier that their memories of sexual abuse were fabricated"
pg 134
Two questions in need of an answer...
"Does the repression mechanism exist and function as...presumed? And are the techniques employed capable of producing false memories of abuse even if no abuse occurred?"
pg 145
Two questions in need of an answer...
"Does the repression mechanism exist and function as...presumed? And are the techniques employed capable of producing false memories of abuse even if no abuse occurred?"
pg 145
Study of many traumatized in search of repressed memories...
"Herman, in her book Trauma and Recovery, looks at many different traumatized groups. In addition to concentration camp victims, her investigations include other victims of captivity such as prisoners of war, tortured political prisoners, and battered women. For the record, none of them seem to have forgotten much of their traumatic experiences, nor have any in Lenore Terr's group of Chowchilla schoolchildren forgotten their bus being kidnapped."
pg 147
Priests and Clerics falsely accused...
"Early in 1994 Stephen Cook had accused Cardinal Joseph Bernardin of molesting him seventeen years ago, but within a few months Cook realized he had made a false accusation. On a Today Show newscast (March 16, 1994) Cook released this statement to the press: 'Based on the information I have learned since filing the lawsuit, I now realize that the memories which arose during and after hypnosis are unreliable. In fact, if I knew at the time I filed the lawsuit what I know today, I would have never included Cardinal Bernardin in it."
pg 149
False Memory Foundation interaction described...
"The staff responded warmly to question and debate. In an atmosphere that welcomed inquiry, and everything about the place said, 'Explore. We have nothing to hide. We will help you in any way we can.'"
pg 199
Prophetic Assertion by Dr. Lief (in 1995)...
"The whole situation will change when these events take place: When insurance companies turn back claims and refuse to pay for therapy, especially multiple personality disorder based on satanic sex abuse, and when parents and recanters sue their therapists."
pg 311
A feminist speaks out...
Herman speaks out as a feminist on the issue of sexual abuse. Why is she not also speaking out against therapists' abuse of women? Recovered memory therapy is crippling for many. It causes them to become less functional, less less capable of living in the real world and competing for jobs. This is a feminist issue.
pg 355
The bibliography in this book stretches from page 356 to page 381 one of the most extensive of this genre. Studies articles and research are cited from a wide variety of professional journals (such as the American Psychological Association, American Journal of Medicine, etc...), main line media (New York Times, LA Times, Newsweek etc...), talks at Seminars and Meetings of Foundations (False Memory Foundation, International Conference on Multiple Personality and Dissociative States, etc...) as well as Phone interviews and television news and other media reports.
"Early in 1994 Stephen Cook had accused Cardinal Joseph Bernardin of molesting him seventeen years ago, but within a few months Cook realized he had made a false accusation. On a Today Show newscast (March 16, 1994) Cook released this statement to the press: 'Based on the information I have learned since filing the lawsuit, I now realize that the memories which arose during and after hypnosis are unreliable. In fact, if I knew at the time I filed the lawsuit what I know today, I would have never included Cardinal Bernardin in it."
pg 149
False Memory Foundation interaction described...
"The staff responded warmly to question and debate. In an atmosphere that welcomed inquiry, and everything about the place said, 'Explore. We have nothing to hide. We will help you in any way we can.'"
pg 199
Prophetic Assertion by Dr. Lief (in 1995)...
"The whole situation will change when these events take place: When insurance companies turn back claims and refuse to pay for therapy, especially multiple personality disorder based on satanic sex abuse, and when parents and recanters sue their therapists."
pg 311
A feminist speaks out...
Herman speaks out as a feminist on the issue of sexual abuse. Why is she not also speaking out against therapists' abuse of women? Recovered memory therapy is crippling for many. It causes them to become less functional, less less capable of living in the real world and competing for jobs. This is a feminist issue.
pg 355
The bibliography in this book stretches from page 356 to page 381 one of the most extensive of this genre. Studies articles and research are cited from a wide variety of professional journals (such as the American Psychological Association, American Journal of Medicine, etc...), main line media (New York Times, LA Times, Newsweek etc...), talks at Seminars and Meetings of Foundations (False Memory Foundation, International Conference on Multiple Personality and Dissociative States, etc...) as well as Phone interviews and television news and other media reports.
Sixteen answers, by those who had false memories, are found at the link:
pg 348-50
Experts have established how false memories are maintained once nurtured and we hope that friends are helping free our daughter from the shackles of false memories. Unfortunately the accuser and the friends around her may nurture and reinforce false memories for a variety of reasons. Those medicated and entranced, as our daughter was, often have the most detailed and horrid fantasies mistaken for memories. It will take incredible emotional strength, a mind cleared of medication, fully functioning intellect, immense humility and great courage for our daughter to return. Many such victims never do but we remain steadfast in our hope.
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This is an effort to Break the Cycle of Shame
and Save Others from Similar Tragedy!
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