This book, written over 20 years ago is an rare example of of insight and integrity. Written while still in the craze of "repressed memories" and the followup overuse of "associative amnesia" this clinical practitioner saw what was happening, studied it and came to conclusions that were revealed in large scale, peer reviewed and verified studies repeatedly since 2003: repressed memories are a cultural myth that are highly unreliable, and almost always unverifiable and often retracted by the person when medication or constraints are removed. Those who ardently defended "recovered memory therapy" have come to be exposed as ignoring what was actually happening.
Dr. Simpson was an expert both credentialed and experienced as a counselor. He adapted the use of "recovered memory therapy" techniques because the new hospital where he worked had a number of coworkers using the technique. After training he helped clients recover "repressed memories" using recovered memory therapy. He was shocked. He saw clients display rapidly declining mental health using "recovered memory therapy". There was an increase in depressions, suicidal tendencies and inability to function. He had second thoughts about using the method.
In time, after careful and thorough research, Dr. Paul Simpson concluded that the "repressed memories" were false memories that harmed his clients and devastated families. He then began to work with his past clients to undo the damage and began a work to save others from what he came to see as mental health fraud.
Speaking out against a cultural myth, like the myth of "repressed memory", takes great courage. Sometimes a hero comes along, recognizes the truth, and speaks out that truth without regard for personal loss. Dr. Simpson was such a hero. During the height of the "repressed memory" frenzy that was destroying thousands of families, stripping many of productive livelihoods and imprisoning countless innocents there were isolated voices of sanity that challenged the witch hunt. Dr. Simpson was one of those voices.
"SECOND THOUGHTS" is a 230 page 12 chapter book full of information (with extensive references) for the average non-technically trained reader about the use and impact of "Regression Therapy." This book is written by an experienced expert who used the approach in his professional practice and saw the impact first hand. "Regression Therapy" a whole range of therapies that "recover memories" and then encourage a variety of responses designed to "help" the client become "healthy". The author, as an expert counselor of traumatized victims, displays an amazing breadth of insight regarding the client, the accused but innocent, the friends and therapists who facilitate "false memories". Each chapter ends with a brief summary of the key concepts.
The use of "self help therapy" books and well intention-ed friends in a support group can have the same, or even more traumatic an impact than a professional. In this case the writer was a fully formally trained, experienced counselor. He pursued this therapy in his established practice after extensive training and with the best of intentions. Dr. Simpson initially assumed two things: (1) the therapy would assist clients in recovering factual memories of past events and (2) the therapy assisted people in becoming more healthy, productive and happier. These assumption he eventually abandoned in order to save his clients from tragedy.
Dr. Simpson implemented the new therapeutic approach and immediately noticed he had a surprisingly high number of clients with vivid childhood sexual abuse memories "recovered" during the sessions. Dr. Simpson initially believed that the memories resulted in the recovery were factually and historically accurate memories. He also accepted the premise that a conscious awareness of these memories would help his clients. Despite his assumption of recalled memory validity he began to recognize a lack in credibility with little or often no evidence supporting the recollections at all. The memories seemed, to him, to be unreasonable and bizarre even though his clients convincingly depicted the memories and were totally convinced that the memories were factual. In addition his clients became, in large part, worse off than they were prior to therapy. Prior to therapy he had largely functioning clients often married and with a job who wanted to work out some personal problem. After he implemented the therapy over a period of months he would have clients cutoff from family, more frequently attempting suicide, performing self mutilations, newly divorced, unable to hold a job, medicated and producing new "memories" of further horrors. Dr. Simpson had expected the best outcomes for his clients but he was observing quite different results. Dr. Simpson began to have "Second Thoughts" about the therapy.
Dr. Simpson investigated regression therapy with a special focus on external validation of both the process and outcomes. The evidence from his investigation was so overwhelming that he ceased the practice of using regression therapy AND in a heroic move he then called ALL of his past and present clients to inform them that he doubted that the memories they recalled were historically true and that he may have unintentionally nurtured "false memories". To his surprise many of his clients were "relieved" that the memories were likely false. Many of his clients worked to undo the damage of the "regressions therapy" he had utilized with them. Dr. Simpson did recognize that the scars from the groundless accusations would exist for both the accuser (who had to deal with shame and guilt) and the accused who, though innocent, often dealt with isolation, loss of community contacts as well as legal and professional consequences associated with childhood sexual abuse accusations.
The book is extensively documented in the appendix but these annotations do not impede the reading of the text. I would rate this as the most informative book on recovered memory therapy and the impact of this therapy I have read to date.
I was interested in this book because one of my adult children fell into the trap of "recovering memories" while being medicated for postpartum depression. Her accusations, decades after they were imagined to have occurred were false memories created through "trances" and "flashbacks" (commonly known to create false memories among experts). These false memories and accusations have severed relationships and continues to hurt immediate family, siblings, extended family and isolates her own children. These false memories impacts countless others who have never even known the family members accused (except through the recounting of false memories). This book provided the help I needed in understanding all the victims of these false memories including the accuser herself, the accuser's friends (acting with good intentions even if misguided), the siblings, the extended family and the innocent children who are raised isolated from truly healthy cousins, uncles, aunts, grand parents and great grandparents.
My Amazon.com Review is a shortened version of this review (posted 10/15/15)
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There are so many quotes and insights throughout the book that I had to cull the selection to reduce the length of this review. I provide context to the quotes as needed. The quotes were most meaningful to me (due to background, interest or relevance). The first quote was, for me a fresh insight and so I place it first among the quotes: (The regressionist friend or therapist) "declares that when deposed in court there is no need to present corroborative evidence for a client's claims. What is most important is the client's inner truth regardless of what actually happened historically. The (friend or therapist) says we all live in a delusion, that nobody knows the truth. His beliefs echo the hollow philosophy of another man, a man who also abdicated his duty to protect the innocent. "What is truth?" he asked, and he washed his hands."
All of our other children were pressured with being "cutoff" and then also (in some cases) accused as well. Siblings made it known to the accuser and her friends that the memories were in fact false. Then siblings in my immediate family (especially my sister and her children) also accepted being "cutoff" as the price to be paid for stating what they knew to be the truth. My mother, my wife, my children, my other son-in-laws and my siblings stood with my wife and I and accepted being "cutoff" and (in some cases) accused themselves! It was a moving experience for me that will be forever remembered. They took the risk of those friends close to Jesus who were at the foot of the cross with Mary.
Now I wish to also state that there were many NOT in the crowd screaming accusations. They also were not at the cross. They truly had no knowledge as the public accusations were made or that the false accusations were taken down from public display. Many found out only after the public postings on social media were removed. These friends joined us in prayer for the truth to be known.
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The author normally works within the framework of a Christian faith community. He addresses and justifies his reliance on science research used to evaluate the "regression therapy" and "recovered memories". He assures the readers that genuine science is not opposed to faith and can be used to determine truth. Echoing a theme of John Paul II that genuine science and true faith are never in conflict. I need no such confirmation but this author recognizes that he may have readers who do need assurances so he states:
pg xii
In regression therapy memories are nurtured (typically childhood sexual abuse but there are other types) into existence through a variety of means (including but not limited to hypnotism, trances, suggestive states, medicated states and/or exposure to videos, images or oral recollections etc.) Once the accusations of child hood sexual abuse have been "recalled" and refined the "perpetrators" are "confronted". Dr. Simpson noticed, even as he used regression therapy and confrontation that logic and justice were amiss:
"The cardinal truth of regression therapy was driven home with unmistakable clarity: "The patient's emotional reality is all that matters." There was no option that allowed the parents to be innocent. In fact, denial by the patient's mother and father would be verification that they had actually committed the fantasized crimes."
pg 14
Dr. Simpson examines and classifies the different possibilities (remembered, forgotten, non-abuse or false alarm) and continues:
"None of the regressionists (therapists that help "recover memories") I knew (myself included) did anything to account for false alarms. We weren't alone. An astounding 57 percent of therapists nationally report they do nothing at all to differentiate the truth from fiction...In real terms this meant that some portion of the families I had helped accuse were innocent, but I hadn't incorporated any safety measures that would protect them"
pg 17
"This book is a description of my journey from doing regression therapy to eventually intervening in the False Memory Crisis, For me the first steps in coming out of this movement began with my questioning the confident dictates and theories I had been taught. My search for truth led me to discussions with a wide spectrum of experts...renowned psychiatrists, leading memory researchers, ground breaking attorneys, forensic psychologists, investigative reporters, cult investigators, retractors, clergy, law enforcement specialists in satanic ritual abuse cases and the FBI."
pg 19
The author begins to question the practice he is implementing and implements a thorough search for scientific findings regarding repressed memories. Dr. Simpson reviews of volumes of scientific studies regarding memory and repressed memory. In conclusion he quotes:
"Dr, David Holmes, an expert in the area of research on memory and repression, noted:
Despite over sixty years of research involving numerous approaches by many thoughtful and clever researchers, at the present time there is no controlled laboratory evidence supporting the concept of repression...Despite numerous tests [we don't] have the data to support the theory, and therefore it might be appropriate to abandon the theory...Regardless of how fascinating the regression hypothesis is, the time may have come to move on....To date, the evidence for repression is based on stories that have NOT been verified by science, law enforcement, or the legal community...It is an interesting theory and one that I came to believe as true. But as a psychologist who specializes in treating victims of abuse, I can't point to any empirical or scientific evidence for this claim. In fact the evidence is contrary."
pg 47
How are people so easily victimized by regressionist beliefs? Among other things the author addresses the assumptions prior to memory retrieval that make false memories more possible (later he also addresses prior expectations and motivations that can also have a huge impact):
"If a person understands that memory is susceptible to distorting influences, they are actually better prepared to resist influences that corrupt their memories. But a person who has misbeliefs about memory (i.e. memory is picture perfect, isn't subject to suggestion or reconstruction) is actually left more vulnerable to the very influences that they naively assume don't exist."
pg 55
The author takes time to look at some of the persuasive points that caused him to use the misguided regression therapy. One of these points, the he eventually abandoned, was specifically addressed:
"You just can't make up a traumatic event."...That's a good point and certainly what I believed when I was promoting regression therapy. But following this line of reasoning, we must assume that all, each and everyone, of the recovered memories of space alien abductions, past lives, womb traumas, sexual abuses, and ritual tortures are real because "the mind can't make up such things." This much we know for certain: Of the thousands of cases of recovered memories, we can safely conclude that a large portion of hypnotic fantasies do not have a basis in reality, something that even the most hard-core promoter of regression will reluctantly admit."
pg 67
"Alternative Questions" are a method of questioning which were used, with great success during the witch-hunts in Massachusetts in the 1600's. It happens that this line of questioning precisely parallels the line of questioning that accused innocents face after being confronted. This was an amazing part of the book. I reread it several times. We have, at times, faced exactly the same line of questioning when addressing the concerns of family, friends and acquaintances:
"Russell Robbins reports on a prosecutorial method called alternative questions used during the witch-hunts. These were designed in such a way that every answer was indicative of guilt:
QUESTION: Is the accused in bad repute?
CONCLUSION: If so, she is a witch. If not, she is undoubtedly a witch, for witches always seek to be well thought of.
QUESTION: Is the accused frightened?
CONCLUSION: If so she is a witch. If not she is undoubtedly a witch.
QUESTION: Does the accused admit guilt?
CONCLUSION: If so, she is a witch. If not, she is undoubtedly a witch, for witches always represent themselves as innocent.
Robbins noted. "Once an idea has obsessed a person, a group, or a nation, then every word or deed, no matter how disparate or irrelevant, serves to confirm the mania."...In the modern courtroom, in the media, and in the opinions of family and friends, the situation is similar to the witch trials...
QUESTION: Does the accused seem to be a nice person?
CONCLUSION: If so, he is guilty. If not he is undoubtedly guilty.
QUESTION: Is the accused frightened?
CONCLUSION: If so he is guilty. If not he is undoubtedly guilty.
QUESTION: Does the accused admit guilt?
CONCLUSION: If so, he is a perpetrator. If not, he is undoubtedly a perpetrator, for perpetrators always represent themselves as innocent. He must be in denial!"
pg 99-100
"The witch hunters of three hundred years ago and the regressionists of today share a common misconception. They assume that similarity in details proves accusations, but they fail to see that it is they themselves who create the uniform reports through their own teachings, media influence, recovery groups, seminars , and readings. In science we call this the contagion effect.
pg 101
"The theory of repressed memory was just that, a theory which Freud created and later rejected. Despite one hundred years of research there was no scientific evidence confirming its reality."
pg 103
"False memory syndrome is especially destructive because the person assiduously avoids confrontation with any evidence that might challenge the memory. Thus is takes on a life of its own, encapsulated and resistant to correction. The person may be effectively distracted form coping with the real problems in her life."
pg 105
Impact of recovered memory therapy is interesting. A variety of life state and personal behaviors before and after Regression Therapy are presented in the graph of data (below). The data is from a study by the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries:
*Prior to Regression Therapy: 10% exhibited suicidal
ideation or attempts after therapy this expanded to 67%
*Prior to Regression Therapy: 10% had been
hospitalized, after therapy this expanded to 37%
*Prior to Regression Therapy: 3% had engaged in
self mutilation, after therapy this grew to 27%
*Prior to Regression Therapy: only 3% had engaged in
self mutilation, after therapy this grew to 27%
*Prior to Regression Therapy: only 83% were employed,
after therapy only 10% were employed
*Prior to Regression Therapy: 77% married, after
therapy three years later 48% were married
*Prior to Regression Therapy: 0% estranged from family
after therapy three years later 100% were estranged family
*After Regression Therapy: 23% lost custody of children
* Average cost of the Crime Victims Compensation Program
that did not involve recovered memories was: $2,672...
cost for Regression Therapy dramatically higher: $12,296
Imagine if Regressionism (use of Recovered Memories) were pills in a bottle sitting on the shelf at the local pharmacy. Based on the clearly destructive results of these "pills" the Food and Drug Administration would have them off the shelf yesterday...The exotic, deadly claims of regressionists (recovered memory support groups and books) go unchecked destroying thousands in their wake. Even if there are acutal cases of repression, we know that the proposed "cure" of regression therapies is often deadlier than the disease."
pg 108
In this section of the book the author has begun to realize the gravity of his error and his misunderstanding concerning the memories which he now realized were fantasies (as Freud also conclude a hundred years earlier).
"I was starting to realize that I had been an integral part of this injustice. I had believed that my clients who were making the accusations, but I wasn't allowing the accused, the parents and siblings, to be part of their own trial and conviction"
pg 109
"Earlier I had told you how the parents had been distant, but that was nothing compared to the suspicions the retractors had about me. Here I was a psychologist and a Christian, for many retractors the exact parallel to their therapeutic abusers....Suddenly more retractors were contacting me with questions they had "How could I have seen these things so clearly?" "Am I crazy because I was able to fantasize so vividly?" "I don't know how to make it back to my family. Can You help?"
pg 120
Based on extensive testimony of experts and research by legal scholars concerning lawsuits against those using Recovered Memory Techniques a New Hampshire Supreme Court landmark legal case concluded:
"It is inappropriately suggestive for a therapist to communicate to a client his or her belief that a dream or flashback is a representation of a real event, that a physical pain is a "body memory" of sexual abuse, or that a particular memory recovered by a client is in fact a real event."
pg 138
"The recovered memory movement in modern America is a sterling example of victim culture at its very worst. The pain of being overweight, in a bad marriage, addicted to alcohol, lazy, and a legion of other consequences from wrong choices are conveniently blamed on fantasies of abusing satanists, space aliens, or parents, rather than the logical result of inappropriate decisions a person has made."
pg 176
"In sharp contrast, Scripture teaches a forward-looking focus" "But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press forward to the goal to win the prize..." Phil 3:13-4
"As we live out Christ's truth, we naturally bear the fruit of love, joy, peace...."Gal 5:22
pg 188
"I was a dutiful disciple of regression beliefs and practices-as a psychologist and a Christian I promoted this cause with greatest sincerity. But my journey in searching for the truth took me to a radically different conclusion than my regression indoctrination had trained me in. In the final analysis, I cam to understand the recovered memory movement is not about abusing white males, elusive satanists, hidden past lives, or marauding space aliens. It's about mental health fraud, unleashed zeal and societal hysteria."
pg 219
Appendix Title:
"A Word to Regression Believers"
"Wholeness. Liberty. New Life. Hope. There are people who go through life never believing in any of these things, but not you. The very fact that you sought help to begin with shows you're a believer in something bigger than yourself, you're teachable, you're strong, and you're a fighter."
pg 229
Appendix Title:
"A Word to Regression Believers"
"Wholeness. Liberty. New Life. Hope. There are people who go through life never believing in any of these things, but not you. The very fact that you sought help to begin with shows you're a believer in something bigger than yourself, you're teachable, you're strong, and you're a fighter."
pg 229
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This is an effort to Break the Cycle of Shame
and Save Others from Similar Tragedy!
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