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ISSN #1069-0484. Copyright (c) 1998 by the FMS Foundation
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The FMSF Newsletter is published 10 times a year by the False
Memory Syndrome Foundation. A hard-copy subscription is in-
cluded in membership fees (to join, see last page). Others may
subscribe by sending a check or money order, payable to
FMS Foundation, to the address below. 1998 subscription rates:
USA: 1 year $30, Student $15; Canada: $35 (in U.S. dollars);
Foreign: $40; Foreign student $20; Single issue price: $3.
3401 Market Street suite 130, Philadelphia, PA 19104-3315
This address and the phone numbers have changed as of July 15, 2000
Phone 215-387-1865, Fax 215-387-1917
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IN THIS ISSUE:
Merle Elson
Loren Pankratz
Legal Corner
Tana Dineen
Make a Difference
From Our Readers
Bulletin Board
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Dear Friends,
Are we entering a new phase of FMS legal activity? It seems likely.
Fraud is the key word in two criminal trials described in the Legal
Corner this month. Leading proponents of recovered memory therapy are
faced with imprisonment and fines-punishments against which their
malpractice insurance will not protect them. And in Chicago, Dr.
Bennett Braun will appear before an administrative judge to determine
if his license to practice will be revoked.
The federal criminal trial against five professionals associated
with Spring Shadows Glen Hospital is set to begin in Houston on
September 8, 1998. (United States of America v. Peterson, Seward,
Mueck, Keraga and Davis) The trial is expected to take three months
and will probably cover some of the many "treatments" at Spring
Shadows Glen exposed in Ofra Bikel's Frontline documentary "Search for
Satan" (October 24, 1995, PBS). The charges include mail fraud,
insurance fraud and knowingly misdiagnosing MPD in order to keep
patients in the hospital. This trial is the first time that
professionals have ever been treated as criminals for using
"mind-altering" techniques for their own purpose rather than for the
patient's well-being.
One professional told us that this case doesn't have any relevance
to him or to most psychotherapists. We differ, although we acknowledge
that this attitude is both prevalent and problematic. We see the trial
as cutting to the heart of issues that concern all mental health
professionals. By their silence and inaction, the major mental health
organizations have contributed to a climate that tolerated fraud-from
deceptive recruitment of patients, to kickbacks to doctors for patient
referrals, to the use of dangerous memory-recovery techniques. We hope
that criminal convictions and attendant media coverage may finally
persuade some of the major professional associations that this casual
stance is not tolerable by the standards of the community.
In this tragic time, when government prosecutors have been forced
to assume the role of guardians of the profession, many therapists
have cause to worry: therapists who used hypnosis or hypnosis-like
techniques for memory work without informing patients of the risks;
therapists who diagnosed patients as suffering from the results of
intergenerational satanic cult abuse; therapists who told patients
that they had "all the signs of sexual abuse" and treated them for
something that did not happen; therapists who defamed parents they
never met, or who advised patients to cut off from their families-all
such therapists are about to see those practices under attack in a
federal criminal trial.
The Ramona case in 1994 was significant because it opened the door
for someone other than a patient to sue a therapist. The Peterson, et
al., trial, however, is significant in ways that directly affect the
practice of psychotherapy. If it does nothing else, this trial
emphasizes that there is no freedom to exploit or harm patients just
because one is a mental health professional.
The legal action filed in August by the Illinois Department of
License and Inspection to revoke Bennett Braun's license is another
significant and related event. Bennett Braun, M.D., whose recent $10.6
million settlement with a patient received national attention, was key
to the development and spread of recovered memory therapy practices.
He was a founder of International Society for the Study of Multiple
Personality (now ISSD) whose journals and conferences taught others
about techniques for recovering "repressed memories." "Every MPD
patient in the country owes a personal debt of gratitude to Buddy
[Braun]. He's the first ever to get a unit set up for these people,
and all the other units around the country followed the trail he has
blazed," said Richard Kluft, M.D. when honoring Braun in 1994.[1]
Gloria Steinem credited Braun in Revolution From Within, thus ensuring
the support of the women's movement.
How long will discredited professionals and discredited beliefs be
given credence? The criminal trial about to start in Houston brings
disgrace to the whole mental health profession. The beliefs and
actions that caused the federal government to step in did not take
place in a vacuum. Professional silence conferred consent. It is long
past time to end that silence and to update and revise professional
statements about recovered memory. The Royal College of Psychiatrists
"Reported recovered memories of child sexual abuse" Psychiatric
Bulletin (1997) 21, 663-665 is a fine model. Families, professionals,
friends who read this newsletter, let the mental health organizations
listed in the box below know that now is the time for them to speak.
PAMELA
[1] quoted in Keenan, M "The Devil and Dr. Braun", New City, June 22,
1995
____________________SIDEBAR_____________________
/ \
| American Psychiatric Association |
| Steven Mirin, M.D., Executive Director |
| 1400 K Street NW |
| Washington, DC 20005 |
| |
| American Psychological Association |
| Raymond Fowler, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer |
| 750 1st St. NE |
| Washington, DC 20002 |
| |
| National Association of Social Workers |
| Josephine Nieves, Ph.D., Executive Director |
| 750 1st St NE |
| Washington, DC 20002 |
\________________________________________________/
+----------------------------------------------------------+
| SPECIAL THANKS |
| |
| We extend a very special `Thank you' to all of |
| the people who help prepare the FMSF Newsletter. |
| |
| EDITORIAL SUPPORT: Toby Feld, Allen Feld, |
| Janet Fetkewicz, Howard Fishman, Peter Freyd |
| RESEARCH: Merci Federici, Michele Gregg, Anita Lipton |
| NOTICES and PRODUCTION: Ric Powell |
| COLUMNISTS: Katie Spanuello and |
| members of the FMSF Scientific Advisory Board |
| LETTERS and INFORMATION: Our Readers |
+----------------------------------------------------------+
______________________________SIDEBAR_______________________________
/ \
| We are pleased to report that Allen Feld is recovering from the |
| serious accident he suffered on June 7 when hit by a car while |
| bicycling. |
| |
| Allen is a prolific contributor to this newsletter. He is Director |
| of Continuing Education for the Foundation, a position he has held |
| since retirement as a professor of social work.. |
| |
| Allen and Toby Feld thank the many people who have sent messages |
| and cards. |
\____________________________________________________________________/
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________________________________________________________
Canadian Psychological Association Wants Federal Inquiry
The Canadian Psychological Association has written that all criminal
convictions based solely on "recovered memory" evidence should be the
subject of a Justice Ministry inquiry according to the Ottawa Citizen
(June 21, 1998). The association's board passed the motion to request
such an inquiry at its meeting on June 6. The psychological
association has 4,500 members and is the first mental health
organization to call for the inquiry that was initiated in May by Alan
Gold, president of the Criminal Lawyers Association.
__________________________________________________
Canada's Justice Minister to Review Sex Abuse Case
Canada's justice minister has agreed to review the case of a Manitoba
man imprisoned for sexually abusing his daughters. The man and his
supporters insist the man was wrongly convicted and jailed last summer
on the basis of recovered memories. The man has already lost an appeal
of his four-year sentence in Manitoba.
____________________________
Doubt Cast on Story of Sybil
New York Times, August 19, 1998
Robert Rieber of John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York says
that newly-found 25-year-old tape recordings show that Sybil, the
woman made famous in book and movie for her multiple personalities,
was really just a single troubled personality. Rieber presented his
analysis of the conversations between psychiatrist Dr. Cornelia Wilbur
and author Flora Schreiber at the American Psychological Association
meeting in San Francisco. (See FMSF Newsletter, December 1997 for more
details about these tapes.)
_____________________
Recovered Memory Flap
In June CNN fired two people, accepted the resignation of another, and
then apologized for releasing a false story apparently based on a
"recovered memory" incident:
"If, as with CNN, you rely on a source who later says he has
experienced 'recovered memories,' you're in trouble."
San Francisco Examiner, July 5, 1997.
"'[R]epressed memories,' an exceedingly shaky source of
information."
Providence Journal-Bulletin, July 5, 1998.
"[V]erification came from a military official who had heard only
rumors and an operation participant who recalled the nerve gas
use as a 'repressed memory.' Ridiculously weak stuff on which to
hang a news story..."
Las Vegas Review-Journal July 7, 1998.
CNN asked Floyd Abrams, the famous first-amendment lawyer, to
investigate. A widely quoted passage from his report:
"[H]e has in spectacularly self-destructive fashion, [Van Buskirk]
stated that he had repressed memory syndrome. . . [R]ecent reports
that he attributes to repressed memory his previous failure to
recall the encounter with defectors as he now describes it makes
continued reliance upon him all the more problematic."
_______________________
False Accusations Stick
In July, a one-hour documentary of the life of Cardinal Bernardin was
aired on PBS. About six minutes of the program were devoted to the
accusation of sexual abuse based on a "recovered repressed memory"
that was later retracted by Steven Cook. Each of the first ten reviews
of this program appearing on Nexis mentioned the accusation and some
even made the accusation the main topic of the review.
An accusation of sex abuse is not something that the media puts
aside even if it has been retracted by the accuser. When Cardinal
Bernardin died on November 15, 1996, 57 papers covered by NEXIS
published obituaries the next day. Most of them (79%) mentioned the
accusation.
__________________________
Continuing Education Watch
A glance at a New Age throw-away from Seattle, Washington indicates
that a growing number of therapists are promoting themselves as
"intuitive." We were not surprised, therefore to read in Publishers
Weekly (March 16, 1998) about a new book called Awakening Intuition:
Using Your Mind-Body Network for Insight and Healing by Mona Lisa
Schulz, M.D. Readers of this newsletter (and perhaps the American
Medical Association) will be interested in her claims. She calls
herself a "medical intuitive" and claims "to be able, over the
telephone, to discern a person's physical and emotional condition and
the linkage between them." According to Publishers Weekly, she
includes numerous examples of her remarkable intuitive readings. In
one, she intuits that "her caller has a uterine fibroid cyst and
labels it as the physical manifestation of an unhappy relationship
with a cross-dressing lover."
Such notions are treasured and protected in our country of free
speech. For skeptics, they provide the gist of fun. When "intuitive"
psychological notions receive implicit endorsement by the American
Psychological Association it is another matter. This summer we
received a brochure advertising a seminar taught by one Caroline Myss,
Ph.D., self-described as "a pioneer in the field of energy medicine
and human consciousness." We learn that "she holds a doctorate in
intuition and energy medicine from Greenwich University in Hilo,
Hawaii -- the country's first such degree." (Greenwich University is
an unaccredited correspondence school in a town 200 miles southeast of
Honolulu.) The brochure goes on: "From 1982-1995 she worked as a
medical intuitive: one who 'sees' illnesses in a patient's body by
intuitive means...Caroline no longer does private readings."
The seminar has been approved for nine credit hours by The
Association for Humanistic Psychology which, in turn, is approved by
the American Psychological Association as a provider for continuing
education credit. The topic of these talks will be "Archetypes and
Sacred Contracts." What's a Sacred Contract? We quote: "an agreement
we make before we incarnate."
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
| FUND DRIVE ALERT |
| |
| Charles Caviness and Lee Arning are now working on the |
| Foundation's financial needs to be addressed in our annual fall |
| fund drive. Please keep your eye out for their letter due in |
| October and remember how vital your commitment is to the |
| continuance of our important work. |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
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CLOUSEAU LOAN FUND
The FMS Foundation is pleased to announce the formation of a special
fund to help foundation members initiate educational meetings. A
relative of a foundation family has donated $500 to be used for loans
to encourage conferences to which professionals are invited. Loans are
limited to $200 per state per occasion. The criteria for making those
loans are specified as follows:
1. Loans are to be repaid from the proceeds of the conference.
2. Preferences will be given to locations that have not had
professional conferences.
3. A secondary, yet important priority, will be for family meetings
that invite professionals to attend.
4. Loans are intended to help defray expenses for getting
professionals to attend (e.g. mailings, poster, advertisements).
To apply, send a one page description to the Foundation with the
following information:
* Conference Title
* Date of Conference
* Speaker(s) who ha(s)ve tentatively agreed to participate
* Location
* Professionals to be invited
* Publicity and mailing plans
* Conference fee
* Budget
* Amount requested
+--------------------------------------------------+
| false memory syndrome: a psychological condition |
| in which a person believes that he or she |
| remembers events that have not actually occurred |
| |
| Random House Compact Unabridged Dictionary |
| Special Second Edition, 1996, Addenda |
+--------------------------------------------------+
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ISTSS REPORT
In June, the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies
(ISTSS) published a pamphlet entitled "Childhood Trauma Remembered: A
report on the current scientific knowledge base and its applications"
under the Chief Editorship of Susan Roth, Ph.D., Duke University and
Matthew J. Friedman, M.D., Ph.D, National Center for PTSD. When it was
being prepared several respected memory researchers joined on as
contributers ensuring that the information about the nature of memory
is accurate. But the document as a whole is slanted, as was evidenced
by the headline of a story about the report in Dr. Roth's hometown
newspaper: "Expert debunks false memories of sexual traumas." (The
Durham Herald-Sun, June 28, 1998.)
The slant can be found scattered throughout the text. For example,
the Linda Williams 1994 study is described as reporting that 38% of
the women in her sample "did not recall the documented abuse." As many
have pointed out, that study said that 38% failed to report in a one-
time interview the particular "index event." Many subjects remembered
some abuse memories but not the particular "index event;" only 12%
reported no abuse memories. Failure to report may indicate a failure
to remember among other possibilities (non-reporting, etc.), but does
not indicate dissociation or repression. There is much evidence that
what one reports about one's childhood abuse in a first interview and
what one reports in subsequent interview may be different. In any
case, failure to report is not evidence of failure to remember. (Linda
Williams edited this section.)
The slant becomes most noticeable in the suggested readings and the
accompanying comments. For example, in the final section (edited by
ISTSS president, Sandra L. Bloom, M.D., a frequent contributor to
Psychohistory) the reader is directed primarily to material that is
directly antagonistic to the FMSF. The recommended authors are Bowman,
D.Brown, L.S.Brown, Hammond, Knapp, Mertz, K.Pope, Scheflin,
VandeCreek, and the authors of an amicus brief filed in the New
Hampshire v Hungerford case. The latter is described as follows: "This
'friend of the court' legal document is concerned with the
admissibility of testimony concerning recovered memories about
childhood, sexual abuse, and more specifically with the court's
recognition of traumatic amnesia as a well-documented symptom that may
result from severe trauma." The reader is not told that this brief was
directly refuted by the New Hampshire Supreme Court.
(The decision is available from the Foundation, [# 843__$4]. The
influential trial decision that engendered the amicus brief is also
available [#837__$3.50] as is the Foundation's amicus brief
[#809__$30]. The ACLU also submitted a brief that supported the
Foundation's position. None of these documents is mentioned in the
ISTSS pamphlet.)
______________________________SIDEBAR_______________________________
/ \
| "[I]n any situation where false allegations are allowed to |
| proliferate, those who have made well-founded ones are exposed. |
| It is precisely for this reason, however, that false allegations |
| should be exposed sooner rather than later. For if they are |
| treated as if they were genuine, then the entire currency of |
| complaints becomes debased and there is a grave danger that |
| children who really are being abused (or adults who have been |
| abused in the past) will find themselves once more being |
| systematically disbelieved -- as has happened before with tragic |
| results." |
| Richard Webster, p. 52 |
| The Great Children's Home Panic |
| Oxford: Orwell Press, 1998 |
\____________________________________________________________________/
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The Effects of the False Memory Syndrome on Australian Families
Merle Elson, MAPS
Newsletter readers know only too well the devastating effects of FMS
in the United States. Sadly, this phenomenon has spread throughout
most of the Western world, and Australian families, too, have
experienced harm from the misuse of therapy to recover pseudomemories.
Although the Australian continent covers an area as large as mainland
USA, our population is only 18 million. The numbers affected by FMS,
however, are as high in proportion as in North America.
In 1994, following unexpected and, to us, unbelievable allegations
of sexual abuse against my husband by his 42-year-old daughter, we
traveled to the FMS Foundation in Philadelphia and to the British
False Memory Society in Bradford-on-Avon, desperately seeking
information. Whilst overseas, we learned of several other accused
parents in the State of South Australia who were also actively trying
to comprehend the False Memory Syndrome.
Inspired by the heart-warming practical support we received in
Philadelphia and from Roger Scotford in England, we contacted the
South Australian parents on our return and held a meeting in our home
in the State of Victoria in July 1994. From that small gathering of
twelve families, the Australian False Memory Association (AFMA) was
created. As a psychologist, I felt it imperative that the AFMA have an
Advisory Board of reputable professionals and academics with expertise
in the field of memory. We were fortunate to have the leadership of
Irene Curtis as President of the AFMA. Many hundreds of affected
Australian families have since contacted and received help and support
from the Association.
Those who read August Piper's account of his recent trip to Germany
in the April 1998 FMSF Newsletter may be interested to know that
Australians, like Germans, do not enter therapy as readily as
Americans and, if the do, do not divulge it to others. They also
generally keep their personal lives private and dislike public
disclosure of any family problems. These traits have caused
difficulties in building an active FMS association: although many
hundreds make anonymous contact, few are prepared to become members,
and only a handful have dared to appear on television or talk to the
media. Those who have spoken out, however, have greatly improved the
local situation. Recently two Melbourne lawyers have even initiated
the first Australian legal action against a therapist for the
implantation of false memories. Unfortunately, until those responsible
for harm are held accountable financially and legally for the damage
inflicted by RMT, there will not be a dramatic improvement in the
behaviour of disreputable therapists.
During 1997/98, I conducted a survey of AFMA families regarding
their personal experiences with the False Memory Syndrome. With 83
surveys returned, the response rate was 75%. The eight-page
questionnaire was similar to one used by the FMSF and the British and
New Zealand associations. Although the Australian study was on a
smaller scale, it was fascinating to note the many similarities among
families in the United States, Great Britain and New Zealand. I have
briefly summarized a few of the interesting results of the survey:
THE FAMILIES: Typically the accused fathers in the Australian
survey were similar to their American counterparts: well-educated,
white, of high socio-economic status with an average age of 63. Over a
third were born overseas, the majority in Britain. Ten percent of the
fathers were members of the clergy. There was a disproportionate
representation of 'fundamentalist' religions among accused families --
39% compared to 3% of the total Australian population. As adults, 25%
of the accusers were conducting religious activities. These factors
may not be as noteworthy in the United States, but present-day
Australia is a more secular, non-church-going country.
The ACCUSERS: The results confirmed the observations of accused
families and FMS associations that a large percentage of accusers work
in the fields of counselling and sexual abuse. The above-average
intelligence of the accusers was also confirmed, not only by parental
assessment but also by school completion rates and university
attendance -- 60% compared to the current Australian average of 25%
attending tertiary institutions. Another relevant variable in the
accusers' lives was the absence of satisfactory personal
relationships. Very few were in what the respondents classified as a
happy marriage or partnership. Even amongst those who were married or
in a relationship at the time of their allegations, many had broken up
two to three years later. Therefore, in addition to other triggering
events, being without a supportive partner appears to be a risk factor
for an accuser. American parents may be shocked to know that 47% of
the Australian accusers were known to have read the Bass & Davis book,
Courage to Heal (1988).
STRESS: It was observed, and supported by results in other surveys,
that various stressors in the accusers' current stage of life appear
to play a precipitating role in the recovery of false memories. The
Australian survey demonstrated that the most prevalent stress factor
affecting the accuser was moving from one house to another -- not only
rated the most frequent stressful event just prior to the accusations
being made, but also the highest rated event classified as family
stress during the accuser's childhood.
THERAPY: For a nation not generally considered "therapy-goers," it
was surprising to see the level of involvement that the accusers had
with therapists. Almost all were involved in therapy and had seen more
than one therapist. One accusing person actually saw ten different
therapists and one 20-year-old had already visited nine. The average
length of time in therapy was 3 1/2 years, and at the time of the
survey 31% were still attending. Where RMT is concerned, Australia has
followed the American experience of vulnerable people becoming
dependent on their therapists.
AFTER-EFFECTS of ACCUSATIONS: Although one of the major limitations
of this type of study is the lack of a control group, it is still
possible to make some observations without implying a causal
relationship between events. For example, this survey found that
almost a quarter of the accusers either attempted suicide, committed
suicide or had suicidal thoughts -- in addition to self-mutilation,
severe depression, violence, drug and alcohol abuse -- following the
recovery of their "memories."
The effects on the accused persons were just as dramatic: 96%
reported deterioration in their health, including cancer, heart
attacks, strokes, depression, mental breakdown and severe stress
reactions. Three-quarters of their partners also experienced marked
deteriorating health, including four deaths that were blamed on the
stress of the accusations. Even allowing for the natural decline in
general health in this age-group, these findings indicate some the
harmful side effects of accusations based on RMT.
ACTUAL SEXUAL ABUSE: The most unexpected and surprising finding in
my survey was the prevalence of known sexual abuse experienced by the
accusers earlier in their lives, including a large percentage during
their childhood. In response to a question regarding childhood
experiences, 13% of parents reported sexual abuse perpetrated by some
other person on their accusing child. This level of childhood sexual
abuse is noteworthy as it was provided in response to a general
questions about stressful family experiences that "may have affected
the accusing child." Thirteen percent appears to be a high rate of
childhood sexual abuse to be reported when not specifically asked
about it.
A separate section asked if the respondent knew of any sexual abuse
suffered by the accusing person. Respondents reported that 33% of the
accusing persons were known to have been sexually molested, abused or
raped (by persons other than the parents). While high, this figure may
be an underestimate of all the abuse that occurred. As a psychologist
in the field of sexual abuse for many years, I have observed that many
genuine victims of sexual abuse often do not confide in their parents
or others. The limited results of this survey indicate that more than
one in five of this sample were known to have been sexually abused as
children by others but not by those they are currently accusing based
on their recently "recovered memories."
This Australian survey raises more questions than it has
answered. Several issues require further investigation. For example,
the impact of recovered memory allegations on the health of all
concerned, and the possibility that those who have been sexually
abused as children may later be susceptible to recovering false
memories, especially in relation to the identity of their abuser. It
would also be of interest to collate and compare all the findings
already amassed by the various surveys conducted in the US, the UK,
New Zealand and Australia.
Merle Elson, MAPS, is a counsellor at Monash University and a
psychologist in private practice. She is a member of the AFMA
Professional Advisory Board.
Contact Elson Psychological Services, PO Box 212, Black Rock, 3193,
Victoria, Australia for information about the full 40-page report.
______________________________SIDEBAR_______________________________
/ \
| "Each time we re-member we remake the memory, literally, in terms |
| of brain processes. Which is why 'false memories,' even if they |
| only got there a few weeks ago courtesy of a psychotherapist, may |
| be just as real to the person who has them as are historically |
| verifiable 'true' memories. Memories are a way of ordering and |
| making sense of our unique life histories." |
| Steven Rose |
| The Guardian, May 23, 1998 |
\____________________________________________________________________/
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B O O K R E V I E W
HOAX AND REALITY:
The bizarre world of Multiple Personality Disorder
by August Piper, Jr., M.D.
Northvale NJ: Jason Aronson, 1997
Reviewed by Loren Pankratz, Ph.D.
Paul McHugh's Foreward to Hoax and Reality eloquently explains the
importance of this book. The concept of multiple personality disorder,
he notes, has wielded considerable power over psychotherapists and
consumed the time of courts during the past decade. How could we have
wasted so much energy in this Sherlock Holmes fantasy in which
therapists ferret out sexual abuse hidden behind the illusion of
repressed memories?
McHugh is also correct in concluding that it must have taken a firm
will to review this current fad. Indeed, Piper has meticulously
gathered the heart of a vast body of literature in this field. The
results of his efforts, however, are not tedious. This is a delightful
book to read, and it is filled with the insights of a sensitive
psychotherapist.
This is not a slash-and-burn book. Piper allows the strongest
proponents of MPD to present their best case. This allows the reader
to gain a strange sense of just how far they have strayed from common
sense.
What do they say about the psychological cost of entering therapy?
Unanimously, they admit that treatment often stirs up problems. Kluft
believes that patients will be more symptomatic once therapy begins
because symptoms become more complicated as more time is spent in
treatment. Braun says the patient may become more dissociative, more
anxious, or more depressed during therapy. Bass and Davis warn that
the decision to enter therapy often wreaks havoc with marriages and
intimate relationships. It can become hard to function, to go to work,
to study, to think to smile, to perform. Ross even says that
amplifying a simple dissociative disorder into a full multiple
personality disorder might not be a bad thing because it predicts a
better treatment outcome. Piper rightly wonders why anyone would be
surprised about an iatrogenic [treatment induced] outcome. The
indicators for disaster ahead are clear. He quotes one patient asking
her therapist something like, "Don't you think it's odd that all your
patients want to kill themselves after they're in therapy with you?"
An attorney recently told me of an experience that highlighted the
power of this book. He was preparing to depose a psychiatrist known to
believe in MPD. That belief was of critical importance to the opposing
side. The attorney prepared himself by composing questions directly
from Piper's book. Although the psychiatrist may have believed in MPD
in some abstract way, he endorsed the logic of the attorney's
questions. The leading questions were so seamless, the opposing side
could not insert an objection.
It is usually depressing to read a book of this type. In this
instance, instead of simply hearing how bad things are, the reader is
lifted by Piper's tune of good judgment, the ring of truth, and (most
important) the clear notes of concern for patient welfare.
Loren Pankratz, Ph.D. is a Consultation Psychologist and Clinical
Professor at the Oregon Health Sciences University, Portland, OR.
He is a member of the FMSF Scientific Advisory Board.
Editor's Comment: Because of the flood of legal actions involving the
diagnosis of multiple personality disorder (MPD), we consider it
important to remind readers about this book. (See April, 1997 issue.)
It is a major tool in understanding the controversy about the MPD
diagnosis. We also strongly recommend Multiple Identities and False
Memories: A sociocognitive perspective, Nicholas P. Spanos. (American
Psychological Association, 1996)
______________________________SIDEBAR_______________________________
/ \
| Update: Souza Motion for New Trial Denied |
| |
| On July 7, Massachusetts Judge Elizabeth Dolan denied a motion for |
| a new trial but did not say whether the Souzas, both 66 and under |
| house arrest, must go to prison. Kevin Nixon, attorney for the |
| Souzas said he has appealed Dolan's decision. Pending a decision |
| from the appeals court, the Souzas are expected to remain at home |
| under house arrest. |
\____________________________________________________________________/
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L E G A L C O R N E R
FMSF Staff
__________________________________________________________________
Criminal Indictments Attack Controversial Idea of Repressed Memory
Criminal Trial Against Therapists Begins in Texas
United States of America v. Peterson, et al.
U.S. Dist. Ct., Southern Dist., Texas, No. H-97-237.[1]
Trial is scheduled to begin September 8th in Texas as four mental
health professionals and a psychiatric hospital administrator face
criminal charges that include allegations of "implanting" false
memories during psychotherapy. The five have been charged with 60
counts of conspiracy to defraud insurance companies and mail fraud
while operating a clinic at Spring Shadows Glen Hospital in Texas.
They allegedly reaped millions of dollars in fraudulent insurance
payments by "implanting" false memories of ritual satanic abuse using
what the indictment calls "techniques commonly associated with mind
control and brainwashing."
Soon after this indictment was handed down in October 1997, an
unlicensed Missouri hypnotherapist entered a plea in a criminal
prosecution related to recovered memory treatment she had provided her
patient. Together, those two criminal prosecutions represent a new
wave of legal actions involving the controversial theory of recovered
memories.
[1] See FMSF Brief Bank #176 and FMSF Newsletter December 1997.
_________________________________
Missouri Hypnotherapist Sentenced
State of Missouri v. Geraldine Lamb, T.L.,
Circuit Ct., St. Louis Co., Missouri, No.___[2]
On June 26, an unlicensed Missouri hypnotherapist was sentenced to 30
months in state prison following a plea bargain. In April 1998,
Geraldine A. Lamb had pleaded guilty to two counts of insurance fraud
and one misdemeanor count of practicing psychology without a license.
In her plea bargain, the felony charges that included "implanting"
false memories were dropped.
Two psychologists who practiced in the counseling center Lamb
founded, were charged with allowing Lamb to use their names on
fraudulent bills submitted to insurance companies. Both pleaded guilty
to misdemeanors. They were placed on probation and ordered to make
restitution.
The indictment, originally handed up in April 1996, described how
Lamb used undue influence to convince her client that she had been
ritually abused, that she must cease all contact with her family, and
that she must go on disability in order to get well.
[2] See FMSF Brief Bank #121 and FMSF Newsletter June 1996.
________________________________________________
Controversial Psychiatrist Faces Loss of License
Illinois Department of Professional Regulation v. Braun.
No. 1998-10343-01 [3]
The Illinois Department of Professional Regulation issued a nine-count
complaint outlining how, according to officials, Chicago psychiatrist
Bennett Braun nearly destroyed the lives of a family he treated during
the late 1980s. The complaint is the first step in the state agency's
move to strip Dr. Braun of his medical license. It alleges gross
negligence; dishonorable, unethical and unprofessional conduct; making
false or misleading statements; and improper prescription of
controlled substances.
According to Thomas Glasgow, chief of medical prosecutions for the
Department, Braun used irresponsible combinations of Halcion, Xanax,
sedatives, hypnotic psychotropic drugs, and prescribed Inderal, a
blood pressure drug, at levels "that weren't even animal-tested at the
time." Glasgow is quoted as saying, "[Braun] misused the course of
treatment of multiple-personality disorder the way a surgeon misuses a
knife. . . The problem here is that someone with an inordinate amount
of trust, who was caring for extremely fragile and susceptible
psychiatric patients, misused both his prestige and his medical
ability."
Through conferences, videotapes and seminars, Braun, 58, has helped
train many of those now treating multiple-personality disorder around
the country.
A preliminary hearing before a Department of Professional
Regulation administrative judge is scheduled for September 28. Braun's
attorney, Harvey Harris, declined to comment other than to say he
believed most of the sensational press coverage surrounding the case
to be false.
According to the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin (8/13/98), Dr. Braun
has been sued by five former patients. Four of the suits were filed in
the last 3 years in Cook County Circuit Court, Illinois and one was
filed this year in the U.S. District Court in Illinois. While details
of the allegations vary, the suits contend that Braun misdiagnosed his
patients as having multiple personalities and dredged up false
memories that included accounts of murder, incest, rape, satanic
worship, human sacrifice or other traumatizing events. Two of the
suits have been settled without admission of liability on the part of
Braun, while the others are pending. Last October, Braun and
Rush-Presbyterian paid $10.6 million to Burgus to settle a civil
lawsuit against them. The amount is among the highest ever in a false
memory case.[4]
[3] See FMSF Brief Bank #203 for copy of Complaint. See also C.
Grumman, Chicago Tribune, 8/13/98
[4] See FMSF Newsletter November and December 1997.
____________________________________________________________
Minnesota Therapist Censured for Mixing Beliefs and Practice
M. Lerner, Star Tribune, (7/14/98)
The Minnesota Board of Psychology reprimanded Thomas Heyer, a
Minnesota psychologist, in part for allowing his belief in "evil
spirits" to inappropriately influence his treatment of patients with
multiple personalities. Under the consent decree, Heyer agreed to stop
treating patients with multiple personalities or dissociative
disorders. He is also restricted to practicing under the supervision
of another psychologist and must take a course in proper professional
conduct.
Heyer admitted to the board that he engaged in "unprofessional
conduct" while treating two patients. He admitted treating both of
them at his home and admitted talking to them about satanic ritual
abuse, which he believes can cause multiple-personality disorders.
__________________________________________________
Psychiatric Malpractice Trial Ends Two Weeks Early
Greene v. Charter Pines Hospital, Wallace, Timmons, et al.,
Superior Court, Mecklenburg, NC, No. 96-CVS-5235 [5]
On July 5th, a psychiatric malpractice trial involving false memories
began in North Carolina. Plaintiff Susan Greene sued her former
treating psychiatrist, psychologist, and a hospital for medical
malpractice, intentional and negligent infliction of emotional
distress and fraud. Closing arguments were moved forward two weeks to
August 17 after several defense experts failed to appear.
Greene is represented by Robert Dugan of Ashville and
R. Christopher Barden of Salt Lake City. Plaintiff's experts include
George Ganaway, M.D., August Piper, Jr., M.D., Keith Horton, M.D.,
Richard Ofshe, Ph.D., Elizabeth Loftus, Ph.D., and William Grove,
Ph.D. The defense began its presentations August 4th. Witnesses for
defendant psychiatrist J.W. Scott Wallace are Seymour Halleck, M.D.,
John Reckless, M.D., and Joseph Weiss, M.D. Witnesses for defendant
psychologist Daphne Timmons include Judith Armstrong, Ph.D., and Tom
Guthiel, M.D. Five announced defense expert witnesses failed to
appear: Daniel Brown, Ph.D., Doug Jacobs, M.D., John McIntyre, M.D.,
Richard Lowenstein, M.D., and John Gunderson, M.D.
Greene originally sought help from Timmons to deal with an eating
disorder. Timmons reportedly told Greene she believed her to be a
victim of childhood sexual abuse and that she suffered from multiple
personalities. Any resistance from Greene was labeled as part of the
illness and was punished with threats of abandonment, endless mental
illness, and confinement in a state mental hospital.
In an attempt to "revive" memories of abuse, the treatment included
the use of sodium amytal interviews, hypnosis, guided imagery, and
role-playing exercises in which Wallace portrayed a kidnapping and
murder and sometimes tied Greene up with rope, touched her, kissed
her, and held a toy gun to her head. She was not informed of the
hazards of such treatment. Instead she was told that while under
hypnosis and sodium amytal she had revealed a long history of sexual
and physical abuse at the hands of numerous people.
As a result of these methods, Greene was hospitalized on numerous
occasions and became addicted to the medications prescribed for
her. Greene was told that she could never recover without accusing her
relatives and numerous other individuals of sexual molestation. As
Greene tried to follow her therapist's demands to remember more
incidents of abuse, she became more depressed and anxious, which
ultimately caused her to withdraw from college.
We have been informed that in North Carolina, if the jury assigns
any portion of the responsibility to the plaintiff in a malpractice
case, they do not have to make any award to the plaintiff.
[5] See FMSF Brief Bank #199.
________________________________
Settlement Negotiations Underway
in Pennsylvania Psychiatric Malpractice Suit
Marietti, et al., v. Kluft, Dissociative Disorders Program and
Institute of the Pennsylvania Hospital,
Ct. of Common Pleas, Phila. Co., Penn., No. 9509-02260 [6]
A psychiatric malpractice trial against Richard Kluft, M.D. and the
Institute of Pennsylvania Hospital began June 26th in Philadelphia.
After two days of testimony in which Nancy Marietti described her
first weeks of treatment under Kluft's care, the judge dismissed the
jury, telling them that a settlement had been reached. At the time we
went to press, no announcement as to the details of the settlement had
been made by either of the parties.
Nancy Marietti is represented by James L. Griffith of Philadelphia
and Richard Harrington of San Francisco.
[6] See Brief Bank #192 and FMSF Newsletter July 1998. The Complaint
names Nancy Marietti and her parents as plaintiffs. The July 1998
FMSF Newsletter mistakenly reported Nancy's husband as a
plaintiff.
__________________________________________________
All Defendants Settle in Illinois Malpractice Suit
Shanley v. Braun, et al.
U.S. Dist. Court, Ill., No. 95 C 6589.
n December 1997, a U.S. District Court rejected a motion to dismiss a
psychiatric malpractice claim brought by Mary Shanley against her
former psychiatrist Bennett Braun and 17 other individual and
corporate mental health care providers in the Chicago area.[7]
Since then, all parties have amicably resolved their differences
and the case has been settled for a confidential amount.
Mary Shanley was represented by Zachary M. Bravos of Wheaton
Illinois. Mr. Bravos also informed us that the Illinois Department of
Children and Family Services, after a review of the evidence, has
voluntarily agreed to remove Mary Shanley's name from the state
registry of "indicated" child abusers.
[7] Shanley v. Braun. et al., 1997 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 20024, Memorandum
Opinion and Order, docketed Dec. 10, 1997. At the time of the
December 1997 decision, defendants included Bennett Braun, M.D.,
Dale Giolas, M.D., Forest Health System, Inc., Forest Hospital,
Robert J. Simandl, Elaine Shepp, A.C.S.W. and David McNeil, M.D.
Several defendants including Karen Gernaey, Rush North Shore
Hospital, Roberta Sachs, Raymond Kozial and Frank Leavitt had
previously settled out-of-court. See also FMSF Newsletter, March
1998 and FMSF Brief Bank #42..
Editor's Note: Two state appellate courts recently considered the
application of statutes of limitations in therapeutic malpractice
cases. Earlier decisions in other jurisdictions have recognized the
particular difficulties patients receiving so-called Recovered Memory
Therapy may have in understanding their injuries. [8]
[8] See, e.g., Shanley v Braun et al., 1997 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 20024.
Memorandum Opinion and Order dated Dec. 10, 1997; Lujan v
Mansmann, et al, 956 F. Supp. 1218 (E.D. Pa., 1997); Lujan v
Mansmann, et al, 1997 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14987.
_____________________________________________
Georgia Appeals Court Stands Firm on Deadline
for Patients to Accuse Therapists of Inducing False Memories
Engstrom v. Kohout, Vargas v. Kohout, Cobiella v. Kohout, 1998
Ga. App. LEXIS 995, July 15, 1998.[9]
Georgia Court of Appeals refused to give a psychiatric malpractice
claim any extension on the statute of limitations. It rejected
plaintiff's argument that the two-year clock on her malpractice suit
should have started only after she changed therapists and realized her
problem. The decision, however, does not affect plaintiff Kim Kohout's
claim against her primary treating therapist, Donna Ulrici. That
claim, which was not on appeal, is expected to go to trial.
In her suit against several therapists and medical institutions,
Kohout claimed she was brainwashed through hypnosis and suggestive
techniques into believing she remembered sexual and Satanic ritual
abuse from her childhood and suffered from MPD. Her alleged memories
grew increasingly disturbing and bizarre, including animal torture,
being stabbed by her mother and being buried alive in a coffin. She
didn't realize the nature and extent of her injuries from the false
memories, Kohout alleged, until she left treatment and began therapy
elsewhere in May 1995, six months before the suit was filed.
The appellate panel found that the misdiagnosis, not Kohout's later
discovery of a proper diagnosis, was the injury. Furthermore, the
court concluded that "plaintiff knew the facts of her past" and chose
to believe her therapists' opinion and allow treatment to continue.
Though she later came to believe their opinion was wrong, both of her
views, the court said, "were based upon the same knowledge in her
possession, but were interpreted in different ways."
The court also rejected Kohout's fraud claim, which would have
tolled the running of the statute. The court found no evidence that
the defendants knew they had misdiagnosed the plaintiff before the
suit or intended to conceal anything that would give Kohout a cause of
action.
Kohout's lawyers have filed a petition for certiorari, seeking to
have the case reviewed by the Georgia Supreme Court. Kohout is
represented by Christopher Yetka, of Minneapolis and by Charles Goetz
of Atlanta.
[9] See FMSF Brief Bank #201.
____________________________________________________________________
New York Court Holds Psychologists Are Subject to Longer Limitations
Karasek v. LaJoie, et al., 1998 N.Y. LEXIS 1837, July 7, 1998
In a decision interpreting the New York statute of limitations for
malpractice cases, a New York Court of Appeals held that the services
provided by mental health professionals who do not have medical
training are not "medical" services prescribed under the New York
medical malpractice statute of limitations. The services fall under
the longer three-year statute of limitations for professional
malpractice. The court, therefore, denied defense motions to dismiss a
malpractice claim against a psychologist as time barred.
The plaintiff in this case alleged that her former treating
therapists had negligently misdiagnosed her as having MPD even though
she had no prior history of mental illness. She claimed that
subsequent treatment, including hypnosis, caused serious emotional
harm so that she ceased to function as a homemaker and artist.
The court recognized that there are similarities in the methods
used by psychiatrists and other mental health professionals but also
noted several differences. For example, only psychiatrists can
prescribe psychotropic drugs. Non-physician professionals may or may
not have any training in somatic disease. In addition, the court
noted, diverse professionals ranging from psychiatrists to faith
healers diagnose and treat somatic ailments. "Surely, not all
diagnostic and treatment activities undertaken by this range of
practitioners are properly classified as 'medical,'" the court
wrote. The court concluded that only the element of medical training
could distinguish among the mental health services provided by various
professionals.
_______________________________________
NEW PSYCHIATRIC MALPRACTICE SUITS FILED
ILLINOIS: A psychiatric malpractice suit was filed recently in Cook
County Illinois against Bennett Braun, M.D., Roberta Sachs, Ph.D.,
Rush-Presbyterian St. Luke's Medical Center, and Corydon Hammond,
Ph.D. The plaintiff, who had been hospitalized continuously for four
years, is represented by Zachary Bravos of Wheaton Illinois and Todd
Smith of Chicago.
OREGON: Linton v. Carr and Marrs, Circuit Court, Multnomah Co.,
Oregon, No. 9807-05115.[10] In July 1998, an Oregon man sued his
former treating clinical psychologist Sophia Carr and social worker
Robert Marrs for the misdiagnosis of MPD and the use of suggestive
techniques to "recover" supposedly repressed memories of traumatic
events.
The Complaint alleges that techniques including hypnosis,
journaling, dream work, guided imagery, and Eye Movement
Desensitization and Reprocessing, caused Plaintiff to experience the
images and feelings associated with the imagined trauma as if they
were real. They also caused Plaintiff to simulate multiple
personalities and to become increasingly dependent on Carr. The
Complaint states that defendants failed to obtain informed consent, to
consider less pathological diagnoses, or to recognize and control the
effects of her personal beliefs in treating plaintiff.
According to the Complaint, Carr believed herself to be a victim of
a Satanic cult and that she herself had MPD. She reportedly told her
client that this cult created MPD in its victims so that the cult
could program them to carry out the cult's work without conscious
knowledge. In 1998, the Board of Psychologist Examiners recommended
that Carr's license be revoked for ethical violations in connection
with her work with another patient who was similarly misdiagnosed as
having multiple personalities and had acquired false memories of past
trauma.
Plaintiff is represented by J. Michael Dwyer of Portland.
[10] See Brief Bank #200. See also Fultz v. Carr, et al, Circuit Ct.
Multnomah Co., Oregon, No. 9506-04080.
PENNSYLVANIA: Gray v. Powers, Philhaven Hospital, Lancaster Co. Ct.,
Pennsylvania, No.___. In a Complaint filed August 14, plaintiff Rose
Gray claims that she became suicidal and severed ties with her husband
and family after her treating psychiatrist Stephen Powers told her she
had been victimized by the cult as a child. Exorcism, hypnotism, and
drugs were the prescribed treatments during a decade of therapy, she
said. The Complaint states that "Powers told [Mrs. Gray] that she had
recalled, under hypnosis, that she had attended meetings and
ceremonies which involved killing babies, drinking their blood and
eating their hearts, and that a sex orgy would take place afterwards."
Plaintiff is represented by Joseph Rizzo of Darby, Pennsylvania and
Skip Simpson of Dallas.
NEW YORK: O'Brien, J., The Post-Standard (Syracuse, NY), 3/19/98 A
malpractice suit recently filed in Monroe County, New York, claims
that a psychotherapist brainwashed a patient into believing she was a
child victim of sexual abuse. Stephanie Brigham now says her
therapist, Paul Pickett had nothing to substantiate the memories he
planted.
Brigham said she went to Picket in 1992 for treatment of anxiety
and insomnia. Within two years, she said, Pickett rewrote her past.
The therapy produced memories that she had been sexually abused by her
mother and father. Pickett told her she was the victim of a "Manson
family" upbringing, Brigham said. Brigham is convinced now those
memories were false.
In the lawsuit, Brigham said she made allegations against her
parents at Pickett's urging, and under his threat of having her
daughter taken away from her. She accuses Pickett of planting the
false memories under hypnosis because he was bent on making her
dependent on him and no one else. She was told she should come to his
office daily for up to seven hours at a time and separate from family
and friends as part of an "experiment."
Stephanie Brigham's parents and her daughter are also plaintiffs in
her lawsuit. In addition to therapist Pickett, the suit names the
agency Pickett works for, Synchronicity Counseling Services, and its
director John Carnevale as defendants.
TEXAS: Tyo v. Ross Mark H. Iola of Dallas has filed suit against Colin
A. Ross, M.D. on behalf of Martha Ann Tyo. Details in October.
_________________
THIRD-PARTY SUITS
_______________________________________________________
Illinois Supreme Court Bars Father from Suing Therapist
n Repressed Memory Case
Doe v. McKay, 1009 Ill. LEXIS 913, dated June 18, 1998.[11]
In June 1998, the Illinois Supreme Court affirmed a trial court's
dismissal of a third party claim by a father that his daughter's
therapist was guilty of negligence and intentional interference with a
family relationship. The Complaint states that during several
counseling sessions attended by plaintiff, his daughter, and defendant
psychologist Bobbie McKay, McKay told plaintiff that his daughter's
memories of alleged abuse had been repressed until they were retrieved
during therapy. McKay also suggested that plaintiff had repressed his
own memories of the abuse and that he might harm his daughter
further. The plaintiff denied that he ever sexually abused his
daughter. The Illinois Supreme Court held that the therapist owed a
duty to the daughter, but not to the non-patient third party. Counts
based on plaintiff's allegations that he himself was a patient of
McKay remain pending; they were not at issue in the present appeal.
The court discussed the basis for a negligence claim: a complainant
must allege facts that are sufficient to show the existence of a duty,
and an injury to the plaintiff proximately caused by the breach. In
deciding whether a duty exists in a particular case, a court will
consider the foreseeability of the plaintiff's injury, the likelihood
of the occurrence, the magnitude of the burden of guarding against it,
and the consequences of placing that burden on the defendant.
The court expressed concern that allowing this action would
improperly enlarge physicians' duty of care, that recognition of the
plaintiff's action could be inconsistent with the therapist's duty of
confidentiality to his or her patient, and that the injury complained
of was non-physical and resulted from decisions made by the daughter.
[12] In addition, the Illinois Supreme Court rejected application of
the concept of "transferred negligence" which the Illinois appellate
court had applied.[13]
The Illinois Supreme Court also held that no monetary damages can
be recovered for loss of the society of a child unless the child is
dead. In effect, this says that someone could kidnap or interfere with
an Illinois family without repercussions.
In a strongly worded dissent, Justice Harrington stated that the
majority opinion fails to see "what this case is about at all." The
majority's goal to protect medical providers from liability to some
indeterminate class of nonpatient third parties is misplaced, he
wrote. In this case, the plaintiff is not a "random member of the
general public." Plaintiff was a relative of the patient, was accused
of sexual abuse, and was used as a tool in the plaintiff's treatment
program. The therapist specifically arranged to have him join the
patient's therapy sessions and his injury "was the product of a failed
course of treatment formulated by a mental health professional."
Concerns about compromising patient confidentiality make no sense, the
dissent wrote, where the therapist chose to make that third party an
integral part of a patient's treatment and did so with the patient's
consent: "Divulging the patient's complaints to John Doe was, in fact,
the very foundation of the therapist's treatment plan."
Plaintiff's attorney Zachary Bravos, of Wheaton Illinois, said he
intends to submit a petition for reconsideration.
[11] See FMSF Brief Bank #46.
[12] For a discussion of these and related issues, see FMSF
Publications # (all 3rd party amicus briefs), and FMSF Brief Bank
# 170.
[13] See Doe v. McKay, 286 Ill. App.3d 1020.
______________________________________
Illinois Appellate Court Remands Case;
Trial Court Must Determine
Whether Repression is Scientifically Recognized
Clay v. Kuhl, 1998 Ill. App. LEXIS 414, 6/22/98.
In June 1998, an Illinois appellate court reversed dismissal of a
delay-filed sexual abuse claim and remanded the matter back to the
trial court for a determination of the reason for the plaintiff's
alleged memory loss. The plaintiff, a 28-year-old woman, claimed she
had been sexually molested repeatedly by a priest who worked at a
Catholic elementary school she attended years earlier. Plaintiff
stated she had no memory of the events until 1995, but did not offer a
reason for her memory loss.
The appellate court noted that several Illinois courts have held
that the discovery rule applies to childhood sexual abuse cases where
the plaintiff repressed her memory of the abuse. The court also noted
that the validity of repressed memories has been found to be "both
controversial and of suspect nature," primarily because of the lack of
independent verification of repressed memory claims.
The court ruled that, as a matter of law, mere forgetfulness cannot
constitute sufficient ground to toll the statute. Allowing plaintiffs
who claim they did not remember being injured until shortly before
filing to escape the statutory limitation period, would, in effect,
allow an unlimited time to sue. If, on the other hand, the court
wrote, the plaintiff's intention is to rely on a psychological
condition such as repressed memories to toll the statute of
limitation, she is obligated to plead the condition with sufficient
specificity to advise the defendants of the alleged basis on which the
Illinois statute (13-202.2) applies. "It then would be for the trial
court to determine, as a matter of law, whether such a condition is a
scientifically recognized condition that would prevent the plaintiff
from reasonably discovering the abuse," the court wrote.
Early in August, the defendant petitioned the Illinois Supreme
Court to clarify the appellate ruling as to whether the common-law
discovery rule applies to delay the statute of limitations on claims
of childhood sexual abuse. Specifically the court is asked to decide
whether childhood sexual abuse constitutes a "sudden and traumatic
event" that places the victim on immediate notice of any resulting
injuries.
_____________________________________________________________
West Virginia Supreme Court Dismisses Repressed Memory Claim;
Declines to Apply Discovery Rule
Albright v. White, 1998 W.Va LEXIS 60, June 22, 1998.
In June 1998, the Supreme Court of West Virginia affirmed dismissal of
a repressed memory claim as time barred. The court held that the cause
of action accrued at the time the alleged incident occurred and not,
as the plaintiff argued, at the time of "discovery."
Plaintiff, a 38-year-old man, alleged that it was not until he
entered therapy in 1994 that he was able to recall an incident of
sexual contact by an Episcopal priest over 25 years earlier. He
claimed that defendant's conduct caused him to repress any memories of
the sexual abuse.
The West Virginia Supreme Court held that under the state statute
(55-1-15), plaintiff was required to file his lawsuit not later than 2
years after reaching the age of majority, or under the most liberal
construction of the facts in plaintiff's favor, not later than 20
years after the date on which his injury occurred, that date being in
1989. Since the Complaint was not filed until 1996, his suit, the
court held, is time barred by statute. The court held that the plain
language of the statute clearly prohibits the application of the
discovery rule to extend statutory filing periods. In addition, the
court noted the "discovery rule" is to be applied "with great
circumspection" on a case-by-case basis only where plaintiff shows he
was prevented from knowing of the claim at the time of the injury.
The court specifically declined to address or otherwise resolve
whether a plaintiff's claim of repressed memory may validate a cause
of action. The court reserved that discussion for a more factually and
legally appropriate case.
___________________________________________________
Utah Supreme Court Dismissed Repressed Memory Claim
Burkholtz v. Joyce, 1998 Utah LEXIS 58, July 31, '98.
The Utah Supreme Court recently held that the discovery rule does not
apply where the plaintiff, at some point during the limitations
period, has knowledge of the facts underlying his cause of action. The
court referred to an "unbroken line of cases" dealing with the
discovery rule which held that the statute of limitations may be
tolled (extended) only where the Plaintiff did not know and could not
reasonably have discovered the facts underlying the cause of action.
Although plaintiff in this case claimed that due to repression and
dissociation, he was never really aware of the alleged sexual abuse by
a former teacher 10 years earlier, a U.S. District Court determined
that plaintiff was aware of the fact of his abuse for a period after
he turned 18. Following that factual determination, the federal court
certified a question for the Utah Supreme Court's ruling on whether
the statute of limitations is tolled when plaintiff's knowledge of the
abuse is interrupted by periods of psychological repression when he is
unaware of such facts.
____________________________
Wreck Revived Abuse Memories
Pokrifchak v. Weinstein,
1998 Wash App. LEXIS 898, June 9, 1998, unpublished [14]
In 1995, a 47-year-old woman sued the teenage driver who caused a
traffic accident in which she was injured. The woman claimed that
during physical therapy required by the accident, she recovered
memories of childhood sexual abuse by her father and that those
memories led to protracted emotional problems. She sued the driver
(and the driver's parents) for the emotional problems related to the
recovered memories caused by the therapy required because of the
accident. The trial court dismissed these claims and the woman
appealed. In June 1998, a Washington State Appellate court affirmed
partial summary judgment. Physical injuries from the collision and the
emotional response to those injuries are "clearly within the
boundaries of legal causation," the court held. However, there is no
sound policy for extending liability to the effects of "preexisting
conditions" traceable to the earlier criminal acts of another party.
[14] This case and a similar claim filed in Massachusetts were
reported in the FMSF Newsletter Jan. 1996.
___________________________________________________________
Arizona Court Finds Repressed Memory Testimony Inadmissible
Logerquist v. Danforth
Superior Court, Maricopa Co., Arizona, No. CV 92-16309 [15]
Following an evidentiary hearing as instructed by the Arizona Court of
Appeals, an Arizona Superior Court concluded that "the theories
advanced by Plaintiff's experts are not generally accepted in the
relevant scientific community of trauma memory researchers."
Therefore, the court ordered the exclusion of "expert testimony of
Plaintiff's alleged repressed memory, and Plaintiff's theory that such
evidence can be recalled with accuracy."
Plaintiff filed a claim almost 20 years after the alleged sexual
assaults occurred. She based her claim on a series of "flashbacks"
that she claims to have experienced while watching television. The
court conducted a Frye hearing [16] to determine the admissibility of
expert testimony regarding repression of memory and whether this
memory can be recalled with accuracy.
[15] See FMSF Brief Bank #202 for full text of ruling. See also
Logerquist v. Danforth, 932 P.2d 281 (Ariz. App. 1996).
[16] Frye v. United States, 293 F.2d 1013 (D.C. Cir. 1923). The
purpose of a Frye evidentiary hearing is to determine whether the
scientific principles advanced and used as a basis for expert
testimony are generally accepted in the relevant scientific
community. The court determined that the relevant scientific
community includes both basic researchers and researchers with
clinical training and/or experience.
______________________________SIDEBAR_______________________________
/ \
| "I think by and large, the professional and licensee organizations |
| have not been very good at policing their own in this field. That |
| is one of the primary reasons why the legal field has entered into |
| the fray." |
| Attorney Skip Simpson of Dallas |
\____________________________________________________________________/
______________________________SIDEBAR_______________________________
/ \
| "The damage that John Doe [an accused father] allegedly sustained |
| as a result [of defendant therapist's actions] was foreseeable by |
| any meaningful standard. The likelihood of injury was great, the |
| burden of guarding against that injury was slight, and there would |
| be no significant adverse consequences from placing that burden on |
| the therapist." |
| Dissenting Opinion, Doe v. McKay, Illinois Supreme Court. |
\____________________________________________________________________/
**********************************************************************
REFLECTIONS OF A DISSIDENT PSYCHOLOGIST
Tana Dineen
Editor's note: An updated and expanded second edition of
Manufacturing Victims: What The Psychology Industry Is Doing To
People has been released. It contains fresh examples of phoney
maladies being marketed, phantom cures being promoted and self-
protective maneuvers being taken. It provides more "meat," for
sensible people who will find it helpful in their own efforts to
purge the Justice System, Health Care, Education, Religion and
their own personal lives of the influence of junk psychology. What
follows is Dr. Dineen's account of some of the reactions to her
book.
Many years ago the distinguished MIT linguist/activist Noam Chomsky
said: "One waits in vain for psychologists to state the limits of
their knowledge." A letter he wrote to me in April of this year ended
with the comment: "I'm sure we'll continue to 'wait in vain.' Too many
careers at stake!"
I waited a very long time -- almost three decades, before
abandoning my own career as a clinical psychologist. My first teacher
in the field, the renowned McGill University neuropsychologist, Donald
Hebb, insisted that psychology must be "more than common sense" and
that, as psychologists, we have an obligation to subject our opinions
to scientific scrutiny and to make a clear distinction between
theories and findings. Sadly, his warning has been largely ignored.
The professional organizations which claim to protect the public, fail
to insist on scientific scrutiny; dangerous methods are sanctioned,
and untested therapies, dubious "expert opinions," and utterly absurd
diagnoses go unchallenged. I have seen too much harm inflicted on
people by virtue of this negligence; so, I find myself in this strange
role of trying to curb the pervasive influence of my own chosen
profession.
When the first (1996) edition of Manufacturing Victims appeared,
Beth Loftus called the book "dynamite" and Dr. Laura, declaring
herself my "fan," encouraged her listeners to read it. It was an
"expose," an admittedly sweeping and brutal attack, which identified
recovered memory therapy as just the tip of an iceberg. A seriously
researched book, with close to 1,000 endnotes, it was my apology for
years of having bitten my lip. I hoped that it would be useful to
people in raising questions, making arguments, winning legal cases,
facing moral dilemmas and getting on with life. I was not entirely
prepared for the volatile reactions from within the Psychology
Industry. The book was instantly dismissed as "a conspiracy book" by
the executive director of the British Columbia Psychological
Association; a member of the Finance Committee of the American
Psychological Association called it "the Ripley's Believe-It-Or-Not Of
Psychology;" the 1997 President of the Canadian Psychological
Association, not even having seen the book, wrote a letter to an
Ottawa newspaper condemning me for my "unsubstantiated opinions." A
psychologist in Vancouver, who had never met me, diagnosed me as
suffering from "burnout," and another, who knew nothing about my life,
publicly stated that I was lucky to have never experienced a trauma
for which I needed a psychologist's help.
A clinical psychologist in a small town in Ontario went even
further. After watching a national television show on which I
cautioned consumers about the perils of trusting psychologists, he
lodged a complaint with my licensing board. And, believe-it-or-not,
they took his complaint seriously. For 16 months I and my book were
under investigation as possible "threats to the television-watching
public." Finally, in a written decision in June, 1998, the Complaints
Committee acknowledged that it found no violations of standards and it
affirmed my status as a "psychologist." In dismissing the complaint,
the College conceded that it was bound by the Canadian Charter of
Rights, which guarantees everyone the fundamental freedoms of thought,
belief, opinion and expression, and it ascribed a new title to me,
that of "social critic."
While I tended to shrug off these displays of self-interest,
intolerance and arrogance, I have been heartened by signs that some
people, at least, are making good use of the book. I have heard from
psychology students who have begun to challenge what they are being
taught and from retired colleagues who regret not having tried harder
to fight the radical and overtly political influences. I have heard
from men who are serving prison terms in cases where "reasonable
doubt" would have prevailed had psychological testimony not carried
such weight. And I have heard, as well, from criminal lawyers who are
defending and appealing such cases and from civil lawyers who are
working to make psychologists accountable for their actions. Skip
Simpson, when he first phoned me from Dallas, had just used my book to
frame the closing argument in one of those cases which yielded a 5.8
million dollar settlement.
Last summer, when an Ottawa journalist called me a renegade and
gave me the title "The Dissident Psychologist," I laughed. However,
the issues are not funny. And, sadly, recovered memory therapy is only
one of the many psychological products about which consumers deserve
to be warned. When personal lives can be torn apart by virtue of
professionally sanctioned misinformation, it is, I believe, unethical
for anyone within that profession to remain silent.
Author's note: Since books can only be printed every few years or
more, I have set up a frequently updated and extensive web-site
which provides information both on the book and on speeches and
newspaper columns, as well as current information on related
issues. I welcome comments, reactions, and questions. The web
site address is:
http://scholefieldhouse.com/mv/
Manufacturing Victims: What The Psychology Industry Is Doing To People
by Tana Dineen. Robert Davies Multimedia Publishing, 1998.
**********************************************************************
M A K E A D I F F E R E N C E
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall |
| one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle. |
| Edmund Burke |
| Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontent Vol. i. p. 526. |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
This is a column that will let you know what people are doing
to counteract the harm done by FMS. Remember that seven years ago,
FMSF didn't exist. A group of 50 or so people found each other
and today more than 20,000 have reported similar experiences.
Together we have made a difference.
MONTANA: A few can make a difference. I am enclosing a copy of a
letter announcing the removal of the book entitled Confronting Abuse:
An LDS Perspective on Understanding and Healing Emotional, Physical,
Sexual, Psychological and Spiritual Abuse.
This book has been used extensively throughout the L.D.S. church in
teaching Priesthood Leaders how to deal with those who report abuse.
Several chapters contained erroneous information regarding recovered
memories and satanic ritual abuse. Two of our five daughters and their
Priesthood Leaders were influenced by the content of the chapters.
Through research we found that Deseret Book Store in Salt Lake City
uses a formal complaint process when their readers become concerned
about the content of a book.
We initiated a write-in campaign using the FMSF Newsletter to find
other L.D.S. families who were also adversely influenced by the book.
Many families across the nation used the complaint process. I do not
know the exact number of complaints that were mailed, but I am sure it
was less than 50. Those complaints led to a review and ultimately a
withdrawal of the book from distribution and sale immediately.
I am very grateful for those at Deseret Books who listened to
their readers, conducted their own research, and reached the
conclusion to withdraw that book.
___________________
Frustrated Families
Some families are growing so frustrated at the lack of professional
action to stop dangerous practices that they are becoming activists.
Frustrated families handed out information at a seminar in San
Francisco in July to alert attendees that the speaker advocates
separation from family and that he uses mind-altering hypnotic-like
techniques in his program. Also in July, frustrated families in
Chicago protested outside a conference featuring a talk by an author
of Courage to Heal, and several talks about satanic ritual abuse and
international CIA conspiracies. They protested, they told us, because
the Attorney General of Illinois opened this conference thus
conferring credibility on discredited and dangerous ideas.
Judith Herman, M.D. is scheduled to give plenary addresses on
October 7 at conferences sponsored by the University of Wisconsin in
Madison and by Northwestern University in Evanston. Several families
in those locations say they are asking university officials to
consider the appropriateness of sponsoring a person who paid $30,000
in settlement of Drug Enforcement Administration civil charges because
she failed to keep records of controlled substances missing from her
lab.[1]
[1] PR Newswire Association, July 5, 1995, Mental Health Law Reporter,
April 1995
One mother whose daughter recovered "repressed memories" of abuse
while attending Northwestern University would like help to encourage
that university to present a program that presents the dangers of
recovered memory to balance the scheduled October 7 event.
Contact Mattie: 847-885-9515
Send your ideas to Katie Spanuello c/o FMSF
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
| Searching... |
| |
| for dramatic films to illustrate trends in a lecture/film |
| presentation on "How Hollywood Has Treated Recovered Memories." |
| All suggestions going back to the beginning of cinema are of |
| interest. Please contact: |
| George Paul Csicsery |
| P.O. Box 2833 |
| Oakland, CA 94618 USA |
| email: 75430.3310@compuserve.com |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
**********************************************************************
F R O M O U R R E A D E R S
__________________
Unexpected Problem
We have an unexpected problem. Our daughter accused us and her two
grandfathers in January 1992. We were in despair until we found out
about false memory syndrome from television. Our grandson was living
with us at the time and he and his dad both commented, "That's mom's
problem."
Our daughter contacted us about five years after that horrendous
time and she resumed being part of the family. But it didn't last. It
was another year before she returned and now seems back to stay.
Our problem: Our loyal family supporters, all of them, will not
accept her -- even with her apology letters and sincere regrets. We
have forgiven. Why can't they? What can be done now, if anything?
A Mom
___________________________
Time Will Take Care of That
The last meeting my wife and I had with our daughter involved a bitter
exchange and an ultimatum in her therapist's office. We realized that
there was no way we could talk with our daughter again until she came
to her senses and recanted the false claims about us. I said I would
not dignify her ravings by listening to them. That was December, 1991.
For two years, she became more and more isolated from the rest of the
family. But then to everyone's surprise, she started to return to
others saying how she missed her family and what good times she
remembered. She did this after severing her contact with the
therapist.
I wanted to sue her therapist but believed that doing so might
drive my daughter away from the family again. My wife and I
desperately wanted her back but realized that her reunion with others
in the family was a prerequisite to our resolving our differences with
her. About this time, Foundation members were reporting success with
the position that recanting was not essential to reunification and
that recanting had taken place in some families after they reunited.
My wife and I decided to write to our daughter and tell her how
happy we were that she was involved with others in the family again.
We told her that we were wrong when we gave her the ultimatum about
retracting, something done in the heat of frustration, hurt, and
anger. We told her we would be glad to discuss any of her accusations
with her without preconditions under calm rational circumstances or,
if she preferred, we didn't need to discuss anything.
We hoped that this would make her feel safe enough to return to
us. We felt that she was beginning to realize that she had made a
mistake and was searching for a way to come back in the face of guilt.
We were right! Though she has not recanted her charges verbally,
her subsequent actions and our current relationships speak louder than
actual words. We are often invited to her home for dinners, we are
allowed to play and hold our granddaughter and she has stayed
overnight at our home. My daughter and son-in-law are teaching our
granddaughter to love us.
The other day I invited my daughter to offer a prayer on the lunch
we were having. With tears running down her cheeks, she expressed her
gratitude for us and her thankfulness for our being such good parents.
As experiences like these continue, we know that the day will come
when we can discuss the terrible hurts and offenses of the past, but
for now, the wonderful times we are having with her and her family are
too precious to worry about requiring any apology. Time will take care
of that.
A Dad
_______________
I'm Being Quiet
I've prayed daily for the FMSF and for our precious daughter to return
to us. Finally, after six years she called and we started meeting on a
regular basis. It was very touchy at first, but things are getting
easier. Through her six years in therapy, she has been to hell and
back. After an eight-year marriage, she finally got pregnant only to
have her husband leave her. Now she has a four-year old whom we met
last week! It has been tearful. She has called everyone in our large
family.
This change came about because my daughter attended a program in
which she was told that she could not be all that she should be as
long as things were left unresolved with her family. These words
seemed to give her permission to return. She has not retracted. She
says the accusations don't matter, and she wants her family back. I am
being quiet, loving, and forgiving.
A Mom
________________
No Common Ground
As our daughter's 50th birthday approaches, we are anguished that our
family has no common ground on which to meet, much less celebrate.
Over the past five years, the important occasions that bind a family
have not been part of the fabric of her life-through her choice. Those
of us affected by fully understand such heartache.
God bless this child
In all her fantasy and pain
Neither let her stray too far
Nor find her lonely pathway blocked
Yesterday was Good -- if she but knows.
A Mom
__________
Hard-Liner
In response to Dr. Piper's request, put me down as a hard-liner.
During the past several hundred years the Christian religion as well
as other religions have preached forgiveness. Whatever you do that
harms either yourself or your fellow human beings is wiped out if you
simply say "I'm sorry." In recent years the mental health profession
has gone even farther by saying "It isn't your fault; it is because
someone or something did bad things to you in the past."
As a result we have become a civilization that accepts no
individual responsibility. We simply say "I'm sorry" or blame our
transgressions on causes over which we had no control. I do not
believe in punitive punishments, but I firmly believe that in
forgiving, we also enable. The forgiven person can say "I got by with
that, so I can do it again." We should love, encourage, and help the
transgressors in every way possible, but we should not let them off
the hook. They should be made aware of the wrong they have done and
should only be reinstated as a caring human being after proving
through kindness and service that they merit the honor.
A Dad
_________________
Make up Your Mind
We accused have to make up our minds what we really want. Do we want
revenge or do we desire to have a normal relationship with our
children and/or grandchildren. The first priority for me is a normal
relationship with my children.
In July 1989 we got the fateful phone call. My daughter spoke of
hypnosis. She said she could only heal if she did not talk to me or
to anyone who supported me. I lost 35 pounds in 6 months. I tried to
remember what I might have done. My wife divorced me. Other family
members restrained me from suing my daughter's therapist. They said it
would be self-defeating because if I won, my daughter would never
speak to me.
In 1995 after participating in a therapy program promulgating
forgiveness, I picked up the telephone and spoke to my daughter's
answering machine. With perspiration running down my whole body, I
asked for forgiveness for any harm I might have done to her. The next
year my daughter was informed by family members that I had prostate
cancer. My daughter called. No mention was made of the years of
silence.
I had remarried and my new wife restrained me from asking my
daughter too many questions. Communication began, but it was very
difficult to leave the slander unpunished. Communication grew a bit
warmer.
By 1997, she came to visit. I hardly recognized her. She looked
aged and battered. We talked about happenings before 1989 and the
future that included her upcoming wedding. There were no apologies nor
explanations. I told her that I would never forget the concentration
camps in Germany, but that it was senseless to be bitter now. We have
to learn to live with some experiences. I don't know if she understood
my conception of the relationship between the Nazi atrocities and
those of the implanted memory practitioners. They seemed to enjoy
lunch and stayed for four hours.
The period between my daughter's visit and the wedding was nearly
unbearable for me. Communications were sporadic and less than warm.
Besides worries about my health I was concerned about what my daughter
would do -- from the best to the worst. I dreamed of going to Boston
and being arrested for child rape. I had speeches prepared in defense
of the accusations, as well as others recounting happy past events. My
poor wife had to take the brunt of my nervous state of mind. E-mail
exchanges and a few phone calls with my daughter cleared the air a
little.
I had written a report on my visit to Germany in 1996. It included
my impressions of the visit of the former concentration camp in
Dachau. In the report I again compared the leaders of the Nazis with
the bigshots of the recovered memory movement. After she requested it,
I sent the unabridged report to my daughter. Her reaction was: Daddy,
I didn't know that your English was so good. In another E-mail message
she disclosed that she thanks her recovered memory therapist for a
much better life. She could not have hurt me more if she had stuck a
knife in my back. During a later conversation I told her that she
should concentrate on her upcoming marriage and that we could talk
about unexplained questions after the wedding. She agreed.
The wedding was beautiful. But the problem is not solved when the
victims of implanted memories talk to the accused again. It requires a
lot of work and a tremendous amount of good will and patience on all
sides.
May all families soon be peacefully re-united again.
A Dad
__________________
Life is Good Again
My husband and I are in the process of selling our family home in a
community where we have lived for forty-one years. About a month ago,
our four children came to look over and select furniture, lamps, etc.
that they could use in their own homes. Our oldest son who had accused
me of sexual abuse probably had as good a time as any of his siblings
looking over items and recalling fun times. In retrospect had our son
not been welcomed back into our family without an apology, that family
day would have been very sad indeed dividing furniture by three rather
than four.
We confirm and support the feelings expressed by Robert M.
Koscielny in the July/August newsletter. He states, "This does not
mean that the actions of the accused are accepted or condoned, but
instead are set aside in the interest of restoring and repairing
family relationships." Extending ourselves with love to our
emotionally bruised son has proven to be very positive. He moves ahead
in small steps each time we see him, and we would do nothing to upset
that progress. We don't know what the future holds for our son, but
we are involved in his life again and with his wife and two
children. We will not let our ideal, the wish for an apology, derail
the progress we have made. We are focusing on the larger picture of a
family reunited.
I never thought that after eight years I could say this, but life
is good and we are grateful.
A Mom
+----------------------------------------------------+
| AREA CODE CHANGE? |
| |
| Please help us save time trying to call you! |
| If your area code has changed, please let us know. |
| Thank you for helping us to serve you better. |
| |
| ADDRESS CHANGE and SNOWBIRD ALERT! |
| Please remember, we need your address change |
| every time you move. |
| Thank you for helping us to serve you better. |
+----------------------------------------------------+
**********************************************************************
* N O T I C E S *
**********************************************************************
* *
* EASTERN MISSOURI and SOUTHERN ILLINOIS *
* Saturday, September 19, 1998 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. *
* St. Louis, Missouri *
* SPEAKERS: The Rutherford Family *
* Public and FMS family sessions *
* For information call Karen at 314-432-8789 *
* *
**********************************************************************
* MICHIGAN, OHIO, ILLINOIS, INDIANA, WISCONSIN, *
* NORTHWESTERN WEST VIRGINIA AND WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA *
* "we can make a difference" *
* *
* STOPPING THE PLAGUE OF FALSE MEMORIES *
* Saturday, October 3, 1998 Ramada Inn, Toledo, Ohio *
* *
* Speakers: *
* Pamela Freyd, Ph.D. Chris Koronakos, Ph.D. *
* Eleanor Goldstein Dr. Paul Simpson *
* Sharla Kimmel Nicole Bishop *
* For more information call: *
* Kalamazoo: Chris (616) 349-8978 *
* Columbus: Carol (440) 888-7963 *
* Ann Arbor: Martha (734) 439-4055 *
* or (734) 439-8119 *
**********************************************************************
* *
* ILLINOIS *
* fall meeting *
* Sunday, October 18, 1998 *
* DoubleTree Hotel, Glenview *
* 1400 Milwaukee Ave. Chicago, Illinois 60025-1400 *
* Keynote Speaker: Pamela Freyd, Ph.D. *
* For more information, call 847-803-9800 *
* *
**********************************************************************
* HOLD THESE DATES *
* ___________________ *
* SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA *
* Family Meeting: *
* November 7, 1998 *
* Speakers: *
* Pamela Freyd, Ph.D. *
* Eleanor Goldstein *
* For more information call: *
* Cecilia: (310) 545-6064 *
* Carole: (805) 967-8058 *
* _______________________ *
* SKEPTIC SOCIETY MEETING: *
* November 8, 1988 *
* Baxter Lecture Hall, California Institute of Technology *
* PASADENA, CA *
* Speakers: *
* Pamela Freyd, Ph.D. and Eleanor Goldstein *
* For more information call: (626) 794-3119 *
**********************************************************************
* *
* The POWER of SUGGESTION, *
* A documentary video produced by Sue Inder *
* Aired on March 31, 1998. *
* *
* The price is $36.24 U.S. or $29.70 Canadian *
* Shaw Cable 11 Penticton, 1372 Fairview Rd, Penticton, BC, *
* V2A 5Z8, Canada *
* *
* Appearances by: Barry, Beyerstein, Pamela Freyd, Roma Hart, *
* Michael Kenny, Elizabeth Loftus, Paul McHugh, Chuck Noah, *
* Richard Ofshe, Jim Pennington, and Stan Stevens. *
* *
**********************************************************************
* THE RUTHERFORD FAMILY SPEAKS to FMSF FAMILIES *
* "This video helped me realize what my daughter went through" A Dad *
* Don't miss it. Order form on last page. *
**********************************************************************
* *
* Exploring the Internet *
* *
* A new web site of interest to FMSF Newsletter readers: *
* http://www.StopBadTherapy.com/ today! *
* *
* Useful information on this site includes: *
* *
* + Phone numbers of professional regulatory boards in all 50 *
* states. *
* + Links for e-mailing the American Psychiatric Association, the *
* American Psychological Assocation, the American Medical *
* Association, and the National Association of Social Workers. *
* + Lists of online and printed resources: links, articles, books, *
* videos. *
* + Ideas for taking action. *
* + Retractor stories from Victims of Memory. *
* + A way to submit your own story for publication on the net. *
* *
**********************************************************************
* The address of the web site maintained for FMSF *
* by Patrick Fitzgerald is: http://advicom.net/~fitz/fmsf/ *
**********************************************************************
* *
* If you have questions about how to include the FMSF in your estate *
* planning, contact Charles Caviness 800-289-9060. (Available 9:00 *
* AM to 5:00 PM Pacific time.) *
* *
**********************************************************************
_____________________________________
F M S B U L L E T I N B O A R D
Key: (MO)-monthly; (bi-MO)-bi-monthly; (*)-see Notices above
Contacts & Meetings:
_____________
UNITED STATES
ALASKA
Kathleen (907) 337-7821
ARIZONA
Barbara (602) 924-0975; 854-0404(fax)
ARKANSAS
Little Rock
Al & Lela (870) 363-4368
CALIFORNIA
Sacramento - (quarterly)
Joanne & Gerald (916) 933-3655
Rudy (916) 443-4041
San Francisco & North Bay - (bi-MO)
Gideon (415) 389-0254 or
Charles 984-6626(am); 435-9618(pm)
East Bay Area - (bi-MO)
Judy (510) 376-8221
South Bay Area - Last Sat. (bi-MO)
Jack & Pat (408) 425-1430
3rd Sat. (bi-MO) @10am
Central Coast
Carole (805) 967-8058
Central Orange County - 1st Fri. (MO) @ 7pm
Chris & Alan (714) 733-2925
Orange County - 3rd Sun. (MO) @6pm
Jerry & Eileen (909) 659-9636
Covina Area - 1st Mon. (MO) @7:30pm
Floyd & Libby (626) 330-2321
San Diego Area
Dee (619) 941-4816
COLORADO
Colorado Springs
Doris (719) 488-9738
CONNECTICUT
S. New England - (bi-MO) Sept-May
Earl (203) 329-8365 or
Paul (203) 458-9173
FLORIDA
Dade/Broward
Madeline (954) 966-4FMS
Boca/Delray - 2nd & 4th Thurs (MO) @1pm
Helen (407) 498-8684
Central Florida - Please call for mtg. time
John & Nancy (352) 750-5446
Tampa Bay Area
Bob & Janet (813) 856-7091
GEORGIA
Atlanta
Wallie & Jill (770) 971-8917
HAWAII
Carolyn (808) 261-5716
ILLINOIS *
Chicago & Suburbs - 1st Sun. (MO)
Eileen (847) 985-7693
Liz & Roger (847) 827-1056
Joliet
Bill & Gayle (815) 467-6041
Rest of Illinois
Bryant & Lynn (309) 674-2767
INDIANA
Indiana Assn. for Responsible Mental Health Practices
Nickie (317) 471-0922; fax (317) 334-9839
Pat (219) 482-2847
IOWA
Des Moines - 2nd Sat. (MO) @11:30 am Lunch
Betty & Gayle (515) 270-6976
KANSAS
Kansas City - 2nd Sun. (MO)
Pat (785) 738-4840
Jan (816) 931-1340
KENTUCKY
Louisville- Last Sun. (MO) @ 2pm
Bob (502) 367-1838
LOUISIANA
Francine (318) 457-2022
MAINE
Bangor
Irvine & Arlene (207) 942-8473
Freeport - 4th Sun. (MO)
Carolyn (207) 364-8891
MARYLAND
Ellicot City Area
Margie (410) 750-8694
MASSACHUSETTS/NEW ENGLAND
Andover - 2nd Sun. (MO) @ 1pm
Frank (978) 263-9795
MICHIGAN
Grand Rapids Area-Jenison - 1st Mon. (MO)
Bill & Marge (616) 383-0382
Greater Detroit Area - 3rd Sun. (MO)
Nancy (248) 642-8077
Ann Arbor
Martha (734) 439-8119
MINNESOTA
Terry & Collette (507) 642-3630
Dan & Joan (612) 631-2247
MISSOURI *
Kansas City - 2nd Sun. (MO)
Pat 738-4840
Jan (816) 931-1340
St. Louis Area - 3rd Sun. (MO)
Karen (314) 432-8789
Mae (314) 837-1976
Springfield - 4th Sat. (MO) @12:30pm
Tom (417) 883-8617
Roxie (417) 781-2058
MONTANA
Lee & Avone (406) 443-3189
NEW JERSEY (So.)
See Wayne, PA
NEW MEXICO
Albuquerque - 1st Sat. (MO) @1 pm
Southwest Room - Presbyterian Hospital
Maggie (505) 662-7521 (after 6:30 pm)
Sy (505) 758-0726
NEW YORK
Westchester, Rockland, etc. - (bi-MO)
Barbara (914) 761-3627
Upstate/Albany Area - (bi-MO)
Elaine (518) 399-5749
NORTH CAROLINA
Susan (704) 481-0456
OHIO
Cleveland
Bob & Carole (440) 888-7963
OKLAHOMA
Oklahoma City
Dee (405) 942-0531
HJ (405) 755-3816
Rosemary (405) 439-2459
PENNSYLVANIA
Harrisburg
Paul & Betty (717) 691-7660
Pittsburgh
Rick & Renee (412) 563-5616
Montrose
John (717) 278-2040
Wayne (includes S. NJ) - 2nd Sat. (MO)
Jim & Jo (610) 783-0396
TENNESSEE
Wed. (MO) @1pm
Kate (615) 665-1160
TEXAS
Houston
Jo or Beverly (713) 464-8970
El Paso
Mary Lou (915) 591-0271
UTAH
Keith (801) 467-0669
VERMONT (bi-MO)
Judith (802) 229-5154
VIRGINIA
Sue (703) 273-2343
WASHINGTON
Phil & Suzi (206) 364-1643
WEST VIRGINIA
Pat (304) 291-6448
WISCONSIN
Katie & Leo (414) 476-0285
Susanne & John (608) 427-3686
_____________
INTERNATIONAL
BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA
Vancouver & Mainland - Last Sat. (MO) @ 1- 4pm
Ruth (604) 925-1539
Victoria & Vancouver Island - 3rd Tues. (MO) @7:30pm
John (250) 721-3219
MANITOBA, CANADA
Winnipeg
Joan (204) 284-0118
ONTARIO, CANADA
London -2nd Sun (bi-MO)
Adriaan (519) 471-6338
Ottawa
Eileen (613) 836-3294
Toronto /N. York
Pat (416) 444-9078
Warkworth
Ethel (705) 924-2546
Burlington
Ken & Marina (905) 637-6030
Sudbury
Paula (705) 692-0600
QUEBEC, CANADA
Montreal
Alain (514) 335-0863
St. Andre Est.
Mavis (450) 537-8187
AUSTRALIA
Irene (03) 9740 6930
ISRAEL
FMS ASSOCIATION fax-(972) 2-625-9282
NETHERLANDS
Task Force FMS of Werkgroep Fictieve
Herinneringen
Anna (31) 20-693-5692
NEW ZEALAND
Colleen (09) 416-7443
SWEDEN
Ake Moller FAX (48) 431-217-90
UNITED KINGDOM
The British False Memory Society
Roger Scotford (44) 1225 868-682
_____________________________________________________
Deadline for the September Newsletter is September 15
Meeting notices MUST be in writing
and should be sent no later than TWO MONTHS PRIOR TO MEETING.
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Do you have access to e-mail? Send a message to |
| pjf@cis.upenn.edu |
| if you wish to receive electronic versions of this newsletter and |
| notices of radio and television broadcasts about FMS. All the |
| message need say is "add to the FMS-News". You'll also learn about |
| joining the FMS-Research list (it distributes research materials |
| such as news stories, court decisions and research articles). It |
| would be useful, but not necessary, if you add your full name (all |
| addresses and names will remain strictly confidential). |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
**********************************************************************
The False Memory Syndrome Foundation is a qualified 501(c)3 corpora-
tion with its principal offices in Philadelphia and governed by its
Board of Directors. While it encourages participation by its members
in its activities, it must be understood that the Foundation has no
affiliates and that no other organization or person is authorized to
speak for the Foundation without the prior written approval of the Ex-
ecutive Director. All membership dues and contributions to the Founda-
tion must be forwarded to the Foundation for its disposition.
**********************************************************************
Pamela Freyd, Ph.D., Executive Director
FMSF Scientific and Professional Advisory Board, September 1, 1998
AARON T. BECK, M.D., D.M.S., University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia,
PA; TERENCE W. CAMPBELL, Ph.D., Clinical and Forensic Psychology,
Sterling Heights, MI; ROSALIND CARTWRIGHT, Ph.D., Rush Presbyterian
St. Lukes Medical Center, Chicago, IL; JEAN CHAPMAN, Ph.D., University
of Wisconsin, Madison, WI; LOREN CHAPMAN, Ph.D., University of Wiscon-
sin, Madison, WI; FREDERICK C. CREWS, Ph.D., University of California,
Berkeley, CA; ROBYN M. DAWES, Ph.D., Carnegie Mellon University,
Pittsburgh, PA; DAVID F. DINGES, Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania,
Philadelphia, PA; HENRY C. ELLIS, Ph.D., University of New Mexico,
Albuquerque, NM; FRED H. FRANKEL, MBChB, DPM, Harvard University Medi-
cal School, Boston MA; GEORGE K. GANAWAY, M.D., Emory University of
Medicine, Atlanta, GA; MARTIN GARDNER, Author, Hendersonville, NC
ROCHEL GELMAN, Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles, CA; HENRY
GLEITMAN, Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA; LILA
GLEITMAN, Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA; RICHARD
GREEN, M.D., J.D., Charing Cross Hospital, London; DAVID A. HALPERIN,
M.D., Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY; ERNEST HILGARD,
Ph.D., Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA; JOHN HOCHMAN, M.D., UCLA
Medical School, Los Angeles, CA; DAVID S. HOLMES, Ph.D., University of
Kansas, Lawrence, KS; PHILIP S. HOLZMAN, Ph.D., Harvard University,
Cambridge, MA; ROBERT A. KARLIN, Ph.D., Rutgers University, New
Brunswick, NJ; HAROLD LIEF, M.D., University of Pennsylvania, Phila-
delphia, PA; ELIZABETH LOFTUS, Ph.D., University of Washington, Sea-
tle, WA; SUSAN L. McELROY, M.D., University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati,
OH; PAUL McHUGH, M.D., Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD; HAROLD
MERSKEY, D.M., University of Western Ontario, London, Canada; SPENCER
HARRIS MORFIT, Author, Westford, MA; ULRIC NEISSER, Ph.D., Cornell
University, Ithaca, N.Y.; RICHARD OFSHE, Ph.D., University of Califor-
nia, Berkeley, CA; EMILY CAROTA ORNE, B.A., University of Pennsylvan-
ia, Philadelphia, PA; MARTIN ORNE, M.D., Ph.D., University of Pennsyl-
vania, Philadelphia, PA; LOREN PANKRATZ, Ph.D., Oregon Health Sciences
University, Portland, OR; CAMPBELL PERRY, Ph.D., Concordia University,
Montreal, Canada; MICHAEL A. PERSINGER, Ph.D., Laurentian University,
Ontario, Canada; AUGUST T. PIPER, Jr., M.D., Seattle, WA; HARRISON
POPE, Jr., M.D., Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA; JAMES RANDI,
Author and Magician, Plantation, FL; HENRY L. ROEDIGER, III, Ph.D.,
Washington University, St. Louis, MO; CAROLYN SAARI, Ph.D., Loyola
University, Chicago, IL; THEODORE SARBIN, Ph.D., University of Cali-
fornia, Santa Cruz, CA; THOMAS A. SEBEOK, Ph.D., Indiana University,
Bloomington, IN; MICHAEL A. SIMPSON, M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P., M.R.C,
D.O.M., Center for Psychosocial & Traumatic Stress, Pretoria, South
Africa; MARGARET SINGER, Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley,
CA; RALPH SLOVENKO, J.D., Ph.D., Wayne State University Law School,
Detroit, MI; DONALD SPENCE, Ph.D., Robert Wood Johnson Medical Center,
Piscataway, NJ; JEFFREY VICTOR, Ph.D., Jamestown Community College,
Jamestown, NY; HOLLIDA WAKEFIELD, M.A., Institute of Psychological
Therapies, Northfield, MN; CHARLES A. WEAVER, III, Ph.D. Baylor Uni-
versity, Waco, TX.
**********************************************************************
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______________________________________________________________________
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This address and the phone numbers have changed as of July 15, 2000
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and services provided.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR INTEREST
**********************************************************************