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F M S F O U N D A T I O N N E W S L E T T E R (e-mail edition)
May/June 2001 Vol 10 No 3
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ISSN #1069-0484. Copyright (c) 2001 by the FMS Foundation
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The FMSF Newsletter is published 6 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
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FMS Foundation, to the address below. 2000 subscription rates:
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1955 Locust Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103-5766
Phone 215-940-1040, Fax 215-940-1042
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IN THIS ISSUE:
Roediger
Legal Corner The next issue will be combined
Feld July/August
Kane
From Our Readers
Bulletin Board
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Dear Friends,
In a landmark decision, a Wisconsin jury awarded $5.08 million to
Delores and Thomas Sawyer on March 16, 2001 for the pain and suffering
they sustained as a result of false memories of sexual abuse that
developed when their daughter was in therapy. (See below) The Sawyers
were never patients of the therapists who were sued.
For a cause of action for negligence to be successful, there must
be a legal duty of care; if the law does not recognize a duty between
the defendant and the plaintiff, the plaintiff lacks standing to
sue. It is the issue of duty that has limited the number of cases
brought by parents against the therapists they believe harmed their
children and themselves. Until now, the best known third-party
recovered memory suit was the Ramona case in California in 1994. (See
FMSF newsletter June 1994 and July 1994.) Gary Ramona received a jury
award for lost wages but not for emotional distress.
A crucial decision for the Sawyers came in 1998 when the Wisconsin
Court of Appeals decided that mental health professionals had a duty
to ensure that harm was not caused to third parties "when some harm
was foreseeable." That decision was affirmed by the Wisconsin Supreme
Court in 1999 and provided the grounds for the lawsuit to proceed.
Over the past few years, some mental health professionals have
expressed great anxiety about the impact of third-party suits on the
practice of therapy. At the same time, they have done little to stop
dangerous therapies. By their silence, professional organizations have
effectively condoned the practice of therapist and patient accusing
people of criminal activity who are outside the therapy dyad and of
then refusing to meet with the accused. When parents have tried to
defend themselves and get information, therapist and patient have
invoked "confidentiality." By their silence, professional
organizations have condoned a practice that led to the destroying of
families and reputations. Professional organizations have not
protected the public, and they have not ensured that therapy is safe
and effective. The mental health profession may have reason for alarm:
the $5 million award to the Sawyers is an indication of how the public
perceives the harm done to falsely accused parents when the facts can
be brought to light. In April another blow to the mental health
industry's reputation came as a Colorado jury watched a 70-minute
"rebirthing" therapy session during which Candace Newmaker died -- the
ultimate "snuff" film. Bill Johnson of the Rocky Mountain News [1]
wrote: "It was the worst thing I have witnessed in 24 years in this
business. My heart is breaking, and I am having trouble keeping it
together."
"Please, stop pushing down on me. Please, help me!"
"Please, quit!"
"Please! Please! Please!"
According to published reports, Candace's pleas were made as
therapists Connell Watkins and Julie Ponder lay on top of pillows and
a blanket covering Candace (10 years old and 70 pounds). Candace's
step-mother had brought her to these therapists for "rebirthing," a
treatment that the therapists claimed would cure her attachment
disorder. In the days before the rebirthing session in which Candace
died, she was subjected to "holding therapies." There is no scientific
evidence that holding therapies are effective. We have written about
harm from holding therapies in past newsletters.[2] There is no
scientific evidence that rebirthing is effective. Testifying for the
prosecution, attorney and psychologist Christopher Barden said, "It's
easily the most reckless and abusive treatment of a child I've ever
seen."[3] From the tape:
"I'm going to die!" "I want to die!"
"You want to die?" one of the women asks the girl.
"Yes,"
"For real?"
"Yes."
"Go ahead and die."
To date, no professional organization or legislature has cared
enough about protecting the public to insist that therapies be safe
and effective and based in science. If they had, Candace might be
alive today. (There is legislation working its way through the
Colorado legislature that would prohibit therapies that restrain.)
Indeed, some professionals are actively opposed to the very minimum
protection for the public: "informed consent."[4] (See Feld below)
Candace's step-mother testified that she thought the rebirthing
treatment was standard and did not know the therapists had limited
experience with it. How was she supposed to have found out? Where are
the professional organizations? Watkins and Ponder are on trial for
"reckless child abuse resulting in death." The Sawyers received $5
million. How many more trials will it take before professional
organizations or legislatures take action to protect the public by
ensuring that therapy be safe and effective.
PAMELA
[1] Johnson, B. "Rebirthing a scene of profound horror, Rocky Mountain
News, 4/6/01
[2] See FMSF Newsletter 5(1) Jan, 1996; July/Aug 2000
[3] Kohler, J. "Prosecutors wrap up in therapy death case" Rocky
Mountain News 4/13/04
[4] Fink, P. "The attack on psychotherapy" Clinical Psychiatry News,
Nov. 1998; FMSF Newsletter Jan/Feb 1999.
______________________________SIDEBAR_______________________________
/ \
| "The harm the Sawyers have alleged are the ordinary and |
| predictable injuries one might expect following negligent therapy |
| which implants and reinforces false memories of sexual abuse at |
| the hands of family members which results in accusations of that |
| abuse." |
| Wisconsin Supreme Court |
\____________________________________________________________________/
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____________________
Memory Research News
In this issue we report on several interesting memory studies.
Anderson and Green claim that the results of their directed forgetting
study "support a suppression mechanism that pushes unwanted memories
out of awareness, as posited by Freud." Because this is a big claim
and because the article appeared in the prestigious journal Nature, we
asked memory researcher Henry Roediger III to comment.
It is interesting, however, that another directed-forgetting study
by McNally, Clancy and Schacter appears to have quite different
results. They found that people reporting either repressed or
recovered memories of childhood sexual abuse did not show superior
ability to forget trauma-related words. The authors note that reports
of repressed and recovered memories of childhood sexual abuse imply a
developed skill for dissociating or forgetting disturbing
memories. Such ability was not found.
__________________
Survey 2001 Update
We thank all of you who returned your surveys so promptly. Many of you
added comments that are very helpful. Trying to capture on a survey
situations as diverse and fluid as those that exist in FMS families
obviously loses much, so we appreciate the comments. Even a question
that seems straightforward such as how contact was attempted turns out
to be one that changed over time. For example, many families began by
sending letters and cards and then stopped when contact was forbidden.
Some waited a period and resumed their efforts while others lost
contact.
As we write this column, we have already entered the data for
about 400 surveys and some things have made an impression -- even
before we do any actual counting. The demographics do not appear to
have changed significantly. The vast majority of accusers are
Caucasian, college educated women who made their accusations in the
early 1990s when they were between 25 and 45. The people who are
primarily accused are mostly fathers. There appears to be a big
increase in the number of "returners" compared to the last survey,
something we expected would be the case. We will be glad when all the
data are entered and we can crunch some numbers. We expect to have
some results to share in the summer newsletter.
We are intrigued by an observation one of us made and invite your
comment. In past surveys, several families with whom we are familiar
counted siblings who went along and supported the accuser as accusers
also. In intervening years, letters from those families described the
return of supporting siblings. In the current survey, these families
no longer list those siblings as accusers or returners or
retractors. They are listed as siblings who supported the
accuser. What do you think is going on?
+----------------------------------------------------+
| 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 |
| COLUMNISTS: August Piper, Jr. and members |
| of the FMSF Scientific Advisory Board |
| LETTERS and INFORMATION: Our Readers |
+----------------------------------------------------+
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Suppressing Unwanted Memories by Executive Control
Anderson, M.C. & Green, C.
Nature vol. 410, March 15, 2001
Thirty-two college students were trained on 40 unrelated word pairs
(for example, ordeal-roach) so that they could recall the right-hand
member of each pair when provided with the left-hand member. They were
then asked to exert executive control (for example, voluntary
suppression) over the retrieval process. On each trial, "a cue from
one of the pairs appeared on the computer screen. Depending on the
cue, subjects were told either to recall and say (think about) the
associated response word (respond pairs), or not to think about the
response (suppression pairs)." Results showed that the amount of
forgetting increased with the number of attempts to exclude the
unwanted memory from awareness. The authors note that their results
"imply that a process exists that impairs the retention of memories
when they are deliberately kept out of consciousness." They also claim
that their findings "support a suppression mechanism that pushes
unwanted memories out of awareness, as posited by Freud."
We asked memory researcher and FMSF advisor Henry Roediger, III to
comment on this study.
__________________________
Comments on Anderson Study
Henry Roediger III
The article by Anderson and Green is an interesting attempt to shore
up one of Freud's key concepts over 100 years after he proposed it.
Experimental evidence for repression has been almost totally lacking.
Therefore, the report is a welcome examination on how attempts to
suppress thoughts affect memory. Although interesting, the effects
reported in the paper are quite modest in size (a 5-10% reduction in
recall after many attempts to suppress the information). In some
experiments no inhibition was seen after 8 attempts to suppress the
information, and when it was obtained, the inhibition/repression was
not at all complete. Even with 16 attempts to suppress the material,
people still recalled the information about 75% of the time, which
hardly qualifies as the "banishment of the ideas from mind" that
repression is sometimes thought to reflect. Most of the material was
still easily retrievable by Anderson and Greens' subjects, even after
their 16 attempts at suppression. However, the inhibition they did
find is still notable.
Because this is a first study, it will be interesting to see if it
can be replicated independently by other investigators and extended to
materials beyond pairs of words. Other researchers over the years have
attempted to make the analogy between directed forgetting and
repression, most notably Weiner in the 1960s (e.g., Weiner, 1968;
Weiner & Reed, 1969). They claimed to find a repression-like effect
using a directed forgetting paradigm, but later research by Roediger
and Crowder (1972) showed that a simpler interpretation of their
findings (in terms of differential rehearsal of material) was more
probable than the explanation in terms of repression.
Although this publication by Anderson and Green is interesting, it
will take considerable future research to determine if this outcome
supports the concept of repression. Research with more naturally
occurring thoughts by Daniel Wegner and his colleagues shows that
trying to suppress thoughts often creates a boomerang effect and makes
them highly retrievable (e.g., Wegner, 1994). This outcome may also
explain some phenomena associated with retrieval of traumatic
memories.
Following severe traumas, such as the Oklahoma City bombing, many
victims report that they become obsessed with memories of the
traumatic event and fail in their attempts to stop thinking about
it. The development of intrusive flashback memories often reported by
those people with post-traumatic stress disorders may occur because of
the attempt to suppress these memories, which backfires and makes them
"too retrievable." The relation between these flashback phenomena,
which are well established, and any possible repression (which would
essentially be the opposite mechanism at work) remains to be
developed. However, for many PTSD patients, flashbacks and intrusive
memories of the trauma often seem much more prevalent responses than
any hypothetical `repression' of the events.
Roediger, H.L. & Crowder, R.G. (1972). Instructed forgetting: Rehearsal
control or retrieval inhibition (repression)? Cognitive Psychology, 2,
244-254.
Wegner, D. (1994). Ironic processes of mental control. Psychological
Review, 101, 34-92.
Weiner, B. (1968). Motivated forgetting and the study of repression.
Journal of Personality, 36, 213-234.
Weiner, B. & Reed, H. (1969). Effects of instructional sets to remember
and to forget on short-term retention: Studies of rehearsal control and
retrieval inhibition (repression). Journal of Experimental Psychology,
79, 226-232.
Henry Roediger III, Ph.D. is James S. Mcdonnell Distinguished
University Professor and Chairman of the Psychology Department at
Washington University in St. Louis. He is a leading expert in memory
and is a member of the FMSF Scientific Advisory Board.
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Directed Forgetting of Trauma Cues in Adults Reporting
Repressed or Recovered Memories of Childhood Sexual Abuse
McNally, R., Clancy, S.. & Schacter, D
Journal of Abnormal Psychology
2001, 110 (1) 1-6.
The authors note that reports of repressed and recovered memories of
childhood sexual abuse imply a developed skill for dissociating or
forgetting disturbing memories. To test this hypothesis, 13 women who
reported believing they had repressed memories of childhood abuse but
could not recall it, 13 women who reported having recovered memories
of CSA and 15 women who denied having been abused in childhood were
asked to remember or to forget words shown on a computer screen. Words
were trauma-related (e.g., incest, abused), positive (e.g., elation,
cheerful), and neutral (e.g., banister, stairs).
The results provided no support for the hypothesis that people
reporting either repressed or recovered memories of childhood abuse
have a special talent for forgetting words related to trauma. All
groups recalled the words they were instructed to remember more often
than the words they were instructed to forget.
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Personality Profiles, Dissociation, and Absorption in Women Reporting
Repressed, Recovered, or Continuous Memories of
Childhood Sexual Abuse
McNally, R.J., Clancy, S.A., Schacter, D.L. & Pitman, R.K.
J. of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 2000 68 (6), 1033-1037
Tests designed to measure such features as fantasy proneness,
dissociation, PTSD and depression were given to (1) women who believed
they had been sexually abused as children, but who had no explicit
autobiographical memory of it (repressed memory group, N=25); (2)
women who reported having recovered memories of CSA after periods of
being unable to remember any abuse (recovered memory group, N=28); (3)
women reporting histories of CSA that they had always remembered
(continuous memory group, N=15); and (4) women reporting no history of
CSA (comparison group, N=24). "Most participants in the continuous
memory group mentioned an informant who could corroborate their abuse
history." This was not the case with the other groups.
The authors found:
(1) In measures of distress (PTSD, depression) women who have
never forgotten their abuse were indistinguishable from those who were
never abused, whereas those who believe they harbor repressed memories
of CSA were the most distressed.
(2) Recovered memory participants scored higher on fantasy
proneness than did those reporting either continuous memories or no
abuse history.
(3) The dissociation data were equally consistent with both the
false memory and recovered memory perspectives. Having a history of
CSA, however, is not invariably linked to heightened dissociation.
_____________________________
Children's Eyewitness Reports
After Exposure to Misinformation From Parents
Poole, D.A. & Lindsay, D.S.
J of Experimental Psychology: Applied March 2001 Vol 7, No 1, 27-50
(Available: www.apa.org/journals/xap/xap7127.html )
Children (3 to 8 years old) participated in science demonstrations,
listened to their parents read a story that described experienced and
nonexperienced events, and later discussed the science experience in
two follow-up interviews. Many children described fictitious events in
response to open-ended prompts, and there were no age differences in
suggestibility. With direct questioning accuracy dropped for younger
children Older children but not younger children retracted many of
their false reports after receiving source-monitoring instructions.
The authors note that the results indicate that judgments about the
accuracy of children's testimony must consider the possibility of
exposure to misinformation prior to formal interviews.
+-----------------------------+
| "Dental Tips for Survivors" |
| www.sidran.org/dental.html |
+-----------------------------+
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_____________________________________________________________
Judge Orders Reform in Illinois Child Services Investigations
The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) has
been ordered to revamp investigations of child abuse and neglect. A
federal judge has concluded that child abuse and neglect
investigations by the Illinois Department of Children and Family
Services are unconstitutional. U.S. District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer
concluded DCFS investigations are one-sided, decided on little
evidence and unfairly blacklist professionals accused of wrongdoing.
The judge has issued a preliminary injunction giving DCFS 60 days
to improve. The case was the result of a class-action lawsuit over the
DCFS practices.
Three quarters of the cases in which child-care employees had been
accused by DCFS of abuse or neglect were ultimately exonerated on
appeal. "Something is seriously and obviously flawed in a system" in
which so many cases are reversed on review, Pallmeyer said. The
decision is available at:
www.ilnd.uscourts.gov/JUDGE/Pallmeyer/REP_OPIN/dupuy.pdf
_______________________________________________
Elizabeth Loftus to Receive William James Award
The American Psychological Society awards the William James Award to
scholars whose research has produced major advances. It will present
this award in June at its annual meeting to Elizabeth Loftus, whose
work has helped show that memories are not neatly or always accurately
stored in the brain in the manner that people once believed they
were. She has demonstrated that memories can be influenced, enhanced
and distorted and that false memories can be created. Loftus, a
founding member of the FMSF Scientific Advisory Board, is one of the
world's leading experts on the malleability of human memory and
eyewitness testimony.
March 29, 2001 University of Washington web page
______________________________SIDEBAR_______________________________
/ \
| One Size Fits All |
| |
| "What every mental health care professional who practices here |
| does know is that nearly every admission to the inpatient wards, |
| every intake of a new patient to the clinics, every patient who |
| comes for psychotherapy has been a victim, witness or perpetrator |
| of abuse." |
| Cynthia Geppert, M.D., M.A. |
| "The Unified Theory of Psychiatric Phenomena" |
| Psychiatric Times, March 2001 p. 26 |
\____________________________________________________________________/
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L E G A L C O R N E R
FMSF Staff
_____________________________________________
Wisconsin Accused Parents Awarded $5 Million:
Sawyer v. Midelfort, 595 N.W.2d 423 (Wisc. 1999)
On March 16, 2001, after a three-week trial and 10 hours of
deliberations, a jury in Eau Claire, Wisconsin awarded Thomas and
Delores Sawyer more than $5 million. The Sawyers had been accused of
sexual and physical abuse in 1985 by their daughter, Nancy, who died
more than six years ago. The jury decided that Nancy had been abused
not by her parents but by two therapists, Celia Lausted and Dr. H.
Berit Midelfort, who they found responsible for Nancy Sawyer's false
memories.
The Sawyers (who are in their seventies) were represented by Bill
and Pam Smoler of Madison, Wisconsin. The Smolers have successfully
tried several false memory cases, most notably the case of former
patient Nadean Cool against her psychiatrist that settled for $2.4
million in 1997.
The Sawyers' daughter Nancy had severed all contact with them when
she made her accusations. Smoler said, "This was just a heartbreaking
case... In this case, you have a daughter you love who suddenly is
accusing you of the worst thing imaginable. By the time she died, she
had accused her father, her brother, her brother's friend, her mother,
her grandfather, an uncle, an aunt, two cousins and three pastors.
Everybody was accused." Smoler noted that the significance of this
case is that it will give families similarly affected a way to "fight
back."
The Sawyers sued Midelfort and Lausted in 1996 for negligent
diagnosis and treatment causing their daughter to develop false
memories of sexual abuse by her father and other family members. After
Nancy's death in 1995, her mother was appointed administrator of the
estate and she obtained copies of Nancy's treatment records. Upon
reading the notes, Mrs. Sawyer discovered the role of the therapists
in Nancy's alleged recovery of false memories. The case was dismissed
on summary judgment by the trial court. In 1998 The Wisconsin Court of
Appeals considered two issues: whether the Sawyers' claims were time-
barred; and whether allowing recovery for psychological harm due to
negligence would put too great a burden on the therapist.[1] The
appeals court revived the suit. In 1999, the Wisconsin Supreme Court
held that all of the third-party claims were properly stated and none
should have been dismissed.[2] The court emphasized that the parents
could sue their daughter's therapist for injuries caused directly by
the false allegations, but not for the "loss of society and
companionship" of their daughter. Under Wisconsin law, the court held,
the accused person needn't have been a patient in order to sue, nor
must the third party be related to the accuser.
Experts for the Sawyers were Steven J. Lynn, Ph.D., Richard Ofshe,
Ph.D., John Cannell, M.D. and Herzl Spiro, M.D.
Attorneys for the defense were Phillip Cole and Thomas Jacobson of
Lommen, Nelson, Cole & Stageberg in Minneapolis. Thomas Gutheil, M.D.
was the defense expert. Dr. H. Berit Midelfort was insured by the
Midwest Medical Insurance Company, but Celia Lausted had no insurance.
BACKGROUND:
In 1982, schoolteacher Nancy Sawyer moved to Eau Claire and in
1983 she sought counseling from a pastor at her church, but in June
she transferred to another counselor, Anne Frantz-Cook, who had
recently received her masters degree in social work. Frantz-Cook
counseled Nancy for one year during which time Nancy first came to
believe that she had recovered memories of being abused. During this
time Nancy went to the Bolton Refuge Shelter where she met defendant
Celia Lausted. Nancy began a relationship with Lausted that no one has
clearly characterized. (e.g., Nancy regularly went to Lausted's home
for some time before therapy was officially started.)
Between 1984 and 1987, Nancy also saw psychiatrist Kathryn
Bemmann, M.D. who gave her medications. Nancy was introduced to
Bemmann by Lausted who had met Bemmann on the Wisconsin Governor's
Commission on the Status of Women.
In 1985, Nancy had a confrontation with her parents in Bemmann's
office with Celia Lausted present. Thereafter Nancy changed her last
name to "Anneatra" and hid from her parents. Nancy sued her parents in
1988, but the suit never got past the initial stages and remains in
limbo today.
In 1987, Nancy became a patient of defendant H. Berit Midelfort,
M.D. During treatment with Midelfort, Nancy was diagnosed as having
Multiple Personality Disorder (now called Dissociative Identity
Disorder). Ultimately, Nancy came to believe she had over 100
personalities.
The question arises as to why the defendants in this case were
limited to Lausted and Midelfort, especially since the "memories"
started when Nancy was seeing Frantz-Cook. The defense claimed that
Lausted and Midelfort could not have caused the problems since the
memories preceded them.
Under Wisconsin law, therapists are required to keep records for
only seven years. Hence neither Benmann nor Frantz-Cook had any
records of their treatment of Nancy. Moreover, most of their work
predated the wealth of literature that showed recovered memory to be
flawed. Although Lausted had few records from her counseling with
Nancy, attorney Smoler was able to reconstruct much of what had gone
on from information in Celia Lausted's master's thesis. When she began
counseling Nancy, Lausted had a BA in home economics and was just
starting a program for a masters in guidance and counseling. She
received her degree in December 1988. Lausted's thesis was about her
four years of counseling Nancy. Celia Lausted also attended seminars
on Multiple Personality Disorder at Rush Presbyterian Hospital in
Chicago. The Rush Presbyterian program was headed by Bennett Braun,
M.D. who was investigated by the Illinois Department of Professional
Regulation and who turned in his license in 1999 as part of a plea
agreement with the department.[3]
Bemmann and Frantz-Cook made some revealing comments that
ultimately helped the prosecution. In 1993, Celia Lausted applied for
her certification. As part of her application, she included a letter
of recommendation allegedly from psychiatrist Bemmann. The letter
contained much praise for Lausted's methods and for her treatment of
Nancy's MPD. When Bemmann was shown this letter in preparation for
the trial, Bemmann said that she (Bemmann) never treated Nancy for
MPD, and that she had concerns about that diagnosis.
When Frantz-Cook testified, she stated that in the early 1980s she
believed it was appropriate to search for memories. She noted,
however, that she stopped this practice by the end of the `80s. She
said that anyone who had kept up with the literature would have known
that memory excavation was not appropriate therapeutic practice by
that time.
The trial itself contained many dramatic moments. Perhaps one of
the most memorable was during the cross examination of Harvard
University psychiatrist Thomas Gutheil, M.D., the defense expert for
Midelfort. Gutheil had argued that psychiatrist Midelfort was just the
medical back-up with a small supportive psychotherapy role and was not
actually providing therapy for Nancy and therefore not responsible.
Smoler, however, reminded Gutheil about what he had written on the
proper role of a psychiatrist when collaborating with a therapist.
Gutheil's well-known public statement is, "If you sign, the case is
thine."
Wisconsin is a comparative-negligence state. The current rule is
that only the defendant found to be 51% or more responsible for the
negligence bears the full cost of the judgment. In the Sawyer case,
Midelfort was found responsible for 80% of the negligence and Lausted
responsible for 20%.
The defense has 90 days in which to bring motions after verdict.
[1] See FMSF Newsletter 7 (4) May 1998. Sawyer v. Midelfort Court of
Appeals, Dist. III, Wisconsin, No. 97-1969, March 17, 1998.
[2] See FMSF Newsletter 8 (5) July/August 1999. Sawyer v. Midelfort,
1999 Wisc. LEXIS 86, June 29, 1999.
[3] See FMSF Newsletter 8 (8) December 1999. Illinois Department of
Professional Regulation v. Bennett G. Braun, M.D. 1998-10343-01.
__________________________________________
Where Do Courts Stand on Recovered Memory?
Last month we reported that Piper, Pope and Borowiecki [1] had
documented serious mistatements made by Brown, Scheflin and
Whitfield.[2] This month we reprint Piper et al.'s response to the
Brown, Scheflin and Whitfield statement that most courts have found
recovered memory testimony admissible. Piper et al. wrote:
"One of the most inaccurate implications made by Brown and
colleagues is that courts have generally favored the concepts of
"repressed" memory and "recovered" memory. For example, the authors
say that "if a nose count were to be taken, the majority of
appellate courts that have addressed the issue have correctly
decided to admit expert testimony on repressed memory." (p. 124) No
reference is given in "Current Evidence" to support this statement.
In the next sentence, the authors cite Shahzade v. Gregory from 1996
but fail to note that this was merely a district court -- not
appellate court -- case. "Although some appellate courts have
rejected repressed-memory testimony," Brown and colleagues state,
"the better view is that followed by most courts, that such
testimony is admissible." (p. 124) The reference given for this
latter statement lists only four cases."
[1] Piper, Jr., A., Pope, Jr., H.G. and Borowiecki III, "Custer's last
stand: Brown, Scheflin, and Whitfield's latest attempt to salvage
"dissociative amnesia" Journal of Psychiatry & Law 28/Summer 2000,
149-213.
[2] Brown, Scheflin and Whitfield, "Recovered memories: The current
weight of the evidence in science and in the courts," Journal of
Psychiatry & Law, 27 (1999), 5-156.
_______________________________________
Table 2 from Piper, Pope and Borowiecki
APPELLATE-LEVEL DECISIONS 1995 TO THE PRESENT INVOLVING THE VALIDITY
OF REPRESSED/ RECOVERED MEMORY
Cases addressing the validity of
repressed/recovered memory as a basis
for tolling the statute of limitations.
Cases "FOR" (court appeared TO ACCEPT the validity of
repressed/recovered memories -- or at least did not explicitly reject
the concept):
DOE v. ROE 955 P.2d 951 (AZ 1998) Appeals court accepted repressed
memories as valid but remanded the case to allow jury to decide on
plaintiff's motion to toll the statute of limitations. "...[W]e have
accepted the case as presented by the parties, and have assumed the
phenomenon of repressed memory exists and the concept could be
applied to Plaintiff's discovery and tolling claims."
HOULT v. HOULT 57F. 3d 1 (MA 1995) Defendant David Hoult did
challenge the validity of repressed/recovered memories at initial
trial in Dec. 1993. The appeals court denied his right to challenge
it after the fact, but did not explicitly rule on its validity.
PHINNEY v. MORGAN 654 N.E.2d 77 (MA 1995) Court accepted existence
of repressed memory, citing the Hoult case. However, the court ruled
that the plaintiffs could not toll the statute of limitations
because of evidence that they were aware of the injury prior to the
alleged date on which they discovered it.
Cases "AGAINST" (court appeared NOT TO ACCEPT the validity of
repressed/recovered memories; in all cases below, the court denied
plaintiff's request to toll the statute of limitation on the basis of
repressed/recovered memories):
FRANKLIN v. STEVENSON 94-090177PI (UT 1999) "[T]he trial court
erred in not finding the plaintiff's experts' testimonies [regarding
recovered memories] inadmissible."
ENGSTROM v. ENGSTROM Cal. App, 2nd App. Dist., Div.2 (CA 1997)
"[Repressed memory] is not generally accepted as valid and reliable
by a respectable majority of the pertinent scientific community..."
DALRYMPLE v. BROWN 701 A.2d 164 (PA 1997) "[T]he validity of
repressed memory theory is subject to considerable debate in the
psychological community and some courts have rejected its
admissibility."
JOHN BBB DOE v. ARCHDIOCESE OF MILWAUKEE et al. 565 N.W. 2d 94 (WI
1997) "...[T]he consensus of professional organizations reviewing
the debate is that there is no consensus on the truth or falsity of
these memories."
S.V. v. R.V. 933 S.W.2d 1 (TX 1996) "...[T]he scientific community
has not reached consensus on how to gauge the truth or falsity of
`recovered' memories."
TRAVIS v. ZITER et al. 681 So.2d 1348 (AL 1996) "[T]here is no
consensus of scientific thought in support of the repressed memory
theory."
DOE et al. v. MASKELL et al. 679 A.2d 1087 (MD 1996) "We are
unconvinced that repression exists as a phenomenon separate and
apart from the normal process of forgetting."
M.E.H. et al. v. L.H. et al. 669 N.E. 2d 1228 (IL 1996) "We believe
the discovery rule does not apply to cases in which the plaintiff
alleges that she repressed the conscious awareness of sexual abuse
as a child and remembered it years later." Hunter v. Brown 546
N.W. 2d 1 (TN 1996) "We find that there is simply too much
indecision in the scientific community as to the credibility of
repressed memory."
LEMMERMAN v. FEALK and WILLIFORD v. BIESKE 534 N.W.2d 695 (MI 1995)
"[W]e cannot conclude with any reasonable degree of confidence that
factfinders could fairly and reliably resolve the questions before
them, given the state of the art regarding repressed memory and the
absence of objective verification."
Additional cases in which the court addressed the
validity of repressed/recovered memory
in the absence of a statute of limitations issue:
Cases "AGAINST" (court appeared NOT TO ACCEPT the validity of
repressed/recovered memories):
STATE of NEW HAMPSHIRE v. HUNGERFORD and STATE of NEW HAMPSHIRE v.
MORAHAN 698 A.2d 1244 (NH 1997) "The phenomenon of recovery of
repressed memories has not yet reached the point where we may
perceive these particular recovered memories as reliable."
STATE of NEW HAMPSHIRE v. WALTERS 697 A.2d 916 (NH 1997) "[W]e
conclude, as we did in Hungerford, that `[t]he indicia of
reliability present in the particular memories in [this] case[] do
not rise to such a level that they overcome the divisive state of
the scientific debate on the issue.'"
Cases in which a lower court assessed the validity of
repressed/recovered memory after hearing the case
on remand from an appellate-level court.
Cases "AGAINST" (court appeared NOT TO ACCEPT the validity of
repressed/recovered memories):
STATE of RHODE ISLAND v. QUATTROCCHI C.A. No. P92-3759 (RI 1999) [on
remand from the Rhode Island Supreme Court 681 A.2d 879 (RI 1996)]
"The State has not met its burden of establishing that repressed
recollection is reliable and admissible as scientific evidence."
LOGERQUIST v. DANFORTH et al. CV 92-16309 (AZ 1998) [on remand from
the Arizona Court of appeals 932 P.2d 281 (AZ 1996)] "[T]his Court
has concluded that the theories advanced by Plaintiff's experts are
not generally accepted in the relevant scientific community of
trauma memory researchers."
BARRETT v. HYLDBURG 94-CVS-793 (NC 1998) [on remand from the North
Carolina Court of Appeals 487 S.E.2nd 803 (NC 1997)] "There has been
no general acceptance in the relevant scientific community of the
theory of repressed memory."
Footnote: many other cases involving repressed/recovered memory and/or
childhood sexual abuse were evaluated for the above list, but were
excluded for various reasons. These included:
Cases where repressed/recovered memory was asserted, but did not enter
into the court's final decision because other legal arguments took
precedence:
RAMONA v. RAMONA 66 Cal. Rptr.2d 766 (CA 1997)[recovered memories
using sodium amytal] "...[I]nadmissible under Kelly due to the lack
of general acceptance in the scientific community of the reliability
of memories recalled after a sodium amytal interview."
BORAWICK v. SHAY 68 F.3d 597 (CT 1996) [recovered memories using
hypnosis] "The fact remains that the literature has not yet
conclusively demonstrated that hypnosis is a consistently effective
means to retrieve repressed memories of traumatic past experiences
accurately."
Other sexual abuse cases excluded from the above list where
repressed/recovered memory was asserted in attempting to toll the
statute of limitations, but did not enter into the court's final
decision: ALBRIGHT v. WHITE 503 S.E.2d 860 (WV 1998); HARKNESS v.
FITZGERALD et al. 701 A.2d 370 (ME 1997); HUNTER v. BROWN 955 S.W.2d
49 (TN 1997); M.E.H. et al. v. L.H. et al. 685 N.E.2d 335 (IL 1997);
SWACKHAMMER v. WIDNALL 1997 U.S. App. Lexis 18955 (WA 1997); FLOREZ v.
SARGEANT III and DUNCAN v. MOONSHADOW 917 P.2d 250 (AZ 1996);
WOODROFFE v. HANSENCLEVER 540 N.W.2d 45 (IA 1995).
Cases excluded because victims claimed to have always remembered
sexual abuse but sought to toll the statute of limitations on the
grounds that they failed to appreciate the "causal connection" between
the abuse and later harm: W.J.L. v. BUGGE 573 N.W.2d 677 (MN 1998);
NOLDE v. FRANKIE 949 P.2d 511 (AZ 1997); BLACKOWIAK v. KEMP 546 N.W.2d
1 (MN 1996); SELLERY v. CRESSEY 55 Cal. Rptr.2d 706 (CA 1996);
FRIDERES et al. v. SCHILTZ et al. 540 N.W.2d 261 (IA 1995); LENT
v. DOW 55 Cal.Rptr.2d 951 (CA 1995); ROARK v. CRABTREE 893 P.2d 1058
(UT 1995); K.B. v. EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH IN AMERICA et al. 538
N.W.2d 152 (MN 1995).
Cases involving repressed/recovered memory, but excluded from the
above list because they were remanded to a lower court and where no
subsequent lower court decision is available: CLAY v. KUHL 696 N.E.2d
1245 (IL 1998); KELLY et al. v. MARCANTONIO et al. 678 A.2d 873 (RI
1996); PETERSON v. HUSO 552 N.W.2d 83 (ND 1996); SHEEHAN v. SHEEHAN
901 S.W.2d 57 (MO 1995).
_________________________________
Update of cases we have followed:
TERRY B. DAVIS, Ph.D. has had her license revoked by the Tennessee
state Board of Examiners in Psychology. Davis who treated patients
with DID and MPD was accused of letting unlicensed subordinates
conduct therapy sessions. Former patients claimed that she "implanted"
false memories of abuse.
See FMSF Newsletter, March, Vol 10 #2 p.5 Anderson, M. "To protect
vulnerable, board revokes psychologist's license" Commercial Appeal,
4/5/01
GERALD AMIRAULT "has been left swinging in the wind."[1] It is now six
months after the Massachusetts Parole Board was required to make a
recommendation on whether to commute the sentence of Gerald Amirault.
Governor Cellucci has said that there was no effort to delay the
recommendation until after he was confirmed as ambassador to Canada as
has been suggested in some publications.
[1] "Review & Outlook" Wall Street Journal, 4/2/01. "Parole Board yet
to act on plea for commutation in Fell Acres rape case" Providence
Journal-Bulletin, 4/4/01
WENATCHEE Doris Green, who spent 5 years in prison before her
conviction was overturned, has filed suit alleging that police
detective Bob Perez and others "conspired to violate and did violate"
her federal constitutional rights.
Partridge, M, "Green sues over sex-abuse conviction" Wenatchee World
3/2/01
Sarah Doggett has settled her suit against police detective Bob Perez
and a former CPS worker for an amount that lawyers for Doggett think
was fair to both sides."
Schiffner, "Former sex crimes witness settles suit" Wenatchee World,
2/26/01
BRUCE PERKINS has been denied parole because he would not agree to
participate in a treatment program in which he must admit guilt.
In WISCONSIN "Richard" has been sent back to prison by a new
therapist. Richard refused to admit guilt.
______________________________SIDEBAR_______________________________
/ \
| On MPD |
| |
| "There are people who fake it for obvious reasons, like escaping |
| responsibility." |
| Park Dietz, M.D. forensic psychiatrist who has interviewed |
| thousands of patients but never found an authentic case. |
| |
| Associated Press, "Former counselor accused of exploiting woman |
| with multiple personalities," Feb 5, 2001. |
\____________________________________________________________________/
**********************************************************************
THERE'S NO DEBATE OVER INFORMED CONSENT
Allen Feld
An article by three psychiatrists, John Cannell, James Hudson and
Harrison Pope [1] and another by two other psychiatrists, John Beahrs
and Thomas Gutheil,[2] hopefully should bring to an end the
disagreement about whether informed consent has a place in
psychotherapy. The Beahrs/Gutheil article was referred to in the
March/April 2001 issue of the FMSF Newsletter and addresses informed
consent in the context of psychotherapy in general. Cannell, Hudson
and Pope address informed consent as it relates to Recovered Memory
Therapy (RMT); however, their article is fully applicable to therapy
in general. Drs. Cannell and Gutheil testified as expert witnesses on
opposite sides in the Sawyer case (referred to in this issue's legal
section). It seems reasonable to infer, at least in some quarters,
that the necessity for informed consent in psychotherapy should not be
seen as an issue pressed only by those concerned about false memories.
A small group, composed largely of non-therapists, has been
proposing legislation in several states that would require informed
consent. Their activities, to some degree, may have initiated the
current debate about informed consent. As has been widely reported,
this group drafted a model informed consent bill because of what was
happening to some adults who entered therapy with various contemporary
concerns and developed what is now recognized as false memory
syndrome. The Cannell, Hudson and Pope article is a must read --
particularly for therapists, those in therapy and lawyers representing
retractors and families. Their historical perspective adds to the
understanding that informed consent has roots well beyond the current
false memory craze and is not just a contemporary necessity. A brief
non-jargonized definition of Recovered Memory Therapy (RMT) is
suggested. The value of their definition may be that it is
behaviorally oriented and has the power to nullify the defense that "I
don't practice Recovered Memory Therapy." What therapists actually do
or don't do in therapy -- not what they say they do -- should be the
major factor that determines the therapeutic approach they have
used. A justification often made to defend therapists who have created
false memories is that they were following what was the standard of
practice at that time. That inaccurate defense is rebuked in this
article, with strong evidence documenting that the knowledge about
such factors as the reconstructive nature of memory and therapeutic
suggestibility existed during the time period when so many families
were being destroyed by false memories. The obvious needs stating:
Standards of practice should be based on the existing science and not
on the beliefs of individual therapists.
After reading these two articles, I find it difficult to believe
that some psychiatrists and other therapists resist the notion of
informed consent and at times verbally attack those who advocate this
important practice. I'm aware of the thinking of some therapists who
question their clients' capacity to make informed decisions concerning
their therapy or who believe that this kind of process may be
incongruent with their theoretical orientation. I personally reject
these beliefs and sometimes wonder if the anti-informed consent
therapists are trying to avoid responsibility and accountability for
their practice. If so, then perhaps they should also stop billing
insurance companies, tapping into tax funds and charging their
patients.
[1] Cannell, J., Hudson, J. I., Pope, H.G.: Standards for informed
consent in recovered memory therapy. Bull Am Acad Psychiatry Law
(In press).
[2] Beahrs, J.O., Gutheil, T.G.: Informed consent in psychotherapy. Am
J. of Psychiatry 158:1, 2001.
______________________________SIDEBAR_______________________________
/ \
| The devastation wrought by the recovered-memory movement has now |
| more or less been acknowledged; with some exceptions, as in |
| Massachusetts where the defendants in the notorious Amirault case |
| still await justice, improper court convictions resulting from it |
| have been overturned, if after the lapse of many years. But what |
| has not been undone is the evil visited upon the accused and their |
| families. Nor...is there any understanding of the roots of these |
| latter-day witch trials in theories that to this day continue to |
| be propagated in our schools, colleges, and learned professions. |
| Paul R Gross, Commentary, 03/01/2001. |
| In review of Doctors' Disease, PC, M.D.: |
| How Political Correctness Is Corrupting Medicine by Sally Satel |
\____________________________________________________________________/
**********************************************************************
SLEEP PARALYSIS
A Psychological Case Study of `Demon' and `Alien' Visitation
Andrew D. Reisner, Psy.D.
Skeptical Inquirer Magazine, Mar/Apr `01
Reviewed by Frank Kane
"As Carl Sagan suggested, we humans are never far from the realm of
the irrational despite the buffer of science and reason. Normal
people can come uncomfortably close to this irrational realm, when
they are either half awake or half asleep, and experience either
hypnagogic or hypnopompic hallucinations. In these relatively common
and normal experiences, a person may be temporarily unable to move,
a state known as sleep paralysis, and may experience vivid
hallucinations either when first falling asleep (hypnagogic) or upon
awakening (hypnopompic) (Baker, 1992, 1987; Fukuda et al. 1987; Penn
et al. 1981; Liddon 1967)."
Reisner explains that, "it can be a terrifying experience, leaving the
person wondering not only about the reality of what they have seen,
but also about their own sanity. The hallucinations seem very real...
they are thought to be the culprit in many paranormal phenomena,
including nocturnal visits from aliens... and ghosts and demons."
The article discusses hypnopompic hallucinations and their effects
upon one of the author's patients. The patient had had hallucinations
since he was four years old. During a period of much stress in
adulthood, the patient came to believe that the `demon' of his
nightmare was telling him to kill his wife and two children and then
himself. Dr. Reisner theorized that an emotionally vulnerable,
suggestible and imaginative man lost contact with reality by his
misinterpretation of his hypnopompic hallucinations.
Dr. Reisner discusses the literature on hypnagogic and hypnopompic
hallucinations and notes that "lacking accurate information about
sleep paralysis with hypnagogic or hypnopompic hallucinations, it is
easy to see why people look for supernatural and extraterrestrial
explanations for such frightening and confusing phenomena" (Baker
1992).
Newsletter readers who are interested in learning more about this
interesting phenomenon will find this article of interest, in addition
Robert Baker's 1987 book Hidden Memories. There is also an excellent
discussion of sleep paralysis in Pendergrast's Victims of Memory.
Reviewer's Comments:
Since I first discovered the FMS Foundation, I have spoken to
hundreds of parents who told me that their letters of `confrontation,'
from their children often contained narratives of "specters coming
into their room at night and molesting them, while they were in a
state of terror and paralysis." This was followed by "flashbacks,"
"body memories"and an interpretation of the hallucinatory experience
as "incest."
I am interested in learning more about the phenomena of
hypnopompic and hypnagogic hallucinations as they may relate to false
memories of abuse. Please contact me, Frank Kane, through the
Foundation, and let me know whatever you can tell me about these
phenomena as seen in your particular set of circumstances. All
information will be kept confidential.
______________________________SIDEBAR_______________________________
/ \
| Treasure Hunt? |
| |
| According to the National Post, the City Council of Swansea, South |
| Wales granted U.S. businessman Jim Bethany permission to dig up |
| part of a park to search for treasure he says he buried in a past |
| life. With the help of regression hypnotherapy, Bethany believes |
| he was previously a Welsh soldier who buried silver coins and |
| jewelry he had obtained in India. |
| Savill, R. |
| Man to dig for treasure he buried in a past life," |
| The National Post, Aug 25, 2000 |
\____________________________________________________________________/
**********************************************************************
F R O M O U R R E A D E R S
___________________
Letter From France:
It has been a long time since we e-mailed you. Well, things are not
moving very fast in France. Our group counts now a dozen identified
families. However, considering that most of them knew about FMS
through your USA Web site, we are busy working on a French language
site in order to make access to FMS info easier to non-bilingual
people. Merci pour tout et sinceres salutations. Web address is:
www.francefms.com
In the March/April Newsletter, a "disappointed but resolved
father" mentions that "both these daughters are intelligent, educated
women." No doubt they are, like the vast majority of accusers, like
our own daughter.
This does open a big question which sometimes shadows all our
suffering: How on Earth can educated and intelligent women be so
gullible? We, parents, were so proud of their intelligence, so proud
of the education we gave them. Don't we feel cheated as well as
betrayed? Or is it the meaning of these two words - intelligence and
education - that has to be questioned?
Specialists in these matters are of the opinion that there exist
several different forms of intelligence and that our western system of
education heavily privileges a few of them, for instance the
mathematically talented. Narrow minded specialisation is certainly
required by our efficient economy but it cannot replace the broader
education needed to hold one's place in society at large.
Where are our children getting real education? In the family? In
the street? On the TV screen? Is it necessary to elaborate? Since the
sixties, educated and intelligent people have been busy demolishing
the basis of traditional education: values, beliefs and references
which, it is sadly true, had produced historical monsters.
Unfortunately, as any kid having put an alarm clock back together will
tell you, demolishing is the easy part of the job. What are we offered
to build upon the ruins: the illusions of drugs and Internet, the
bigotry of fundamentalists and sects, the ups and downs of the Dow
Jones, bodybuilding, reality shows, recovered memories.....
To resist the temptations of this supermarket of crank ideas, what
is needed is an education cultivating common sense and respect for
others. Most of us tried very hard to give just that to our daughters
while we could; but in the end the false prophets of The Courage to
Heal prevailed. Whose failure is it?
A father from France
__________________
Dear FMSF Friends,
We just returned last night from Phoenix. We went there to see our
granddaughter through our ex-son-in-law, as that is how it has been
for the past 9 years. Saturday morning our daughter called us at the
hotel, and asked if we both would meet her for breakfast. After
breakfast, she invited us to her house, where we spent about an hour
or so. When we left she hugged us both and said she loved us.
She invited us to her church Sunday. They have a practice of
lighting candles for joy or sorrow. I saw that she lit a candle. I did
not see her write anything on a card, but when they read the cards,
they said one was a candle of joy from "a daughter" whose parents are
visiting her from Florida. After church, we went to lunch with her and
spent about one and a half hours visiting. Other than the fact of
catching up on all the family members, it was just like it used to be
-- as if nothing had ever happened.
We are still in shock! There is much more to tell, but just had to
let you know this much right now.
Very happy parents
_____________________
A Note From Australia
The Courage to Heal Still Influences
A local representative and member of the Australian False Memory
Society is currently in a hospice with leukemia. I saw him yesterday;
he seems well and is as positive and bright as ever. Yet his RM
daughter rang him and continued to accuse him. I had heard that The
Courage to Heal says to confront fathers on their death-beds, but I
didn't imagine for a moment that it could actually happen. The father
looked me squarely in the eye and commissioned me to continue the
fight against it.
A friend from Australia
________________
We Never Gave Up
My husband and I have been with one of the FMS support groups since it
came into existence. Unfortunately, my husband died two years ago.
We have two daughters who were victims of false
memories. Fortunately, we were able to have a reconciliation, which my
husband and I worked diligently at achieving two years before his
death. Although the girls never discussed their accusations, we were
happy to accept their return to our family. Our interaction was very
loving. Thank goodness my husband had the opportunity to witness the
return of our daughters before he died. I am now the recipient of
their joy in being back in the family fold. My husband and I never
gave up trying to reach them. It paid off, even with all the pain.
I will forever be grateful to the foundation for the role it
played in our lives. Thank you.
A Mom
_________________
I Weep for My Son
In 1995 I lost two sons. D., age 47, died after a long struggle with a
rare form of lymphoma. E., age 51, in a classic FMS scenario. . .
counselors, hypnosis, legal charges, the whole miserable deal. He
dumped his garbage and cut off all communication, except through his
attorney. When his two remaining siblings consciously chose not to
take sides, he cut off all ties with them, also.
After D. died, I was able to experience a period of deep grief and
then move on. I would have liked to have done the same with E. My
first born child -- the cuddly baby, the energetic toddler, the
curious schoolboy, the excited graduate, the loyal soldier, the proud
husband and father, the successful business man ? is just as dead to
me as his brother.
In his place is a stranger, a mean-spirited, self-centered man
whom I would not choose for a friend even if he should be so inclined
? which he definitely isn't. Instead, he has hired an attorney to
attempt to dissolve our small family corporation, knowing that if he
is successful, it will destroy my only source of support in my final
years. (I am eighty years old.) He has stated in writing, "I can no
longer afford to wait for my inheritance."
Until this issue is settled, I won't be able to put the past
behind me and "move on." But in the meantime, something Allen Feld
wrote in the FMS Foundation Newsletter, January/February 2000, shines
like a beacon before me. Referring to families who have made the
decision to get on with their lives, he says, "they believe a
retraction is unlikely, and importantly, they [have] arrived at the
conclusion that a retraction and their accuser rejoining the family,
while desirable, are unnecessary for their lives to be fulfilled." I
can still have a wonderful life, with or without him.
Yes, I weep ? but not for myself. I weep for my son, for this
self-destructive path he has chosen to follow. And I continue to pray
for him. There is nothing more I can do.
Thanks to everyone at FMSF for being there for us.
A Mom
_______________________
From Accuser to Accused
Jaye D. Bartha
I took the notion of accusing my favorite uncle of childhood
prostitution earnestly. I pondered, then weighed the evidence of
memories I'd never forgotten against recent memories born in therapy.
The two types of memories were in opposition and the facts weren't
adding up.
Trapped between the truth my mind harbored and new information
provided by my psychiatrist, chronic anguish quickly set in. In an
effort to complete a modified picture of my ordinary childhood, I
grappled to balance new memories against old ones.
"You just aren't ready to accept what your uncle did, Jaye,"
chanted Dr. Stratford.
"What if I'm wrong? I'm not 100% positive Uncle Larry did those
horrible things. How can I accuse him until I know for sure?"
"Well Jaye, you have flashbacks of rape, require Amytal to calm
down, are forcibly put into restraints, and have constant nightmares,"
he responded persuasively.
"You're right, Dr. Stratford. Uncle Larry must have prostituted
me. I remember...he made me drink liquor and then loaned me to smelly
servicemen. I hate him," I announced boldly.
"Your parents were probably involved too," he stated flatly. His
callous words threw me into an abyss of forbidden thoughts, consuming
me with feelings of betrayal. I decided to trust no one, except Dr.
Stratford.
Later that evening I vegetated in the hospital lounge. The
underworld of childhood prostitution engulfed my thoughts while I sat
on the urine soaked sofa, inhaling stale cigarette smoke, and drinking
luke-warm instant coffee. After another dose of Amytal the concept of
childhood prostitution began to make sense. Why else would I be so
sick if not for my past?
I believed Dr. Stratford when he said I needed to accept new
memories and identify the predator if I wanted to get well, otherwise
multiple personalities, narcotics, long hospital stays, leather
restraints, and loneliness would be my existence. I was too in love
with life to accept my fate as a hopeless mental patient, especially
since it was caused by the cruelty of another. At that point, I'd
crossed the line.
Years later, when my daily intake of narcotics had dwindled, I
realized Uncle Larry had been in the Armed Forces, stationed overseas,
during the time frame that I had been accusing him of prostitution.
Although my loving doctor didn't believe me, I knew for certain this
was a true and accurate memory, one I could prove.
Launching myself from accuser to accused came swiftly. I
comprehended with certainty that Dr. Stratford was in the ozone, not
me. But it was too little too late. Stripped of my role as accuser, I
was left a hollow shell of "personalities" locked on a psychiatric
ward.
Suddenly, intense feelings of family betrayal were flipped upside-
down, making me the betrayer. My shame was worse than any fake
"memory" of rape and torture by my favorite uncle. Family and friends
accused me of being "crazy." They said a doctor would never make up
stories about our family. Then I was accused of causing family
discord, of inflicting mental torment and physical illness. On that
score, they were right.
As a former patient, I am in a similar position as loved ones I
once accused of unspeakable crimes. My family and I are not opponents.
In fact, we each know the helpless position of being accused as well
as the outrage of being an accuser.
Like it or not, my family and friends are navigating the raging
waters of post-repressed memory therapy. None of it is fair. None of
it is just. But one thing remains -- when we melt the differences
between us, the waters get a little calmer.
___________________________
Not the Same but Still Good
I have accepted my daughter's return as a blessing and have enjoyed
having her and our grandson back in the family. It is not the same,
but still good.
This is not true for my husband. He is still angry and hurt and
would very much like to talk to her about it. Their relationship is
strained, but seems to be getting better. I am afraid she still
believes this nonsense.
After sitting through several malpractice lawsuits and hearing
retractors tell their stories, hearing tapes and seeing videos of
their therapy sessions, I know that these women are victims of therapy
that is toxic. I urge parents to accept the returner. Perhaps they
will never become retractors.
A satisfied Mom
________________
A Reconciliation
Five family members flew to the city of the accuser to enter into a
week-end of family therapy. The accuser made arrangements and paid the
therapist. It was questionable after the first session if we were
going to succeed. But on the second day, everyone was ready for
reconciliation. This was five years ago. No one has spoken about it
since.
Mom of a reunited family
__________________
A Work in Progress
Spurred by our wish to contribute to the FMSF survey, our faction (a
mother and two daughters) agreed among ourselves that I broach this
matter with the accusing daughter.
I called her recently about another matter but at one point asked
her if she ever revisits the events of those years when she was in
therapy with a local licensed social worker -- an event that began her
ten-year hiatus from the rest of the family. She replied "No." I
continued, asking if she would consider talking with me about some of
those events. She replied, "No, I'd rather not." I remarked that,
since we are a family, for the rest of us those matters remain to be
reconciled. Like the "elephant in the living room," it doesn't just go
away. Some silence followed my statement, so I asked if her counselor
was "Yes," but indicated she no longer consults with him on a regular
basis. She said she occasionally sees someone else who has confirmed
the original diagnosis of MPD and bipolar disorder.
During the last few years, this daughter has been making casual,
tentative contact with one of her sisters who has arranged visits that
included me. At these occasional meetings there has been no discussion
about the decade of disruption for our lives; it was as if we'd
returned to relationships as we'd known them for all of the years
prior to 1989. Our exchanges now are much as they were then: somewhat
problematical due to sibling rivalries and certain personality
conflicts. It's as if we were back to Square One after a nightmarish
hiatus in Never Never Land.
At this juncture, the only thing I'm sure of is that the presence
of the "elephant" has been declared and I intend to probe the
thickness of the critter's hide. It remains to be seen if renewed
contact with some of our family will be as desirable to our Returner
as the unwarranted claim of exclusive special privilege she makes for
herself alone.
Ours is a work in progress. Time flits on.
A Mom
__________________________
We Took Care of Each Other
I think my daughter returned because the rest of her life was in
shambles and she needed a family. The word expedient comes to mind.
It's amazing. She rants and raves to us (of all people) about little
wrongs done to her by others... and has no embarrassment or chagrin
about the 9 years of hell she put us through. We see no remorse.
We went on with our life. Dr. Laura told us not to expect her
back... to live our lives and be the good people we are, and take care
of each other and, if she came back, great. Her brothers and their
wives supported us and we are close to their kids, our dear
grandchildren. I think she saw, though them, what she and her child
wee missing. We sent cards, light messages through the family. And we
prayed that we would be able to forgive. We never pulled on
her,sensing that effort would make her dig in.
In hindsight, the best thing we did was: We took care of each
other. We accepted her back, but we are still very careful.
**********************************************************************
* N O T I C E S *
**********************************************************************
* *
* Manufacturing Victims: *
* What the Psychology Industry is Doing to People *
* by Tana Dineen *
* *
* 2nd edition sold out! *
* New revised and updated 3rd edition, 2001, is available in the *
* U.S. at Barnes & Noble and in Canada at Borders. *
* *
* Dineen writes: "Psychology presents itself as a concerned and *
* caring profession working for the good of its clients, but the *
* effects are damaged people, divided families, distorted justice, *
* destroyed companies and a weakened nation." *
* *
* For more information about Manufacturing Victims visit *
* http://tanadineen.com *
* *
**********************************************************************
* Notice *
* *
* Researcher (Ph.D. candidate at Nova Southeastern University) is *
* looking for audio or video tapes of therapy sessions. She is *
* specifically interested in tapes that meet the following criteria: *
* *
* a.) have good sound quality *
* b.) include conversations between a therapist and a client *
* c.) cover a time period early on in the therapy, prior to *
* and/or mduring the emergence of a "memory" of a *
* "previously repressed" instance of past abuse. *
* d.) are not being used as evidence for current or pending *
* litigation. *
* *
* The language in the tapes will be analyzed in an effort to develop *
* an understanding of the nature of suggestion within the *
* therapeutic context. *
* *
* Please contact Susan M. Besman at (561) 445-4787 *
* or email susanmb@bellsouth.net *
**********************************************************************
* *
* OHIO *
* Educational Forum *
* Free of Charge *
* Open to the Public *
* *
* FALSE MEMORIES: THE SCIENCE BEHIND THE SYNDROME *
* presented by *
* MARK PENDERGRAST *
* author, investigative journalist *
* *
* APRIL 9, 2001 7:00 PM *
* Medina Sr. H.S. Lecture Hall *
* 777 E. Union St, Medina, OH *
* *
* APRIL 10, 2001 7:00 PM *
* Wooster H.S. Performing Arts Ctr. *
* 515 Oldman Rd., Wooster, OH *
* *
* Sponsored by *
* Community Awareness Project *
* Contact: Kathy Begert *
* 330-263-7798 *
* *
**********************************************************************
* NEW JERSEY *
* NEW GROUP FORMING *
* *
* A new family group has recently formed in Northern New Jersey. *
* If you are interested in attending, please contact *
* *
* Michael at 212-481-6655 *
**********************************************************************
* *
* BE ON THE LOOKOUT *
* *
* Family Survey *
* Update 2001 *
* *
* PLEASE HELP AND RETURN IT QUICKLY *
* *
**********************************************************************
* PSYCHOLOGY ASTRAY: *
* FALLACIES IN STUDIES OF "REPRESSED MEMORY" AND CHILDHOOD TRAUMA *
* by Harrison G. Pope, Jr., M.D. *
* Upton Books *
* *
* This is an indispensable guide for any person who wants or needs *
* to understand the research claims about recovered memories. A *
* review by Stuart Sutherland in the prestigious Nature magazine *
* (July 17, 1997) says that the book is a "model of clear thinking *
* and clear exposition." The book is an outgrowth of the "Focus on *
* Science" columns that have appeared in this newsletter. *
**********************************************************************
* *
* FREE *
* "Recovered Memories: Are They Reliable?" *
* Call or write the FMS Foundation for pamphlets. Be sure to *
* include your address and the number of pamphlets you need. *
* *
**********************************************************************
* Back issues of the FMSF Newsletter to March 1992, the start of *
* FMSF, are now available at www. FMSFonline.org *
**********************************************************************
* *
* BRUCE PERKINS *
* *
* In the July/August newsletter we wrote about the auction of *
* his paintings at April FMSF conference in White Plains. *
* *
* Bruce resides in a Texas prison because of RMT therapy. *
* He wanted to make a contribution to the Foundation *
* in the only way that he could. *
* *
* For those of you who were not able to be present at the *
* conference, you can now see Bruce's work on a new website. *
* http://people.txucom.net/bperkins/ *
* *
* You can learn more about Bruce's case *
* by reading his story written by *
* Eleanor Goldstein and Mark Pendergrast at *
* http://www.ultranet.com/~kyp/perkins.html *
* *
**********************************************************************
* SMILING THROUGH TEARS *
* Pamela Freyd and Eleanor Goldstein *
* Upton Books ISBN No 9-89777.125.7 *
* $14.95 *
* *
* Over 125 cartoons by more than 65 cartoonists lead the way through *
* a description of the complex web of psychological and social *
* elements that have nurtured the recovered memory movement. Ask *
* your bookstore to order the book or call 1-800-232-7477. *
* *
* Comments: *
* *
* "AT ONCE BOTH THOROUGHLY INFORMATIVE AND DEVASTATINGLY WITTY." *
* Alan Gold, Criminal Defense Attorney, Toronto *
* *
* "I THINK THE BOOK IS TERRIFIC. I LIKED IT BECAUSE IT SUPPORTED A *
* LOT OF THE OPINIONS I'VE HAD ON PSYCHIATRY, CULTS, BRAIN-WASHING *
* AND OTHER IDEAS MENTIONED IN THE BOOK." *
* Mort Walker, Creator of Beetle Bailey *
* *
* "IT'S A MUST READ" *
* Elizabeth Loftus, Ph.D. *
* Author of Myth of Repressed Memory *
* *
* Smiling through Tears will be available in bookstores in November. *
* Ask your bookstore to order the book. For brochures about the book *
* call 1-800-232-7477 and ask for Stacey. *
**********************************************************************
* *
* ESTATE PLANNING *
* 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.) *
* *
**********************************************************************
* WEB SITES OF INTEREST *
* *
* www.francefms.com *
* French language website *
* *
* www.StopBadTherapy.com *
* Contains phone numbers of professional regulatory boards *
* in all 50 states *
* *
* www.IllinoisFMS.org *
* Illinois-Wisconsin FMS Society *
* *
* www.afma.asn.au *
* Australian False Memory Association. *
* *
* www.bfms.org.uk *
* British False Memory Society *
* *
* www.geocities.com/retractor *
* This site is run by Laura Pasley (retractor) *
* *
* www.geocities.com/therapyletters *
* This site is run by Deb David (retractor) *
* *
* www.sirs.com/uptonbooks/index.htm *
* Upton Books *
* *
* www.angelfire.com/tx/recoveredmemories *
* Having trouble locating books *
* about the recovered memory phenomenon? *
* Recovered Memory Bookstore *
**********************************************************************
* *
* LEGAL WEBSITES OF INTEREST *
* www.findlaw.com *
* www.legalengine.com *
* www.accused.com *
* *
**********************************************************************
* DID YOU MOVE? *
* Do you have a new area code? Remember to inform the *
* FMSF Business Office *
**********************************************************************
_____________________________________
F M S B U L L E T I N B O A R D
Contacts & Meetings:
_____________
UNITED STATES
ALABAMA
Montgomery
Marge 334-244-7891
ALASKA
Kathleen 907-337-7821
ARIZONA
Phoenix
Pat 480-396-9420
ARKANSAS
Little Rock
Al & Lela 870-363-4368
CALIFORNIA
Sacramento
Joanne & Gerald 916-933-3655
San Francisco & North Bay - (bi-MO)
Gideon 415-389-0254 or
Charles 415-984-6626 (am); 415-435-9618 (pm)
San Francisco & South Bay
Eric 408-245-4493
East Bay Area - (bi-MO)
Judy 925-376-8221
Central Coast
Carole 805-967-8058
Central Orange County - 1st Fri. (MO) @ 7pm
Chris & Alan 714-733-2925
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
Earl 203-329-8365 or
Paul 203-458-9173
FLORIDA
Dade/Broward
Madeline 954-966-4FMS
Central Florida - Please call for mtg. time
John & Nancy 352-750-5446
Sarasota
Francis & Sally 941-342-8310
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 or
Liz & Roger 847-827-1056
Peoria
Bryant & Lynn 309-674-2767
INDIANA
Indiana Assn. for Responsible Mental Health Practices
Nickie 317-471-0922; fax 317-334-9839
Pat 219-489-9987
IOWA
Des Moines - 1st Sat. (MO) @11:30 am Lunch
Betty & Gayle 515-270-6976
KANSAS
Wichita - Meeting as called
Pat 785-738-4840
KENTUCKY
Louisville- Last Sun. (MO) @ 2pm
Bob 502-367-1838
MAINE
Rumbold
Carolyn 207-942-8473
Protland - 4th Sun.(MO)
Wally & Boby 207-878-9812
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
Nancy 248-642-8077
Ann Arbor
Martha 734-439-8119
MINNESOTA
Terry & Collette 507-642-3630
Dan & Joan 651-631-2247
MISSOURI
Kansas City - Meeting as called
Pat 785-738-4840
St. Louis Area - call for meeting time
Karen 314-432-8789
Springfield - 4th Sat. Apr,Jul,Oct @12:30pm
Tom 417-753-4878
Roxie 417-781-2058
MONTANA
Lee & Avone 406-443-3189
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Mark 802-872-8439
NEW JERSEY
Southern
Sally 609-927-5343
Northern
Nancy 973-729-1433
NEW MEXICO
Albuquerque -2nd Sat. (bi-MO) @1 pm
Southwest Room - Presbyterian Hospital
Maggie 505-662-7521 (after 6:30 pm)
Sy 505-758-0726
NEW YORK
Manhattan
Michael 212-481-6655
Westchester, Rockland, etc.
Barbara 914-761-3627
Upstate/Albany Area
Elaine 518-399-5749
NORTH CAROLINA
Susan 704-538-7202
OHIO
Cincinnati
Bob 513-541-0816 or 513-541-5272
Cleveland
Bob & Carole 440-356-4544
OKLAHOMA
Oklahoma City
Dee 405-942-0531
Tulsa
Jim 918-297-7719
OREGON
Portland area
Kathy 503-557-7118
PENNSYLVANIA
Harrisburg
Paul & Betty 717-691-7660
Pittsburgh
Rick & Renee 412-563-5509
Montrose
John 717-278-2040
Wayne (includes S. NJ) - 2nd Sat. (MO)
Jim & Jo 610-783-0396
TENNESSEE
Nashville - 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
Mark 802-872-8439
VIRGINIA
Sue 703-273-2343
WISCONSIN
Katie & Leo 414-476-0285 or
Susanne & John 608-427-3686
_____________
INTERNATIONAL
BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA
Vancouver & Mainland
Ruth 604-925-1539
Victoria & Vancouver Island - 3rd Tues. (MO) @7:30pm
John 250-721-3219
MANITOBA
Roma 240-275-5723
ONTARIO, CANADA
London -2nd Sun (bi-MO)
Adriaan 519-471-6338
Ottawa
Eileen 613-836-3294
Warkworth
Ethel 705-924-2546
Burlington
Ken & Marina 905-637-6030
Waubaushene
Paula 705-543-0318
QUEBEC, CANADA
St. Andre Est.
Mavis 450-537-8187
AUSTRALIA
Roger: Phone & Fax 352-897-9282
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
Madeline (44) 1225 868-682
__________________________________________________
Deadline for the July/August Newsletter is June 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". 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, May 1, 2001
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., Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ; 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., (deceased) University
of Pennsylvania, 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
California, Santa Cruz, CA; THOMAS A. SEBEOK, Ph.D., Indiana Univers-
ity, 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.
**********************************************************************
Y E A R L Y FMSF M E M B E R S H I P I N F O R M A T I O N
Professional - Includes Newsletter $125_______
Family - Includes Newsletter $100_______
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______________________________________________________________________
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______________________________________________________________________
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______________________________________________________________________
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Telephone FAX
* MAIL the completed form with payment to:
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* FAX your order to 215-940-1042. Fax orders cannot be processed
without credit card information.