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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)
November/December 2002 Vol. 11 No. 6
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ISSN #1069-0484. Copyright (c) 2002 by the FMS Foundation
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The FMSF Newsletter is published 6 times a year by the
False Memory Syndrome Foundation. The newsletter is
mailed to anyone who contributes at least $30.00. Also
available at no cost on www.FMSFonline.org
1955 Locust Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103-5766
Phone 215-940-1040, Fax 215-940-1042
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IN THIS ISSUE:
Kaushall
Pasley
From Our Readers The next issue will be
Corrections January/February
Conference Tapes Information
Bulletin Board
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Dear Friends,
"We have won the concept battle but not the clinical war," noted
Dr. Paul McHugh in his keynote address to more than 250 people at the
October reconciliation conference. Dr. McHugh reminded the audience of
what has been accomplished and what has been learned about false
memories during the past decade, and how the work of FMSF
professionals and families has brought us naturally to the current
focus on reconciliation.
All of the presentations were stimulating and several were also
moving, especially the retractor panel. We learned many things at the
conference such as the fact that the Insurance Trust of the American
Psychological Association (it provides liability insurance for
psychologists) has a picture on the first page of its brochure showing
a person lecturing beside a screen on which is printed: "Doctor loses
false-memory suit."
For those who would like to see the presentations, tapes are
available for purchase. In the near future, the StopBadTherapy website
will make them available online.
Many of us were surprised at the large number of people who were
attending an FMS conference for the first time. This seems to be clear
evidence of the ongoing need for the Foundation to be involved in
conferences. For families who have attended past conferences, it was a
time to renew friendships. The laughter and happy chatter in the
hallways belied the profound grief that has weighed so long on so many
people who hope to find a way to reconnect with their children. Laura
Pasley's letter on page nine captures the heartbeat of this wonderful
meeting. Great thanks are due to the Illinois-Wisconsin FMS members
for their faultless organization of this conference.
How do we know that the concept battle has been won? For the past
several years, we have published news of the evidence: statements from
professional organizations; a body of scientific articles and books;
legal precedents based on science; prominent offenders held
accountable; a dramatic reduction in new cases; and many retractions.
This newsletter issue contains more indications: another recovered
memory psychologist has permanently lost his license; new scientific
articles provide further evidence about human suggestibility and the
fact that you can't reach back to nonverbally coded memories and
describe them with words; and a letter in "From Our Readers" shows how
widespread information about FMS has become in college texts.
Problems in the clinical area remain, however. The Kaushall
article on page three describes two seminars on ritual abuse at a San
Diego conference for therapists. The article on page five about the
difficulty Dr. Harold Merskey had in organizing a conference on FMS in
London, Ontario harks back to 1994 when Dr. Harold Lief was prevented
from speaking at McGill University. Some therapists still use
checklists to diagnose past sexual abuse [1] even though professional
organizations have stated that there is no constellation of symptoms
that is diagnostic of child sexual abuse. A recent quote by a former
president of the American Psychiatric Association shows that some
therapists still believe that they have mysterious powers for knowing
the truth, even though professional organizations have stated that the
only way to know the truth or falsity of a memory is with external
corroboration:
"Sometimes we have to believe what the child says, or what the adult
person says happened to them as a child, and we have techniques as
therapists to determine whether they are valid or invalid
statements"
Paul Fink, M.D.[2]
The following paragraph from a recent newspaper article seems an
accurate statement of the clinical situation: "Nobody seems to have a
firm handle on the riddle of recovered memory. Experts can't even
agree on just what the term "repressed memory" means. The mental
health community talks about the "memory wars," their arguments over
how accurate such memories are and what techniques can properly be
used to help patients recall them. There is no accepted definition of
recovered memory in legal circles. There's not even a consensus over
whether experts should be allowed to testify on the validity of
recovered memories.[3]
The changes are welcome, but it is obvious that there is still
work to be done. To continue in its efforts the Foundation needs your
help, and so we have mailed our annual request for your financial
support. We thank you in advance for your ongoing generosity. But we
ask even more of you. Please continue your personal efforts to educate
the public, the media and professionals whenever you note that there
is a misunderstanding about the nature of memory. Don't hesitate to
send us examples of misinformation and ask us to write, too. (But
please be sure to include names and addresses.) Together, we have made
a difference and will continue to do so. We wish you the very best for
the holiday season.
PAMELA
[1] "Common Issues of Survivors: flashbacks,intrusive memories;
nightmares, sleep disturbances, poor concentration; numb/spacing
out, dissociation; anxiety, stress, hypervigilance, panic attacks;
low self-esteem, poor sense of self, guilt and self-blame; self
destructive behaviors, addictions and eating disorders; depression;
difficulties with relationships and sexual intimacy; social
functioning, isolation, feeling of being different; somatic/physical
symptoms (migraines, TMJ, joint pain, gastrointestinal and/or
gynecological problems)" from brochure "Healing from Childhood
Sexual Abuse" by Susan Hall, M.Ed., LPC in St Louis, MO. Received in
FMSF office Winter, 2002.
[2] Fink, M.D., Paul,. quoted in Whitte, B. "Psychiatrist vows to stay
on Catholic review board despite criticism," Associated Press,
September 11, 2002. Dr. Fink is the director of the group: The
Leadership Council for Mental Health, Justice & the Media.
[3] Peterson K.S., "Can trauma hide in back of the mind?" USA Today,
September 12, 2002.
+----------------------------------------------------+
| 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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SOUND FAMILIAR?
"What we have here is something between a social movement, a pyramid
scheme and a cult."[1]
Many of the counselors came from "a prolific and parochial
subculture" in which understanding of the complex issues of
post-traumatic stress was limited to "proprietary workshops, trade
magazines and paperback books."[2]
Does this sound familiar? It could easily be a description of the
treatment for adult survivors of sexual abuse that proliferated during
the first half of the 1990s, a "one-size-fits-all" type of approach.
The comment above by psychologist Richard Gist, however, referred to
the therapy given to many victims of the September 11th World Trade
Towers disaster. An evaluation of "critical incident stress
debriefing" (CISD) was conducted to see if it prevented Post-Traumatic
Stress Disorder (PTSD). "Critical incident stress debriefing" is a
one-to three hour psychological debriefing soon after a traumatic
event. The results showed that PTSD symptoms improved except when CISD
was used.
The fact that CISD therapy was evaluated is to be applauded.
Nevertheless, how did its use reach the proportion of an "industry"[3]
before that happened?
The profession failed in its leadership and responsibility in this
area just as it did with recovered memories. Professionals do
themselves, their colleagues and the public a disservice by ignoring
the obvious: therapy should be based on evidence of effectiveness and
safety. The public deserves nothing less.
[1] Richard Gist quoted in Vedantam, S. "Two Studies Raise Doubts on
Trauma Counseling's Value; Analyses: Debriefings Don't Help, and May
Harm, Mental Health" Washington Post, September 6, 2002.
[2] Highfield, R., "Disaster Counseling May Make Matters Worse for
Victims" Daily Telegraph, London, September 6, 2002.
[3] Edna Foa in Patterson, K. "Experts Scrutinize Treatments for
Trauma Survivors" Dallas Morning News, October 15, 2002.
______________________________SIDEBAR_______________________________
/ \
| "If there is one thing we have learned in America during the past |
| two decades, it is that sensational accusations of sexual |
| misconduct, valid or not, have a tendency to lead to public |
| hysteria. We have seen this in the egregious cases of nursery- |
| school owners and employees imprisoned for years on the basis of |
| fantastic claims. We have seen it in the rise and fall of |
| "recovered memories" in which, through the miracle of pseudo- |
| psychology and tort law, litigants have leveled atrocious |
| accusations at people who cannot defend themselves. And when |
| hysteria is married to the vagaries of the legal system, the |
| result is a witch hunt." |
| Terzian, P. |
| "Zero tolerance for zero tolerance" |
| Providence Journal-Bulletin, October 23, 2002 |
\____________________________________________________________________/
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Brief Report and Comments on Ritual Abuse Workshops
Philip Kaushall, Ph.D.
Two workshops about "ritual abuse" were included at the "International
Conference on Family Violence" in San Diego, California on September
25, 2002. Because several of the presenters spoke at both sessions,
"Childhood Ritual Abuse" and "Psychotherapy with Ritualistic Abuse
Survivors," we combined the contents for this brief report.
One of the presenters was Ms. Deborah Parker, who told of being
taken as a child to sex parties by her father (a prominent lawyer in
the Sacramento area, now deceased) who was alcoholic and abusive
towards his family. Other "powerful" families were involved. The
partygoers routinely raped her and other children, a practice that
went on for several years. Her mother also participated reluctantly.
The children were programmed to keep the secret, via the psychological
mechanism of dissociation induced by fear, threats and actual
torture. Ms Parker's father died a number of years ago and her mother
died three years ago. Her repressed memories were aroused suddenly
without the help of a therapist, triggered by a cupboard in the
bedroom that reminded her of how she used to hide from her father.
Ms. Parker said that she was ritualistically buried alive in a
coffin and saw her mother's face as the lid was closed over her and
the dirt flung on the coffin. She said this was punishment for some
transgression of the rules. She said another punishment was having a
rabbit ripped apart over her head. She was also ordered to eat a
tongue described as "the tongue of a survivor who told."
Another presenter, Jeanne Adams, B.S. stated she had researched
child sexual abuse with 500 survivors. She stressed that the term
"satanic" was ill-advised as it implied superstition, but these were
"real cases"....She listed 11 elements of satanic rituals, including
dismemberment, cannibalism, human sacrifice, crucifixion, drinking
blood and body fluids, and sexual abuse with sexual rituals.
Anne Hart M.S. presented her own case as a study in repressed
memories. She said that she had been abused by her grandfather in
ritual settings. Sacrifices were staged (no real dead bodies, or
perhaps just the first one). She presented more graphic details in the
afternoon session. Ms. Hart emphasized the development of alters as a
defensive response to torture and sexual abuse as a child. Children
had to drown mice or else suffer punishments (fake drowning: head
dunking under water). Children were sleep deprived, drugged and
tortured. Her perpetrators were professional people, smart and well-
educated. Her grandfather liked mechanical contraptions to attach to
the body. She said she was emotionally numb during the day and
dissociated at night during the ritual abuse.
Ms. Hart noted she had a high pain tolerance because of her
tortures. An experience recalled years later, for example, was that
some of her teeth were extracted without anaesthetic when she was a
child. She said she was conditioned not to feel pain (by dissociation)
so that she could have hat pins pass through her hands and feet as in
a crucifixion. She offered no scars as testimony and no one asked to
see any evidence.
Dr. Ellen Lachter, Ph.D. cited her work with seven to ten
survivors of ritual abuse. She said these victims were pre-schoolers
when the abuse began and it continued through their childhood. Dr.
Lachter provided a handout of research titled "Brief synopsis of the
literature on the existence of ritualistic abuse." Her thesis was that
the existence of ritualistic abuse was not in dispute so the workshop
was not going to be embroiled in discussions or controversies of
evidence. In her handout she writes: "The psychological and legal
evidence of the existence of ritual abuse is substantial and rapidly
growing."
The handout included a few examples of ritual abuse and a two-page
bibliography. Dr Lachter states: "A good deal more information on
ritual abuse would be available if it were not for the secrecy
preserved by the underground groups that commit such abuse, the
profound dissociative responses, the fear of disclosure among its
victims (Fraser, 1997; Young and Young, 1997) and the sophisticated
use of mind control by some abuser groups."
According to Dr. Lachter, another factor in the unfortunate
secrecy is the skeptical and oppositional position of the False Memory
Syndrome Foundation that holds that memories of ritual abuse are false
or grossly exaggerated. She noted that "psychotherapists who treat
victims of these abuses are often guarded about divulging this
clinical data, or worse, discount the reports of their clients,
resulting in further suppression of this information (Brown, Scheflin
& Hammond, 1998; Coons, 1997, Young & Young, 1997)."
As empirical evidence for the existence of ritual abuse Dr.
Lachter mentioned the fact that: "One national survey of 2,709
clinical psychologists showed that 30% claimed to have seen at least
one case of `ritualistic or religion-based abuse' and 93% of these
believed the harm actually occurred."(Goodman, Qui, Bottoms, and
Shaver, in "Characteristics and Sources of Allegations of Ritualistic
Child Abuse" 1994).
Mary Battles, MFT, talked extensively about dissociation and how
it functions to control pain and foster denial. She said that the mind
control imposed on the young participants is powerful enough to
prevent disclosure until adulthood when, for some, a sense of safety
allows the memories to surface. Dissociative Identity Disorder is so
prevalent as a defense against the horrors of torture and terror that
victims may not disclose until they have resolved the disorder.
Comments: One can only wonder why, given the mandatory child abuse
reporting laws, psychologists and presumably other professionals
involved with child care are not flooding the FBI with crimes to
solve. If these practices were so prevalent they would dwarf any
other category of crime against children, and generate more media
attention than that currently created by a handful of child abductions
by strangers, for example. A glance at the statistics made available
by the Institute of Justice shows no such category to cover organized
child abuse as described in such horrific detail by Dr. Lachter.
The absence of public and agency concern forces believers into the
position of accusing government agencies and the criminal justice
system of being "penetrated" by powerful perpetrators. Although this
position seems to be entering the theater of the absurd, it is the
only logical explanation for the "silence" -- unless one accepts that
no evidence could mean that it isn't there.
There were about 30 to 40 people attending each of the sessions.
Perhaps other competing talks were more compelling or perhaps the
small number was a heartening reflection of the conference attendees'
judgement. No confrontational opinions were expressed in the questions
from the audience and there were no arguments or disruptions.
Personally, I could not find the motivation to confront as there were
so many extreme observations and statements that I was overwhelmed.
In my opinion any confrontation would only have interrupted the
presentations and not changed any minds.
Conclusions: My experience at these workshops caused me to reflect
on the nature of belief and objective knowledge. For believers in
ritual abuse the "memories" of the survivors is enough proof. (The
obvious question of whether we should believe in alien abductions,
channeling or past lives, because some people claim to have such
experiences, was not raised). The skeptics (perhaps now including much
of the general public) want more concrete proof and hold that such
proof should be available, given the extent and nature of the crimes
described. At present, after two decades of this unusual and well-
publicized form of alleged multiple perpetrator sexual abuse by adults
claiming to have recovered memories, we are unaware of a single
conviction of a perpetrator group based on objective evidence.
Victimization from any source is painful and degrading. One
attraction of the ritualistic abuse paradigm may be that it elevates
the victims into a band of Survivors, as if returned from an alien
space voyage, with a message for the world. Disbelief is not only
expected, it is welcomed as a sign of their special status as
resurrected (re-emerged as whole) victims of a special type of abuse.
One characteristic of the ritual abuse belief system is also
characteristic of many cults: the system is non-falsifiable. Cause and
effect relationships in the mind are impossible to prove
scientifically, except under narrow experimental conditions. Thus
mental states or clinical disorders in adults cannot be ascribed to
specific experiences or traumas in childhood with any objective
certainty. Hence speculation and fantasy can roam freely to create
narratives that satisfy the "victim's search for a meaningful reason
for her mental condition and sense of victimhood. These cases
proliferate with therapists who are trained to "believe the patient"
without asking for external corroborative evidence.
I believe, all in all, that these presenters harm the field of child
abuse prevention by creating skepticism rather than forcing serious
attention to the nature of objective evidence and commonsense
corroboration. This last consideration would have been a worthy topic
for this Conference.
Philip Kaushall, Ph.D. is a practitioner in private practice in San
Diego. He is the Executive Director of the Center for Professional
Ethics and Law
______________________________SIDEBAR_______________________________
/ \
| "One of the presenters, Mary Battles, listened to alleged victims |
| of a satanic cult in therapy sessions a decade ago. Battles |
| convinced two San Diego police detectives, who also subscribed to |
| the ritual-abuse theory, that the murderous cult was operating out |
| of a Clairemont area church. The alleged cult victims revealed |
| "repressed memories" to Battles in which babies were sacrificed in |
| ceremonies at the church and their blood was drunk from chalices. |
| The detectives requisitioned bulldozers and prepared to excavate |
| church grounds before police brass stepped in and halted the |
| unlikely investigation. |
| |
| "But Geffner [the conference organizer] said the fact that |
| investigators can find no evidence of ritual abuse doesn't mean it |
| isn't there." |
| |
| [Geffner said that the district attorney] "announced recently he |
| is prosecuting two local people who are part of a child |
| pornography ring. That ring goes across several counties and |
| represents the systematic abuse of children -- that is ritual |
| abuse." |
| |
| [The district attorney, Paul Pfingst, said] "that case had |
| absolutely nothing to do with ritual abuse. It had to do with |
| fathers molesting their own children on videotape and spreading it |
| around the world for other pedophiles to see; a straightforward |
| child porn case. No one is alleging any ceremonies or animal |
| sacrifices or cannibalism took place." |
| Sauer, M. |
| "Abuse or unfounded fear? |
| Either way, talks to delve into ritual child torture" |
| San Diego Union-Tribune, September 21, 2002 |
\____________________________________________________________________/
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Blocked Conference Yields Success
Reprinted from the BFMS Newsletter
Vol. 10 (1), October, 2002
"From Rumor to Reason" is a rolling series of professional conferences
in North America examining the reliability of evidence in child sexual
abuse cases. In the USA the series has had a strong psycho-social bias
with emphasis on suggestibility and the creation of "false memory"
narratives.
However, when psychiatrist Professor Harold Merskey organized a
Canadian event at the University of Western Ontario, through the
Department of Psychiatry in May this year, political correctness
intervened. The strong contingent of "recovered memory" supporters at
the University complained that no women were on the conference
platform -- a fact that was chance and to do with the availability of
speakers. Distinguished female academics, such as Elizabeth Loftus,
have spoken at other events.
Such was the ensuing furor that the conference had to be moved
from under the auspices of the Department of Psychiatry to the Faculty
of Law. In the Canadian context, this change turned out to be
fortuitous for it led to a strengthening of the legal component of the
conference with a particular accent on the Canadian criminal law.
BFMS legal adviser, Margaret Jervis, attended the conference and
was struck by the fact that what are termed "distant event" cases in
Canada, are as real a problem of wrongful conviction there as in the
UK (although, in common with other commonwealth jurisdictions, there
is no acceptance of the lowered "similar fact" doctrine in Canada).
This context differs significantly from most states in the US.
With the exception of homicide, criminal limitation laws in the US
preclude long delayed late prosecutions, though discovery rules in
civil cases have placed a greater weight on matters such as alleged
"recovered memory."
The impetus gained by localizing the conference, together with the
publicity raised by controversy, contributed to the conference
success, since a number of delegates were, initially at least,
actively hostile to the aims of the conference. Series organizer Kathy
Begert commented that, despite the difficulties, it had been the most
successful to date. From the perspective of the Legal Affairs Adviser,
attending the conference emphasized the need for cross-jurisdictional
focus on the circumstantial reliability of evidence with increased
two-way communication between the relevant professionals on both sides
of the Atlantic.
______________________________SIDEBAR_______________________________
/ \
| "Remembering is a constructive process and illusions of memory are |
| the result of our struggle to weave the remembered pieces of our |
| past into a coherent narrative story." |
| |
| "We are constantly rewriting and redrawing our memories. It is not |
| like calling up fixed events. It is more like an artist painting |
| on a canvas -- taking some liberties, embellishing things here, |
| leaving things out there." |
| Henry L. Roediger, III |
| In Hathaway, W. "Total Recall: Accessing Memory" |
| Hartford Courant, September 2, 2002 |
\____________________________________________________________________/
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Smaller Hippocampal Volume Predicts Pathologic Vulnerability to
Psychological Trauma
Gilbertson, M.W. et al.
Nature Neuroscience, October 5, 2002
doi:10.1038/nn958
Past studies have found that the hippocampus is smaller than normal in
the brains of veterans who suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder
(PTSD). A similar finding has been reported in children who have been
abused. Indeed, it has been said that childhood sexual abuse causes
the hippocampus to be smaller. The study by Gilbertson et al. raises
very serious questions about the assumption that stress caused the
hippocampus to shrink in volume.
Gilbertson et al. studied 40 men who saw combat in Vietnam and
their twins who did not. About half of the combat veterans suffered
from chronic PTSD. None of the other 60 participants in the study had
ever been affected by PTSD.
The affected veterans' hippocampal volume was 10 percent smaller
than those who had never suffered from PTSD but who had been in
combat. However, twins of the combat veterans with PTSD also had
smaller hippocampi even though they had not been in combat. Because
identical twins have similar brain structures, this result suggests
that the veterans who had PTSD had smaller hippocampi before they were
in combat. The finding was significant even after patients who
reported childhood sexual or physical abuse were subtracted. This
suggests that a smaller hippocampus size increased vulnerability to
PTSD and was not caused by trauma.
______________________________SIDEBAR_______________________________
/ \
| "Now a study that involved 40 sets of twins found the smaller |
| volume (of the hippocampus) is likely inherited and not a |
| consequence of the trauma or combat. It suggests the hippocampus |
| can increase one's vulnerability to post-traumatic stress |
| disorder." |
| Bridges, A. |
| "Study: brain region size linked to post-traumatic stress" |
| Associated Press, October 15, 2002 |
\____________________________________________________________________/
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Sources of Bias in Memory for Emotions
Levine, L.J. & Safer, M.A.
Current Directions in Psychological Science, 11 (5), October 2002,
169-173
The authors reviewed the literature to determine how accurately people
remembered their own past emotions. They found that: a) explicit
memory for emotions is partially reconstructed on the basis of current
feelings about past emotional events; b) current appraisals are
associated with bias, i.e. if people are currently distressed, they
may exaggerate prior distress; and c) that personality traits may
cause bias, i.e. people with a high measure of anxiety report greater
negative affect and recalled feeling even worse than the average of
their reports.
______________________________SIDEBAR_______________________________
/ \
| "The past is continually being re-made, reconstructed in the |
| interests of the present." |
| Bartlett (1932) |
| Reprinted in Levine & Safer (2002) |
\____________________________________________________________________/
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Psychological Science
Special Journal Issue Devoted to Study of Demand Characteristics
Prevention & Treatment, Vol 5,
October 18, 2002
http://journals.apa.org/prevention/volume5/toc-oct18-02.html
The term "demand characteristics" was coined by Martin Orne, M.D.,
Ph.D. to describe the influence of social-motivational factors in
determining the outcomes of research conducted with human subjects.
Dr. Orne noted that, in any social interaction, there are certain
implicit assumptions and expectations that the parties hold regarding
their respective roles and these, in turn, can affect their behaviors
beyond any explicit communications between them. In the research
context, for example, the volunteer often wishes to make a valuable
contribution to science and, therefore, seeks to discern what the
researcher hopes to prove and attempts to respond accordingly. Such
behavior occurs regardless of the manifest instructions of the
researcher and has the potential to complicate the interpretation and
generalizability of research findings.
The concept of demand characteristics, however, is also relevant
to issues of psychological diagnosis and treatment. This special
journal issue presents Orne's original paper and then nine
commentaries that examine how demand characteristics contribute to
actual therapeutic outcomes.
The journal is available at the web address above. Contents are:
Introduction to the issue
WAYNE G. WHITEHOUSE, EMILY CAROTA ORNE, and DAVID F. DINGES:
"Demand Characteristics: Toward an Understanding of Their Meaning and
Application in Clinical Practice"
Target article
MARTIN T. ORNE
"On The Social Psychology of the Psychological Experiment: With
Particular Reference to Demand Characteristics and Their Implications"
Commentaries
JOHN F. KIHLSTROM: "Demand Characteristics in the Laboratory and the
Clinic: Conversations and Collaborations With Subjects and Patients";
RALPH L. ROSNOW:"The Nature and Role of Demand Characteristics in
Scientific Inquiry";
ROBERT ROSENTHAL: "Experimenter and Clinician Effects in Scientific
Inquiry and Clinical Practice";
LOREN PANKRATZ: "Demand Characteristics and the Development of Dual,
False Belief Systems";
CAMPBELL PERRY :"Hypnosis, Demand Characteristics, and `Recovered
Memory' Therapy";
JONATHAN W. KANTER, ROBERT J. KOHLENBERG, and ELIZABETH F. LOFTUS:
"Demand Characteristics, Treatment Rationales, and Cognitive Therapy
for Depression";
HAROLD MERSKEY: "Some Recent Changes in Demand Characteristics in
Psychotherapy";
DONALD P. SPENCE: "Turning Case Reports Into Evidence: The Hidden Role
of Demand Characteristics";
ROBERT A. KARLIN: "Advice and Consent: Demand Characteristics, Ritual,
and the Transmission of Practical Wisdom in the Clinical Context".
______________________________SIDEBAR_______________________________
/ \
| "[There are] a growing number of psychologists and neuroscientists |
| whose research is showing the importance of the unconscious .... |
| But this isn't Freud's unconscious, that maelstrom of primitive |
| emotions and repressed memories." |
| |
| "Instead, the unconscious being excavated by scientists processes |
| data, sets goals, judges people, detects danger, formulates |
| stereotypes and infers causes, all outside our conscious |
| awareness." |
| |
| "This sophisticated system operates under the radar of |
| consciousness not because it has something to hide, as Freud |
| argued, but for the sake of efficiency. We need to process so much |
| information to survive that some of it has to occur unconsciously, |
| much as a computer runs on machine language that no one wants to |
| see on the monitor. Even while our mind is otherwise engaged, we |
| can profit from unconscious calculations." |
| Begley, S., |
| "Follow Your Intuition," |
| Wall Street Journal, August 8, 2002 |
\____________________________________________________________________/
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Breaking the Barrier?
Children Fail to Translate Their Preverbal Memories into Language
Simcock, G. & Hayne, H.
Psychological Science, Vol 13(3) May, 2002, 225-231
This study provides strong evidence that children can only describe
memories using the words they knew at the time those memories were
stored. The researchers went to the homes of two- to three-year-olds
and brought a "magic shrinking machine" with them. The machine was a
large box with handles and it make strange sounds when the knobs were
turned. Children learned how to use the machine to make a toy
disappear and then to retrieve a smaller identical toy. During the
visit, the toddlers' vocabulary was tested.
One year later the researchers again brought the box to the
children. First the children were asked to describe the game. They
did this using only the words they knew the previous year even though
they now had vocabularies that were significantly larger. The children
readily remembered how to use the machine. The authors felt that their
verbal descriptions of the event were frozen in time.
______________________________SIDEBAR_______________________________
/ \
| The Simcock and Hayne study "demonstrates that you can't reach |
| back to the nonverbally coded memories and describe them with |
| words. It also predicts that you remember more from your early age |
| the earlier you acquire language." |
| Andrew Meltzoff |
| "Wordless Memories," Science, Vol 296, May 17, 2002, p 1233 |
\____________________________________________________________________/
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Candace Newmaker Resolution of 2002:
States Urged to Ban Rebirthing Therapy
Jaye D. Bartha
WASHINGTON, D.C., September 17, 2002. Rep. Susan Myrick, R-North
Carolina, will introduce the Candace Newmaker Resolution of 2002
before the U.S. House of Representatives today. The discussion is
scheduled to air on CSPAN between 2-2:30 p.m. EST. The resolution
defines rebirthing as "a therapy to reenact the rebirthing process in
a manner that includes restraint and creates a situation in which a
patient may suffer physical injury or death." Rep. Myrick says that
"rebirthing is a dangerous and harmful practice and should be
prohibited."
In April 2000, 10-year-old Candace Newmaker of North Carolina was
killed during a botched rebirthing session held in Evergreen, Colorado
under the supervision of psychotherapists Connell Watkins and Julie
Ponder. Both psychotherapists are currently serving 16-year prison
terms. Candace's Law, prohibiting the practice of rebirthing therapy,
was passed in Colorado 17 months ago today.
______________________________SIDEBAR_______________________________
/ \
| "Our hopes, fears, and desires influence how we think, perceive, |
| and remember." |
| Joseph LeDoux, |
| The Emotional Brain, 1996 |
\____________________________________________________________________/
**********************************************************************
Allegations of Abuse: The Need for Responsible Practice
Mary Pillai
Med. Sci. Law Vol. 42 (2), 2002
There have been very few efforts to investigate the outcomes for
families who have been involved in false allegations of abuse. Dr.
Mary Pillai conducted a survey of outcomes of twenty-two families in
Great Britain who were charged in criminal or civil proceedings when a
female adolescent or young adult developed a mental health problem.
The outcomes were almost all disastrous both for the young person and
the family. In every case there was no evidence to support the
allegations of abuse and substantial evidence to show that they were
false. Unfortunately the evidence that the accusations were false was
never sought.
The outcomes were positively correlated with the amount of contact
between the alleged victim and the family, except where the
allegations arose in the context of an acrimonious parental
relationship. When the parents were completely excluded there were no
good outcomes.
Dr. Pillai found that professionals involved in the cases made no
attempt to find out whether abuse had actually taken place. The
uncorroborated opinions of doctors were taken as fact by other
professionals. In the report she raises two reoccurring features:
first, that families and the alleged abusers were profiled; and
second, that accusers and investigators used "denial" as an indication
of guilt. She found that there is a "culture of support and empathy
with those making allegations of abuse."
Dr. Pillai also found that the costs of defending false
allegations were extremely high. According to one commentator about
this report,[1] other accounts have found that a complex child
protection cost may cost more than one million pounds to all of the
parties involved in the case.
Dr. Pillai, who is a forensic medical examiner for the police,
cautioned that because of the small self-selected sample, it would be
unwise to draw quantitative conclusions on the scale of the problem.
[1] Morgan, B. "Research Into Practice", Community Care (U.K.) October
17, 2002.
______________________________SIDEBAR_______________________________
/ \
| Be sure to see the current issue of the British False Memory |
| Society Newsletter for information about the Pillai report. The |
| issue also contains the an insightful article examining the |
| background of some major child abuse scares in Great Britain. It |
| adds to the growing body of knowledge about how hysterical events |
| happened. www.bfms.org.uk |
\____________________________________________________________________/
**********************************************************************
Fuzzy-Trace Theory and False Memory
Brainerd, D.J. & Reyna, V.F.
Current Directions in
Psychological Science
Vol 11 (5), October 2002, 164-169
The authors note that a successful theory should both explain and
predict the data. Fuzzy-trace theory developed as a response to the
finding that reasoning accuracy was largely independent of memory
accuracy. Brainerd and Reyna present evidence to argue that Fuzzy-
trace theory can account for the great diversity of false memory
phenomena. They argue that verbatim and gist retrieval both support
true memory for experienced items. However, verbatim and gist
retrieval have opposite effects on false memory for items. Gist
retrieval supports false memory because items' meanings seem familiar.
The authors note that "false-memory research is still in its
infancy, however, and theoretical principles could change considerably
down the road."
______________________________SIDEBAR_______________________________
/ \
| "The thought of child abuse is so distressing we have suspended |
| natural justice, abandoned safeguards and surrendered to the no |
| smoke without fire syndrome. And the stench is undeniable. We are |
| burning witches again." |
| Scott, R. "A burning injustice" |
| Sunday Mirror (London) |
| August 4, 2002.|
\____________________________________________________________________/
+--------------------------------------------------+
| "The ultimate measure of a man is not where he |
| stands in moments of comfort, but where he |
| stands at times of challenge and controversy." |
| Martin Luther King, Jr. |
+--------------------------------------------------+
**********************************************************************
Tennessee Psychologist Gives Up His License
State of Tennessee Department of Health
Board of Examiners in Psychology,
docket No. 17.15-020979A
In July 2002, Michael O. Buckner entered an agreement with the
Tennessee Board of Examiners in Psychology that bars him from ever
obtaining a license to practice psychology in that state. Buckner was
accused of using regression therapy to make female patients childlike
and then having sex with them. Diane Denton, a State Department of
Health spokeswoman said that her agency investigated Buckner after
someone who was not one of the patients filed a complaint.
Buckner, who received his license in 1987, acknowledged that he is
guilty of ethical violations, including "gross malpractice" and
fostering "exploitative relationships."
During the time that Buckner was surrendering his license as a
psychologist, he was also advertising a new "pastoral counseling"
service in a local holistic healing magazine. The advertisement lists
him as a provider of "pastoral counseling services" including
`spiritual mediumship" and "holistic healing" for the "mind, body and
spirit." Tennessee law prohibits anyone who is not certified or
licensed as a pastoral therapist from advertising those services. It
is a misdemeanor to violate that law.
Some FMSF Newsletter readers may recall the case of Rabe et al. vs
Congdon in 1991 in which two adult daughters sued their Oak Ridge
scientist father of sexual abuse. Local newspapers featured stories
and pictures of investigators examining property for physical evidence
of other wrongdoings. No evidence of anything was ever found. Ms. Rabe
underwent age regression hypnosis with Michael Buckner on at least one
occasion. Ms. Rabe's sister and co-plaintiff had several years of age
regression hypnosis with him. According to a deposition, Buckner
started age regression hypnosis with the sister on the second visit.
Satterfield, J. "Psychologist agrees to give up his license,"
Knoxville News-Sentinel, July 26, 2002; "Ousted psychologist probed
anew" July 29, 2002.
______________________________SIDEBAR_______________________________
/ \
| Two Papers of Interest |
| |
| Available on Web at |
| http://www.sierratrialandopinion.com/papers |
| |
| "Dispatch From the Repressed |
| Memory Legal Front" |
| |
| Loftus, E. F., & Davis, D. (2002) |
| |
| Psychiatric Times, Vol. XIX |
| Issue 4, p 44-45, 50-51. |
| |
| "Commentary: How, When, and Whether to Use Informed Consent for |
| Recovered Memory Therapy" |
| Davis, D., Loftus, E. & Follette, W. |
| J Am Acad Psychiatry Law 29, |
| p. 148-159, 2001 |
\____________________________________________________________________/
______________________________SIDEBAR_______________________________
/ \
| New Book of Legal Interest |
| Psychiatry in Law/Law in Psychiatry |
| |
| Ralph Slovenko, J.D., Ph.D. |
| Professor of Law and Psychiatry |
| Wayne State University School of Law |
| Brunner-Routledge |
| |
| This new book by FMSF Advisory Board member Professor Ralph |
| Slovenko will be of interest to professionals working in the |
| intersection of psychiatry and law. The first volume, Psychiatry |
| in Law, includes topics such as psychiatric expert testimony, |
| privileged communication, competency to stand trial and criminal |
| responsibility. The second volume, Law in Psychiatry, includes |
| discussions of hospitalization of the mentally ill, psychiatric |
| malpractice and regulation of psychotherapy. Related to issues of |
| concern about FMS is the section on psychiatric malpractice. It |
| covers: Establishing Malpractice Liability, Overview of |
| Psychiatric Malpractice, Breach of Confidentiality, Informed |
| Consent, The Boundary Violation of Undue Familiarity, Failure to |
| Treat and Related Issues, Suicide, and Duty of Therapists to Third |
| Parties. |
| The two volume set is $160.00 |
| For more information: 800-634-7064 |
| information@brunner-routledge.co.uk |
\____________________________________________________________________/
**********************************************************************
A Special Letter to Families
from
Laura Pasley
I just returned home from the National FMSF Conference held in
Illinois. As most of you know, I recently obtained custody of my
nephews, Dalton 11, Colton 19 months, and niece, Tara, 8. Colton
attended the conference with me. The others stayed with my daughter
Jennifer, now a 22-year-old woman.
My head has been spinning since I checked out of the hotel. I
would like to take each one of your accusing adult children who are
keeping your grandchildren from you and ring their necks. My precious
baby would frolic throughout the Double Tree without a care in the
world. Pamela Freyd bought him a ball and played with him in the
lobby. Her face glowed as she watched him look up at her with his
beautiful eyes and talk as if he were talking to an old friend. He put
his arms out to Peter so trusting, wanting to be held. Ray and Shirley
Souza held this precious child while we took photos. Emily Orne "just
had to get him that monkey in the gift shop." Liz LaPlant helped get
him to sleep with that "special touch." Carol Perkins, the wife of the
big bad Bruce Perkins, sat beside him in the backseat while he played
with his trucks. Beth Loftus enjoyed the continual clapping he did as
she finished her speech and the clapping he did each time he saw her
from then on. Mary Shanley rocked him with the love and kindness that
she has always possessed. Many of you stopped to play ball in the
outer area during breaks. All of you enjoyed watching him at the
dinner on Saturday in his little suit and tie. He enjoyed himself so
much. When you laughed, he laughed -- when you clapped, he too
clapped. He felt so safe within this group of "accused child
molesters," he went from one to the other giving kisses and hugs and
smiling so much it looked as if a coat hanger was in his mouth. He had
the time of his life.
For a decade, many of you have been in my life. You have been so
loving and giving and I cherish the relationships I have had in you
for so long. Now, just as consistently as you have loved me ? you
share that love with my baby. Then I think of how accepted and loved I
feel, how safe my child feels (just as Jennifer always did), and how
much time you have missed with your children, and their children and
in some cases THEIR children. Recovered Memory Therapy will go down in
history as destroying so many family units and causing so much pain
within the families affected. This is something the therapists should
hang their heads in shame over. Unfortunately, most of them have no
shame. As I have shared my life with you, and shared my kids with you,
I can feel the pain you have been left with by not having your family
intact. I wish I could constantly be there for all of you. I wish you
could play ball and spend the day at the zoo or park with my kids. I
have stayed in many of your homes while traveling and was always
welcomed with open arms. You have so much life and experience to give
to the children of today. There is an immeasurable amount of wisdom
within the group.
I love you all -- I respect you all and I am so very sorry you
have been hurt so badly. I have spent ten years trying to undo the
damage. In this, the year 2002, it is hard for me to fathom how in
the world those still involved can continue the charade. Is pride
keeping them from coming home? How in the world will they look
themselves in the face when their children find out this hatred for
their family has stemmed not from healing, but from harming? How will
the children ever forgive them for cheating them out of the time their
grandparents would have so lovingly given them? For the doctors, who
should have first done no harm, how can the harm ever be undone? Lord
help them all when they stand before our Maker ? who by the way KNOWS
the truth.
God bless you all for being a part of my life. God bless you for
being so kind to me and my kids. God bless you for the pain you have
had from this thing. I wish I could get each and every one of your
daughters/sons, etc. and shake them until I convinced them they have
taken something so precious when life is so short and chucked it out
like the trash. If they are so self-consumed with their victim-hood,
then at minimum, they should allow the grandchildren to have an
untainted relationship with their grandparents. God bless you all for
loving me. Thank you for your acceptance. I told many of you over the
years, if your daughters/sons do not want you, I'll take you - just as
you are. That goes for my kids as well. Colton is still smiling from
the wonderful weekend he experienced with his newfound friends. It
will be recorded in his memory book with photos. (I have attended
every single national level conference and of course, have lots of
photos) And one day, when he is a young man, I pray he will study this
issue and know I played a part in the memory wars. I hope he is as
proud of me as Jennifer is. I hope he loves me the way she does and
the way Dalton and Tara do. I hope he respects me for who I am. With
that, he will know that for the past decade, you all have been an
intricate part of my life.
Thank you all. God bless you all. Thank you for sharing your pain
and tears, but most of all your love and laughter throughout the last
ten years of my life. I am a better person having known each of you.
Laura Pasley
Dallas, Texas
PS: If you want to send this letter to your accusing daughter/son and
they would like to debate this issue with me ? tell them to meet me
online. lepasley@airmail.net I look forward to the opportunity.
______________________________SIDEBAR_______________________________
/ \
| "The charm, one might say the genius of memory, is that it is |
| choosy, chancy, and temperamental: it rejects the edifying |
| cathedral and indelibly photographs the small boy outside, chewing |
| a hunk of melon in the dust." |
| Elizabeth Bowen |
\____________________________________________________________________/
**********************************************************************
F R O M O U R R E A D E R S
_______________
Full Employment
The Courage to Heal by Ellen Bass and Laura Davis had a pivotal impact
on my daughter's false accusations and subsequent estrangement. When I
read that Laura Davis has now written a book on reconciliation, it
reminded me of the unemployed fire fighter a few months ago who
started a forest fire so he could be employed putting it out! Courage
to Heal caused the fire. Her new book is about putting out the fire.
A Dad
___________________________
A Chapter on False Memories
I have followed the FMSF since its inception, and was a regular
contributor for a number of years after my sister accused my
grandfather and father. Finally I had to move on, and stopped
following the foundation. However, my daughter is now a freshman in
college and is taking an intro psych course. I've never discussed my
sister's accusation with my daughter. I was surprised to find that my
daughter's course includes a chapter on false memories, and she gave
me the url to your web site! I guess the profession really has turned
around on the issue. I know they would never have acknowledged the
phenomena 10 years ago. This has also given me the opening to talk
with my daughter about the subject, which would have been very hard 10
years ago.
You should feel very proud of your work, and I'm glad my small
efforts went to a worthwhile cause.
A Brother
____________________________
Serious Things After A While
Back in November 1992 I was wrongly accused of sexually molesting my
daughter. She had "recovered body memories" of my deeds from when she
was two years old. These had been conjured up while she was attending
an OA meeting where her sponsor had become her hypno-counselor. The
FMSF, the local support group in Seattle, and Dr. Loftus saved my
sanity! My daughter sent me only a letter -- making the accusations
and ordering me to "stay away" from her and her family. This I did
with the exception of a few letters and cards. She also turned her
younger sister away from me -- despite the fact that this daughter
could not resurrect repressed memories (much to the disappointment of
her older sister). Only my son believed me and stayed the course with
me.
Just this week I received a "so very sorry" letter (not really a
recantation) with a beautiful and poignant card in which she wrote an
apology for the "hurt and doubt." Here are some snippets from the
letter:
"All I can say is I'm sorry and I hope you can forgive me, or at
least start to. I want to be back in touch with you, to be a part of
your life and to have you be a part of mine." "Right now, I don't want
to discuss anything too "heavy about our relationship or the past or
anything like that. I just want to get back in your life little by
little." She writes of talking about "serious" things after a while. I
wrote back to her that she had been forgiven years ago, and that my
struggle had been to try to understand our family's frailties as
factors that brought this about.
I am most grateful to all of you folks. Since my retirement and
move to another location, I stopped my subscription to the newsletter.
I thought that I could start anew in these beautiful surroundings and
resigned myself to the loss of daughters and grandchildren. But, the
books you recommended, the articles in the newsletter, the immediate
responses and support of some of the families out here really kept me
alive, truly.
I know that you were keeping track of recantations and reunions so
I wanted you to know, but also wanted to tell you what a saving grace
you provided in a nightmarish time. Feel free to use any of this in
your newsletter but please don't mention my name.
A Mom
____________
Dear Friends
In the July/August 2002 Newsletter, the criminal case of Tom Wright in
Maine was described. I thought you would be interested to know that
the criminal charges against him were dropped on July 10, 2002.
The case against Tom seems to have been a classic example of
pastoral counseling gone terribly awry at the hands of a pastor who
was a renegade from his own church body. Indeed the church had even
been excluded from the parent organization.
You may recall that Wright had been arrested on criminal charges
of child abuse that he claimed were a consequence of his skepticism
about his wife's memories recovered in counseling with the pastor. The
pastor used trance work and deep meditation to help members of his
flock recover repressed memories of past abuse. He also suggested that
he had divine direction and thus validated the newly emerging worst-
case imaginings of his congregants as the word of God.
I am writing this letter to let you know that a local reporter,
Joe Appel, did an outstanding job in uncovering the story behind the
accusations against Tom Wright. For example, Appel cited case
histories of other prior members of the congregation who fell from the
pastor's good graces and were similarly accused and shunned, although
not criminally charged as was Tom Wright.
Anyone who would like to have a better understanding of how false
accusations can happen, particularly in the context of religious
counseling, will find the series of eight articles by Joe Appel of
interest. These can be found at:
http://www.theforecaster.net//faithbaptist.html
Frank Kane
__________
Correction
I note that the September/ October issue of the FMSF Newsletter
includes the following statement:
"In 1994, after the genesis of multiple personality was called in to
question, the ISSMP&D dropped the `multiple personality' part of its
name and became the ISSD."
Let's not rewrite history. The statement implies some causal
connection between questions that some have raised concerning the
"genesis of multiple personality" and ISSD's name change. Since I was
a member of the ISSD's Board of Directors at the time that the
organization's name was changed, I can tell you with some authority
that there is no causal link between these events. The issue of the
genesis of MPD was not a part of that discussion. The name change
reflected (1) the elimination in DSM-IV of the term Multiple
Personality Disorder in favor of a differently named diagnosis with
altered criteria; and (2) the Society's wish to make it clear that we
are concerned with dissociation in all its manifestations, not just
multiple personality.
Peter M. Barach, Ph.D.
__________
Correction
The following paragraph from the most recent FMS Newsletter would have
benefitted from a closer look :
In 1994, after the genesis of multiple personality was called in to
question, the ISSMP&D dropped the "multiple personality" part of its
name and became the ISSD. But belief in independent alters abounds
and can be found almost daily in news articles, especially in legal
defenses. In like manner the term "repression" was dropped when it
became clear that there was no scientific evidence for it. The term
"dissociation" replaced it, but the notion has remained essentially
the same.
There is no evidence that the term "repression" was "dropped". In
fact, it was never used. The DSM III diagnosis of MPD drew on the
clinical work and terminology elaborated by Pierre Janet not Sigmund
Freud. You are free to opine that there is no scientific evidence for
either repression or dissociation, however, that does not mean that
both terms refer to the same notion.
Sherrill Mulhern, Ph.D.
Laboratoire des Rumeurs, des Mythes du Futur, et des Sectes
_______________________________________
Recovered-Memory Therapist: Definition:
A predator who preys upon vulnerable and unsuspecting clients for
his/her own gratification, reinforcement of personal beliefs, and/or
financial or other personal gain; a person who hides behind and abused
the Rules of confidentiality while inflicting great trauma and pain
upon troubled clients and their innocent families; a person protected
from investigation or prosecution by various governing agencies and by
laws which permit said therapist to thrive while destroying the lives
of others with impunity. Synonym: A thief, a charlatan, a criminal.
A Recovering Mom
________________________
Recovered Memory Therapy
Mary
Walking through the doorway.
Scared yet hopeful.
Welcoming, listening, promises.
Remembering. The key to recovery lies in the past.
Warm reassurance. A well-appointed office.
This person cares. She can help me. I trust.
When did the warmth turn bitter?
Hypnosis. Nightmares. Images of terror.
My mind exploding.
Memories that never happened are so real.
I'm going crazy. It's not true.
No, you're just remembering. Trust me.
Uncle, Grandpa, Mother, Daddy too?
Everyone betrayed me. Please God let me die; it would be easier.
Face the truth. We have to consider all possibilities.
Satanic or ritual cult abuse!
God help me. All I have left is my therapist.
She alone can keep me sane and alive.
Visions of a "cult murder" torture me.
She says it's not my fault. They made me do it.
She says I'm not one but many parts. She says I'm at risk to kill my
children.
No I'll kill myself. It would be better.
Two years later. I'm ready to die. A plan to stop the guilt
and end the pain.
A red paperback book. Diagnosis for Disaster.
I read. I think. My mind splits open once more.
Could it be? She lied?
Healing begins. Freedom beckons. I never killed anyone.
I want to live again.
Sanity returning. Psychotic delusions fading. So ashamed.
So sorry every one.
How to apologize? I still have my Mom. She loves me. I love her.
Reality is sweet.
How many broken lives? Prisoners of memories that never were.
Why was I saved? One of many deceived.
For the rest of my life I will bear witness to the truth.
______________________________SIDEBAR_______________________________
/ \
| "It is the duty of everyman of goodwill to strive steadfastly in |
| his own little world, to make this teaching of humanity a living |
| force, so far as he can. If he makes an honest attempt in this |
| direction, without being crushed and trampled underfoot by his |
| contemporaries, he can consider himself and the community to which |
| he belongs, lucky." |
| Albert Einstein |
\____________________________________________________________________/
**********************************************************************
False Memory Syndrome Foundation
and
Illinois-Wisconsin FMS Society
OCTOBER 5 & 6, 2002 NATIONAL CONFERENCE VIDEO ORDER FORM
Videos of this conference are available on VHS and DVD while supplies
last. The content of each tape is listed below. Please enter the
quantity of each tape on the line under the desired format column.
Tape Contents (Q&A included with each session) VHS DVD
Tape 1 Welcome (30 min), Retractor Panel (60 min) ____ ____
Tape 2 PAUL R. McHUGH, M.D. (60 min),
HERZL R. SPIRO, M.D., Ph.D. (60 min) ____ ____
Tape 3 HAROLD I. LIEF, M.D. (45 min),
Professional Panel (75 min) ____ ____
Tape 4 WILLIAM SMOLER, J.D. (60 min) ____ ____
Tape 5 Religious-Affiliated Panel, (75 min),
Wrap-Up (15 min) ____ ____
No. of VHS tapes: ______ x $12 each = subtotal $_________
No. of DVD discs: ______ x $25 each = subtotal $_________
total $_________
Name: _______________________________________________
Address: _____________________________________________
City: _____________________________Phone:_______________
State: ______________ZIP__________ Date:_________________
Please make checks payable to: The False Memory Syndrome Foundation or
provide credit card information (minimum credit card purchase $25)
Name on card__________________________________________
Card #________________________________Expiration_______
Visa____ Discover____ Mastercard____
Please send this form to:
The False Memory Syndrome Foundation
1955 Locust Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103-5766
Telephone: 215-940-1040, Fax: 215-940-1042.
Please allow 4 weeks for reproduction and delivery.
**********************************************************************
* N O T I C E S *
**********************************************************************
* *
* TRAUMA, MEMORY, AND AND THE LAW: *
* ACCUSATIONS OF CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE *
* *
* A One-day Seminar Offering CE for Psychologists, *
* Social Workers, Attorneys, and Law Enforcement Personnel *
* *
* DECEMBER 13 , 2002 *
* *
* BAYLOR UNIVERSITY *
* Conference Room, Cashion Building *
* Sponsored by Education Plus+ *
* *
* 8:00 Registration *
* *
* 8:25 Welcome and Introduction: Psychology and Science -- *
* Perspectives of an Educator *
* CHARLES A. WEAVER III, Ph.D. Professor of Psychology and *
* Neuroscience, Baylor University *
* *
* 8:45 Second Thoughts: Understanding the False Memory Crisis *
* PAUL SIMPSON Ed.D., Psychologist, Author, Founder Project *
* Middle Ground *
* The Myth of Repressed Memory; False Memory Syndrome: How to *
* Believe the Unbelievable; The World of Regressionism; Satanic *
* Panic; Theophostic Counseling; Follow the Leader and Join the *
* Club; Language of Science; Dissociation: Foundation of Spectral *
* Evidence; Believing the Children, Only When They Say What You *
* Want *
* *
* 10:30 Children, Suggestibility, and Autobiographical Memory *
* TERENCE W. CAMPBELL, Ph. D, Forensic Psychologist, Author *
* Cognitive and Biological Variables Influencing a Child's *
* Report Accuracy; Source Amnesia; Source Misattribution; *
* Interviewer Bias; Children as Witnesses: What an Expert on *
* Child Suggestibility Should Tell theCourt; Rumor Formation and *
* dissemination; Interviewing Techniques; Formal and Informal; *
* Empirically Validated Treatment Modalities. *
* *
* 12:15 Lunch *
* *
* 1:15 The Roles of the Legal System and Experts *
* JACK QUATTROCCHI, Esq., Family Practice Attorney *
* Institionalization of Prosecution; Fetish of Finality vs. *
* Desire for Justice; Rape Shield Laws: "Victim" or "Complaining *
* Witness"? Significance of Daubert and Frye; When Misdiagnosis *
* Becomes Prosecution ; Reason and Rights; Courtroom: Setting *
* for Justice or Therapy? Experts: Educatorsof Fact-Finders or *
* Advocates Providing Conclusions? Exonerating the Innocent: *
* Judicial Review Panels; Science Intensive Litigation. *
* *
* 3:00 Panel Discussion: Questions and Answers *
* *
* Contact Information *
* Kathy Begert, EducationPlus+ *
* 1134 Rathburn Road, Wooster, OH 44691 *
* 330-263-7798 email: KBegert846@aol.com *
* or *
* David Rudd, Baylor Dept of Psychology, 254-710-6764 *
* *
**********************************************************************
* 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. *
**********************************************************************
* *
* WEB SITES OF INTEREST *
* *
* http://comp.uark.edu/~lampinen/read.html *
* The Lampinen Lab False Memory Reading Group *
* *
* http://www.tmdArchives.org *
* The Memory Debate Archives *
* *
* 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.ltech.net/OHIOarmhp *
* Ohio Group *
* *
* 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 *
* *
* religioustolerance.org *
* Information about Satanic Ritual Abuse *
* *
* www.geocities.com/newcosanz/ *
* Netherlands FMS Group *
* *
* www.werkgroepwfh.nl *
* New Zealand FMS Group *
* *
* LEGAL WEBSITES OF INTEREST *
* www.findlaw.com *
* www.legalengine.com *
* www.accused.com *
* *
**********************************************************************
_____________________________________
F M S B U L L E T I N B O A R D
Contacts & Meetings:
_____________
UNITED STATES
ALABAMA
See Georgia
ALASKA
Kathleen 907-333-5248
ARIZONA
Phoenix
Pat 480-396-9420
ARKANSAS
Little Rock
Al & Lela 870-363-4368
CALIFORNIA
Sacramento
Joanne & Gerald 916-933-3655
Jocelyn 530-873-0919
San Francisco & North Bay
Charles 415-984-6626 (am); 415-435-9618 (pm)
San Francisco & South Bay
Eric 408-245-4493
East Bay Area
Judy 925-952-4853
Central Coast
Carole 805-967-8058
Palm Desert
Eileen and Jerry 909-659-9636
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 760-439-4630
COLORADO
Colorado Springs
Doris 719-488-9738
CONNECTICUT
S. New England
Earl 203-329-8365 or
Paul 203-458-9173
FLORIDA
Date/Boward
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
Pat 260-489-9987
Helen 574-753-2779
KANSAS
Wichita - Meeting as called
Pat 785-738-4840
KENTUCKY
Louisville- Last Sun. (MO) @ 2pm
Bob 502-367-1838
MAINE
Rumford
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 734-439-4055
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. Jan,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
WYOMING
Alan & Lorinda 307-322-4170
_____________
INTERNATIONAL
BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA
Vancouver & Mainland
Lloyd 250-741-8941
Victoria & Vancouver Island
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 January/February Newsletter is DECEMBER 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, November 1, 2002
AARON T. BECK, M.D., D.M.S., U of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA;
TERENCE W. CAMPBELL, Ph.D., Clinical and Forensic Psychology,
Sterling Heights, MI;
ROSALIND CARTWRIGHT, Ph.D., Rush Presbyterian St. Luke's Medical
Center, Chicago, IL;
JEAN CHAPMAN, Ph.D., University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI;
LOREN CHAPMAN, Ph.D., University of Wisconsin, 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 Medical School;
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., (deceased) 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, Philadelphia, PA;
ELIZABETH LOFTUS, Ph.D., University of California, Irvine, CA;
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, NY;
RICHARD OFSHE, Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley, CA;
EMILY CAROTA ORNE, B.A., University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA;
MARTIN ORNE, M.D., Ph.D., (deceased) U of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
LOREN PANKRATZ, Ph.D., Oregon Health Sciences Univ., 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., (deceased) U of Indiana, 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 Ctr, 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 University, Waco, TX
**********************************************************************
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THANK YOU FOR YOUR GENEROSITY.
**********************************************************************