FMSF 1994 False Memory Syndrom

Without examining the records or speaking to anyone at the Except for the one out of sixteen reports that results in foundation he stated that the foundation "was dishonest legal action, and most of those wither at deposition, the

March 1994, reports that there is very little content on memory, memory retrieval or recall and repression Feld conducted a national survey and approximately half (48) of the accredited programs responded. Only 22 schools reported content on memory with approximately two-thirds

Trent doesn't call anymore. infmmation on FMS, recording We are poorer for his television and radio programs,

passing, but we are richer for

Living in Germany when I

I remember how he missed the love and affection of his grandchildren. Trent's children, with the exception of one science our doctors have accomplished truly marvelous things. One team of orthopedic surgeons, son, cut off all contact shonly after one daughter and two

We commented in our November newsletter on the activities of S.O.UP.! (Survivors Opposed Ubiquitous

public records to be sure the named rrperpetrator" has in fact been accused of, charged with, indicted for, convicted of, sentenced for, or pleaded guilty to, as the case may be, sexual abuse of children or adults. Presumably persons who have been convicted or sentenced, or who have pled guilty

by BaJbara Grizzuti Harrison from Mirabella magazine, December 1993 Copyrigh1 Reprinted by permission of Georges Borchardt. Inc. ror author. According to the National Committee to Prevent Child

SYMPTOM CHECKUST from Repressed Memoriu: A IOIITIWJ lo R"CT'HTJ from Sexul Ab~~M Renee Fredric/cson, PhD., Simon and Sclwster,J992.p 47-51 "Check each item 1hat applies to you, even if in a different

ABOIJT MEMORIES OF CmLDHOOD TRAUMA Although du! work of Unda Meyer Williams is still in press, it has been cited frequently on lhe radio and on tele· vision by people arguing for lhe validity of repressed meR!·

Although du! work of Unda Meyer Williams is still in press, it has been cited frequently on lhe radio and on tele· vision by people arguing for lhe validity of repressed meR!· ories.(e.g., Kalky Pezdek, Ph.D., Dec. 6, 1993; Co11111e

did not remember their documented history of sexual abuse. Unlike other studies, none of these women had ever been in therapy; and as a result, their recall-<>r apparent inability to recall-could not have been influenced by a therapist More recently, a paper correspondin~ to Williams' p~tatio~ of

blind to the purpose of this study, but they were unaware of any of the circumstances of the cltild sexual abuse reported in the 1970's." This statement raises the question of exactly what did the interviewers know about this study if they were ..not blind" to its purpose. Depending uJM)n what the

This statement was approved by the Board of Trustees of the American Psychiatric Association on December 12, Psychiatry's nme Bomb was the headline of an "Opinion" column by Adam Blamer, M.D. in The P:rychiolric Times way back in November 1987. It arrived in our

In past newsletters we have mentioned the need to create a climate in which people can change their theories and change their minds. As people gain new infonnation, they should be encouraged to revise their opinions. Unfortunately, sometimes when people change their minds,

What do we know about the relation between emotion and memoty? Daniel Reisberg, Ph.D. , Associate Professor of Psychology at Reed College, wrore a shon article on 1he 10pic for 1he Reed Alumni magazine in June 1993. People have a common-sense notion that memories that

FMs Fbundation Newsletter

Augast Piper, Jr., M.D. looks forward to receilling your questions. FALSE MEMORIES AND MULTIPLEPERSONALITY DISORDER: WHERE WILL IT ALL END? The pleasant voice coming from the telephone receiver helonged to Pamela Freyd, who was requesting a column on

DISORDER: WHERE WILL IT ALL END? The pleasant voice coming from the telephone receiver helonged to Pamela Freyd, who was requesting a column on multiple personality disorder for the False Memory Syndrome Foundation newsletter. I told Dr. Freyd that for her even to consider asking me

SCIENCE OR BELIEF SYSTEMS?: LEARNING FROM FACILITATED COMMUNICATION This past mondl, CBS's 60 Minutes produced a docu-

LEARNING FROM FACILITATED COMMUNICATION This past mondl, CBS's 60 Minutes produced a docu-

This past mondl, CBS's 60 Minutes produced a docu- d!at appeared in, "Abuse memories trigger double-edged

from Ute Uterapists, but Utey believed adamantly Utat Ute reWhy Is there such a difference? pons csme completely from Ute children. When shown Ute What are Uterapists taught in cominuing education provideo of Ute experiments, some people S1i11 clung to Uteir grams? Ped!aps an answer to this quesrion

Dr. Wbitfield bas not responded to our request to documeot his priDied SlaiODleJit !bat "Ibe FMSF bas several claims !bat it promotes, pelllaps the most promlnent being !bat 'all delayed or repressed memories af child sexual abuse are false'." We have stated again and again that

Celeste McGovem. a reporter for Alberta Report, atteoded a professional worl<shop given by Laura Bass and described it in a February 14 article: Two-hUndred belping professionals (social worl<em, psycbologists, prisoners' advocates and teachers) met at the Mayfield lno in Edmonton. Alberta at a conf

I have heard that sodium Amytal is a truth drug. What does that mean? My lawyer says that taking the drug might help my lawsuit, by helping me and my doctor decide what really

light state"-for the duration The issue here is not that Families for whom we have details of the rep:>rts of the interview. Intravenous people have forgotten details of

by August Piper Jr., M.D. Pontius Pilate once asked. "'What is truth?" Two thousand years Ia1er, plaintiff and defendant, accuser and accused, unfold their versions of truth. In our courtrooms, Pilate's question echoes.

of numbness. I worried about how I could win her oyer wi1hnut making her feel1hat she had been crazy for havmg I softened. "Lyon, we loved you so much." an "iatrogenic illness." I had a Waiter Mitty fantasy that

participate. House of Cards by Robyn Dawes, and both the standards of Cavalcade Productions, Inc. and the Suggestions of Abuse by Michael Yapko and many fine nature of beliefs in conspiracy theories that have taken hold books and papers "in press" promise that the level of

Memory and Reality: Reconciliation CoSponsored by The False Memory Syndrome Foundation and The Johns Hopkins ConJinuing EducaJion Program Baltimore, MD December 9, 10, 11 1994

Transcribed selections from the tape: adults participate in human and animal sacrifice even as

Dr. Colin Ross on the CIA Transcribed from 1he CBC, Nov 8, 1993, The Fifth Esrau. Screen shows Colin Ross speaking: It's a pseudo..debate,

by Dr Ross and obtained by The Fifth Estate, he's a doctor who listens to his patients. Ross thinks he's uncovered a government plot going all 1he way back to 1he '40's. It seems some of his patients are starting to believe their MPD

Psychology ofWomen, Winter 1994 American Psychological Association "A third development is the coalescing of psychologists and the legal community against therapists who treat survivors of sexual abuse who recover memories. In the

by Adult SuiVivors of Childhood Sex Abuse,' pertained to False Memory Syndrome. a nosologically unrecognized term referring to an unestablished phenomenon whereby an unknown number of incompetent therapists, of whom Freud is apparently representative, supposedly 'implant' erroneous memories of child

''The case is bound to heighten the debate over the legitimacy of techniques that claim to produce the recollection of allegedly repressed events. No doubt some individuals who suffered abuse as children do repress and later recall these memories. But many psychologists have argued that the recall t

"Mental health professionals should become better gatekeepers of searing tales, working harder to sort truth from fiction. The same must be said for journalists. Cable News Network was irresponsible in showcasing Cook immediately after he filed suit The network, and newspapers that ran the story on

hungry lawyem and story-hungry joumalists.... Advemary law and the adversary media, especially in cooperation with

abuse, the misuse of consultants, and ~e put themselves beYond the reach of unreg_ulated use ~f unorthodox .~erapeuuc public criticism. They have charged

Dr. Colin Ross on the CIA Transcribed from the CBC, Nov 8, 1993, The Fifth Estate.

clieots and patients bave 000 complaints, it would be Memory and RealiJy: ReconciiJIIIion false memories because evtaken off the mad<et. Not only CoSponsored by The False MeT111Jry Syndrome FoUIIdlllion

are falsely accused perpell'aiOIS, but sucb lldse memolies are not necessarily 1be lberapist's faull." To wbicb one natwally asks: wbat tue 1be 1belaplst's fiwlt'l If not lldse memories, what? Dr. Ross seems 10 suggest that dleraplsls are m more responsible1han adverdsels and pollticialls:

by Sally McDooald, RN in Journal of Psychosocial Nursing 1994, Vo132, No 1 is a cltilling accoUDt of 1he efforts of nurses in a dissociative unit of a private mental bospital in Texas to stop wbat they viewed as unetbical practice. Nws-

noted dial it waa open 10 survivom and supporteiS an<!. acamliDg to a preconference ardcle in die Toronto' Star (4/8,o94), dlere would be "roving therapists available dnougbout die conferenc:e to provide support to pardclpao!S." We receive many notices of similar conferences. Wba1 made dlls one of n

If you have questions or concerns tiJ be answered In the Newsletter, please send them tiJ Legal Corner, care of Tbird Party w. Therapist

had mled dial tbe parent could not sue for loss of fiUal society dial oa:urs as a consequence of malpractice, but bad split oo tbe questioo whetber tbe rule would apply 10 acts "ildeuthmally and diJectly iuterfering widl tbe parent-dlild relationship," Dra!1e y, Ruder 529 N.E.2d 209-214. A laler

parentS laying out 1be charges and saying tbey couldn't see her or tile grandkids again Her father bad a stroke after reading 1be letter. "My dlerapists said, ''!bat's a ploy.

A PROPOSAL AND AN ANALYSIS August Piper Ir., M.D. Could die FMSF do more to help families? That question surfaced after I RlCeived several letters ll!ld caDs from FouDdalion membels whose cbiJdren had S"lliSeCC diem of long-ago al>lse. A telephone conversation with Dr. Freyd

August Piper Ir., M.D. Could die FMSF do more to help families? That question surfaced after I RlCeived several letters ll!ld caDs from FouDdalion membels whose cbiJdren had S"lliSeCC diem of long-ago al>lse. A telephone conversation with Dr. Freyd followed, during whldl we developed an idea: to com

"Real 0< Imagined?" by David M<Kay Wilsou. The Repon.r Dispolch, OCiober 20, 1993.

Checks only for orders less thao $15.00 One Daughter to Ano/Mr

other situations. Incest victimization is not

complaints and had never been shown to be safe or effec· The good news is that we heard many speakers talk. about tive it would be taken off the malk.et If any other medical memory as constructive and the need for professionals to be product was based on a a highly controversial theory and

pointing, however, to note that prestigious Guumacher LeeIs this a wide-spread Memory and Reality: Reconct

This is the description of ber talk as it appeared in the APA Debra Poole, Central Michigan University, and "The conllict between knowing and not knowing, Stephen Lindssy, University of Victoria, bave made the

spread. ''The Evangelical Christian campaign against new religious movements has been a powerful influence encouraging 1he identification of satanic abuse. Equally, if not more. imponant in spreading the idea of satanic abuse in Britain are 1he 'specialists', American and British. '!bey may have few

from the British government with the articles appearing in 1he Spring issue of The Journol ofPsyclwhiswry, V 21, No. 4 entitled "Cult Ahose of Children: Witch Hunt or Reality?" Several of our advisory board members are discussing 1he proper legal action to take with respect to editor's incredible

Below are headlines of articles that have appeared after the Ramona decision. This is not a random sample, but reflect what arrived in our mail. Therapists planted false childhood memories in woman,

from "The Lost Daug!Uef', EsqUire, Man:h 1994 Proponents of MPD attribute the explosion in diagnoses of the disorder directly to Sybil-''the true and extraordinary

treatment of SybiL Instead, Wilbur approached Flora Rheta his present ones. He has acknowledged the enom of his ear· Schreiber, an English professor, and suggested she write lier thinking. One example: in the pas~ if a therapist had about Sybil. Schreiber's book is a melodramatic novelizatrouble fin

bur, who died in 1992, is a sort of maSuch recognition, however, has not yet triarchal cult figure. They pay her ritu· led this authority to publicly recomal homage by the use of phrases like mend the obvious next step: sharply restricring hypoosis as "the Wilburian revolution" and "the post-Wilbur

We know all too well that the majority of families are slill desperate, wonderiog if this nighUnare can have an end

Adapted from articles in the Globe and Mail (May 1994) Paula Tyroler One day last spriog, Harold Levy, a Toronto Star journalist and a lawyer. was arrested as he was driving to visit his mother.

meditation.. that followed a vecy intense session of dramatic milieus. Here is my story. r-;;:;:;:---.,.,--,---,---::-:----, "sharing.. by several of the group, one In the late 1980's, in the face of Tiris accusation is so remote and im~

know~ run on a model similar to her as a child. At this point. one of the Alcoholics Anonymous or Alanon, but with a significant more self-assured members of the difference: there is an explicit emphasis on intense pe180nai

By Daniel Goleman -May 31,1994 Copyrighl<d Reprinted by pennissioo While an earlier generation of therapists was criticized

Jim Simons. J.D., Practicing Attorney with comments from FMSF Staff 1be verdict is in and the news is mixed. 1be Ramona Trial Court judge recognized the right of a third party plaintiff to bring suit in a false memory case and allowed

daughter's therapist and confmnted with a certain diagnosis, a diagnosis which the Jury could find to be incorrect and dlerefore negligent The diagnosis resulted in the break-upofMr. Ramona's family. In discussing the obligation of the trial court to follow

We need a typewriter for the office. If you have one in good condition that you can spare. please call Valerie at 215387-1865 before Auguu 20. Thanks

Memories of Childhood Abuse Yank D. Coble,Jr, MD, Chair

for the M.emory and Reality: Reconciliation conference this December 9-11. The program and registration have gooe in a separate mailing. This will be the defining confereoce on

DENYING AND TWISTING ANGER Anger Is a natural responseiO 1herapy. You were probably not able 10 experience, express, and ad on your ou1· rage when you were in lherapy. Ralherlhan be angry atlhe person or people who held you in therapy, you probably did some combination of denying and twisting your a

Anger Is a natural responseiO 1herapy. You were probably not able 10 experience, express, and ad on your ou1· rage when you were in lherapy. Ralherlhan be angry atlhe person or people who held you in therapy, you probably did some combination of denying and twisting your anger. One way ex..patients

lt's often easier to get angry for someone else's pain than for your own. Imagine a patient you love being held in therapy the way you were. (135) You can hear her fury and be incited. Getting into an angry posture also helps. Physically taking an angry S1ance, making

If you feel you need to confront, do it. Because the next thing you know, that person's going to be dead, and you're going to be wishing tor lhe reS1 ot your lne you had. ll"s those unvoiced cries that haunt you forever. (144) Although most ex.patients have been taught to keep

There are many ways to confront or _disclose. Twenty years ago, an ex-patient went to her therapist's funeral and told each person at the grave site what he had done to her. In Santa Cruz, California, volunteers go with ex·patients. There they are, ten or twenty women,

If your therapist has died, you may be glad he Is dead. This Is perfectly reasonable feeling to have. One woman said she couldn't wait for her therapist to die so she could spit on his grave. (154) Anolher said: "I went through pari·

When talking about the stages in the healing process, the question 1S inevitably raised: What about forgiveness? Developing compassion and forgiveness tor yourtherapist is nota required partol the healing process. (t60) You are nol

newsletter with that title was not until after the Foundation was incorporated on March 12, 1994. In their vicious attack on the Foundation they even quote (p 490) one of our "founders" citing a newspaper that has, in fact, never interviewed the person in question. In a section entitled What We Do a

began, several children involved in the case started talking about having been taken beneath the school to be molested. Glenn Stevens is a former assistant district attorney who worked on the case and then quit after he decided it was a

unanimously approved a statement saying that "facilitated communication" was an unproven technique whose effectiveness had not been demonsuated in repeated scientific studies" Brian A. Gladue, senior scientist for APA said the group had found the scientific data to be overwhelmingly against claims t

By Thomas F. Nagy, Ph.D. Permission to reprint has been granted by The National Psycho/. .agW, 8100 Channingway Blvd., Ste 303, Columbus, OH 43232. Dr. Nagy's guidelines were among several articles on repressed memory that appeared in the July/Augu.stl994 issue of The National Psycholo~ist, a bimont

"Joan" wanted to recover these apparently forgotten memories in the belief she could better control brief dissociative episodes occurring during her normal and loving sexual relations with her husband. She had previously spent years in intense psychoana1ytic psychotherapy and yet had a persistent fr

I will present 13 ciinical guidelines[ Guidelines 2.3.4.5.6 and 7 are from Yapko, M. (1993, September/October).] that I believe are useful in deciding how to meet these requests, guide- sibl<" (Yapko, 1993, p. 36).

CHANGE VERSUS CREATING CHANGE I want to sugges1 an idea (Bloom, 1994) that I believe is at the core of the clinical problem in WICovering re· pressed memories. One of the basic tenets in psychotherapy is that a patient's insight is a prerequisite for change and

I want to sugges1 an idea (Bloom, 1994) that I believe is at the core of the clinical problem in WICovering re· pressed memories. One of the basic tenets in psychotherapy is that a patient's insight is a prerequisite for change and growth. I do not believe this is true. I do believe that insight

Bloom, P.B. (1990). The creative process in hypnotherapy. In M.L. Fass & D. Brown (Eds.), Creative tn4Stery in hypnnsis and hypNJQJILJ.lysis: A Festschriftfor Eriko. Fromm. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Er1bawn. Bloom, P.B. (1993). Training issues in hypnosis. In J. W. Rhue, S.J.

Registration in order ofapplication receipt accusations and encourages true 704, October 10, I 994. Does Become part of the solution to the False Memory problem.

State must establish validity of memory repression "Before testimony of the victim's memory of the alleged assault may be admitted, a hearing shall be held at which the burden shall be upon the State to establish that the phenomenon of memory repression

The Australian Psychological Society Code of Professional Conduct sers fonh principles of professional conduct designed to safeguard • the welfare of consumers of psychological services • the integrity of the profession

These guidelines set forth conclusions and recommendations designed to safeguard psychologists and clients who are dealing with reports of recovered memories.

long after the alleged events are difficult to prove or disprove in the majority of cases. Independent corroboration of the statements of those who make or deny such allegations is typically difficult, if not impossible. Accordingly, psychologists should C)tCrcisc special care in dealing with client

memories of abuse are expected to observe the Principles set out in the Code of Professional Conduct of the Australian Psychological Society. and in the Code of Professional Conduct of the Psychologists' Registrations Boards in States in which they are registered as

Probably most FMSF families are relieved to see the publication of guidelines about recovered memories. At the very least, such guidelines afford our children the opportunity to compare their own therapy experience with the standards of the profession. For this we thank professionals. Will these gui

The first example of a monitoring problem comes from the October 3, 1994 issue of Alberta Report (Canada) where Celeste McGovcm writes of outrageous cases in which professionals were involved in court cases. In one of these cases, the judge actually noted that "the evidence of the witnesses ... was

where there was clear corroborating evidence for the most The Independent (London), October 17, 1994 common accusation, that there was 'a well-organized intcrTHERE'LL BE THE DEVIL TO PAY: generational satanic cult, who sex.ually molested and tor~ THE FUTURE OF AMERICA'S RECOVERED MEMORY

tured children in their homes or schools for years and comMOVEMENT IS AT STAKE IN A $3SM LAWSUIT. mitted a series of murders,' Dr Goodman said." "After seven years in therapy, in and out of hospitals "Many psychotherapists who have been vocal about a until February 1992, Kathryn Schwiderski [who ent