Recovered Memory Debate Revisited: Practice Implications for Mental Health Counselors

2007 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 93-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Colangelo
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Sexual Abuse ◽  
Childhood Sexual Abuse ◽  
Memory Retrieval ◽  
Treatment Protocol ◽  
Mental Health Counselors ◽  
Recovered Memory ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Recovered Memories ◽  
High Incidence

With the high incidence of childhood sexual abuse and the attendant serious negative consequences resulting from it clearly documented, there is a high probability that many mental health counselors will at some point in their career provide treatment to members of this population. Since memory retrieval is an integral part of the treatment protocol when working with such clients, it is imperative that clinicians have a good understanding of the controversy over recovered memories of childhood sexual abuse. This article revisits the controversy, provides a detailed discussion of the issues involved, and offers practice implications for mental health counselors.

Forgetting of Trauma Cues in Adults Reporting Continuous or Recovered Memories of Childhood Sexual Abuse

2005 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 336-340 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard J. McNally ◽  
Carel S. Ristuccia ◽  
Carol A. Perlman
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Abuse ◽  
Childhood Sexual Abuse ◽  
Divided Attention ◽  
Adult Survivors ◽  
Memory Deficits ◽  
Recovered Memory ◽  
Recovered Memories ◽  
Betrayal Trauma ◽  
History Of ◽  
Memory Group

According to betrayal trauma theory, adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) who were molested by their caretakers (e.g., a father) are especially likely to dissociate (“repress”) their memories of abuse. Testing college students, some reporting CSA, DePrince and Freyd (2004) found that those scoring high on a dissociation questionnaire exhibited memory deficits for trauma words when they viewed these words under divided-attention conditions. Replicating DePrince and Freyd's procedure, we tested for memory deficits for trauma words relative to neutral words in adults reporting either continuous or recovered memories of CSA versus adults denying a history of CSA. A memory deficit for trauma words under divided attention was expected in the recovered-memory group. Results were inconsistent with this prediction, as all three groups exhibited better recall of trauma words than neutral words, irrespective of encoding conditions.

Understanding the Impact of Childhood Sexual Abuse on Women's Sexuality

2012 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-37 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Colangelo ◽  
Kathleen Keefe-Cooperman
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Abuse ◽  
Childhood Sexual Abuse ◽  
Mental Health Counselors ◽  
Women's Sexuality ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Women’S Sexuality ◽  
Different Populations ◽  
Therapeutic Services ◽  
The Impact

The relationship between child sexual abuse and adult sexual functioning is well-established. Given the documented high incidence of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) and negative consequences for adult sexuality, many mental health counselors will encounter and provide therapeutic services to members of this population. Counselors must have a good understanding of how sexual victimization during childhood impacts a woman's sexuality and sex life. We discuss the prevalence of CSA among women in different populations and the significant impact it has on women's sexuality. Generalized practice issues are applied using a case study and phase-oriented approach.

False memory syndrome vs. total repression

1995 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 283-293 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stan Abrams
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Sexual Abuse ◽  
Childhood Sexual Abuse ◽  
False Memory ◽  
Mental Health Field ◽  
Recovered Memories ◽  
Repressed Memories ◽  
False Memory Syndrome ◽  
Health Field

A major debate exists within the mental health field regarding the authenticity of recovered repressed memories involving childhood sexual abuse. Since it is difficult to document events that occurred years ago, a study was conducted in which polygraphy was utilized to test alleged child abusers accused on the basis of recovered memories versus those abusers whose purported victims experienced no repression. The former group was found to be deceptive in only 4% of the cases, in contrast to 78% for the latter subjects. These findings strongly argue against the validity of the concept of repression for acts that might have persisted for years.

“Truth Serum” and “Recovered Memories” of Sexual Abuse: A Review of the Evidence

1993 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 447-471 ◽  
Author(s):  
August Piper
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Abuse ◽  
Childhood Sexual Abuse ◽  
Medical Literature ◽  
Recovered Memory ◽  
Recovered Memories ◽  
The Mind

This article discusses the Amytal interview, which is sometimes believed to be useful to indicate deception, to reveal concealed contents of the mind, or to compel disclosure of those contents. The medical literature is reviewed to determine if the procedure reliably yields information valuable in legal evaluations of adults claiming recovered memories of childhood sexual abuse. The review finds that no investigator who had performed Amytal interviews endorsed them as a method of recovering accurate memories; rather, the literature repeatedly comments on several characteristics of these examinations that make them useless for this purpose. It is concluded that the Amytal interview has no legitimate use in recovered-memory cases.

Consequences of the therapist's claim “I'm not a detective”

1995 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 477-484 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steve Paul Moen
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Sexual Abuse ◽  
Childhood Sexual Abuse ◽  
Legal System ◽  
Recovered Memories ◽  
Legal Problems ◽  
Narrative Truth ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Historical Truth ◽  
Do So

Clinicians providing mental health therapy have long accepted the use of free narrative and the resulting “narrative truth” that provides a basis for exploring the patient's/client's problems. Since the legal system in the 1990s has allowed claims of “recovered memories” of childhood sexual abuse to be heard in criminal and civil cases years—even decades—after the alleged events occurred, the therapists' patients/clients now must prove the “historical truth” of their perceived memories in order to prevail. The difference between these “truths” requires therapists to exercise increased care in working with persons who may come to have false beliefs about their past. The failure to do so may result in a disservice to the patient/client and further legal problems for the therapist.

The Poole et al. (1995) Surveys of Therapists: Misinterpretations by Both Sides of the Recovered Memories Controversy

1998 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 383-399 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Stephen Lindsay ◽  
Debra A. Poole
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Abuse ◽  
Childhood Sexual Abuse ◽  
Recovered Memory ◽  
Recovered Memories ◽  
Beliefs And Practices

Olio (1996) critically reviewed an article by Poole, Lindsay, Memon, and Bull (1995) that reported surveys of clinicians' beliefs and practices regarding their clients' memories of childhood sexual abuse. Olio's article made several apt points that correctly identified limitations on the kinds of conclusions that can be drawn from the Poole et al. data, but it also made several erroneous claims. Some of these errors have been repeated in articles citing Olio by Pope (1996, 1997) and Brown (1998). In this commentary we respond to those of Olio's criticisms with which we disagree, next briefly comment on limitations of the Poole et al. data, and then turn to a more general discussion of ways in which the Poole et al. data have sometimes been misinterpreted by both sides of the controversy regarding recovered-memory experiences.

Wading through the Muddy Waters of Recovered Memory

1995 ◽  
Vol 76 (8) ◽  
pp. 478-489 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan P. Robbins
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Abuse ◽  
Childhood Sexual Abuse ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Recent Literature ◽  
Recovered Memory ◽  
Recovered Memories ◽  
Running Away ◽  
New Findings ◽  
Common Response

The author reviews the professional debate about recovered memories of childhood sexual abuse and addresses conceptual errors, unwarranted assumptions, and factual inaccuracies in Benatar's essay “Running Away from Sexual Abuse: Denial Revisited” in the May 1995 Families in Society. Despite the fact that many therapists believe that repression or dissociation is a common response to childhood sexual abuse, little support for this idea is found in scientific studies. The author reviews the recent literature in this area and cautions social workers to avoid getting caught in the extreme polemics of this debate. Although it is important to be open to new findings in this area, we must be able to distinguish between conjecture and fact.

Childhood Sexual Abuse, Mental Health, and Sex Motives Among Males: A Pathway to Sexual Risk?

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Trevor J. Schraufnagel ◽  
Kelly Cue Davis ◽  
William H. George ◽  
Jeanette Norris
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Sexual Abuse ◽  
Childhood Sexual Abuse ◽  
Sexual Risk

Adapting Life-Review Therapy for Elderly Female Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse

1996 ◽  
Vol 77 (3) ◽  
pp. 166-173 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathleen McInnis-Dittrich
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Abuse ◽  
Childhood Sexual Abuse ◽  
Older Women ◽  
Memory Retrieval ◽  
Defense Mechanisms ◽  
Life Review ◽  
Retrieval Process ◽  
Female Survivors ◽  
Life Review Therapy ◽  
Rural Appalachia

The author describes the use of life-review therapy in the resolution of childhood sexual abuse with older women through four case illustrations of older women in rural Appalachia. Therapists must take great care to preserve functional defense mechanisms for the survivor, utilize nonverbal techniques to process intense feelings and assist in the memory retrieval process, and incorporate creative techniques to address family-of-origin issues. The author discusses the importance of choice in empowering clients, even when clients reject treatment as an expression of empowerment.

Did Freud Mislead Patients to Confabulate Memories of Abuse? A Reply to Gleaves and Hernandez (1999)

2004 ◽  
Vol 95 (3) ◽  
pp. 863-877 ◽  
Author(s):  
Russell A. Powell ◽  
Douglas P. Boer
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Abuse ◽  
Childhood Sexual Abuse ◽  
Traumatic Events ◽  
False Memories ◽  
Recovered Memories

Gleaves and Hernandez have argued that skepticism about the validity of Freud's seduction theory, including by Powell and Boer, is largely unjustified. This paper contends that their analysis is in many ways both inaccurate and misleading. For example, we did not, as they implied, reject the possibility that some of Freud's early patients were victims of childhood sexual abuse. We also maintain that the weight of the available evidence indicates that false memories of traumatic events probably can be implanted, and that Freud's (1896/1962a) original evidence for the validity of his patients' recovered memories remains lacking in several respects—particularly in view of the extremely suggestive procedures he often used to elicit such memories.

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