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Diagnosis for Disaster: The Devastating Truth About False Memory Syndrome and Its Impact on Accusers
False Memory Syndrome is a dangerous phenomenon that is gaining tremendous momentum in this country. Truth or Fantasy? is a powerful look at this shocking trend. The book tells the story of this crisis through the voices of retractors, backed up by psychiatrists, psychologists, and memory experts.
400 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 1996
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September 1, 2024
AN EXCELLENT AND WIDE-RANGING BOOK ABOUT "RECOVERED MEMORIES
Claudette Wassil-Grimm is a writer and editor who has also written 'Where's Daddy?: How Divorced Single Widowed Mothers Can Provide What's Missing When Dad's Missing,' 'How to Avoid Your Parents Mistakes When You Raise Your Children,' 'The Twelve-Step Journal,' etc.
She wrote in the Preface to this 1995 book, "This book is for any adult who has been depressed or disturbed and is wondering if he or she was sexually abused as a child... Herein, you will find stories of people, mostly women, who were sexually abused and who never forgot... You will also find stories of women who were told they were sexually abused, spent years trying to uncover repressed memories, and later learned that the 'recovered memories' were false. This book explores the impact of incest accusations on the siblings and parents of accusing adult children... Finally, there are stories of those who never forgot certain incidents of sexual abuse but later fabricated additional memories of abuse while in therapy."
She asks, "What has led therapists to adopt unorthodox methods that are potentially harmful to their clients? The Courage to Heal... the most popular book being recommended and used by adult survivors and their counselors, was written by Ellen Bass, a creative writing teacher, and Laura Davis, a participant in one of her workshops. Bass openly admits that she began holding workshops and training professionals even though she had had no formal education or training in psychology or counseling... The book offers a great deal of comfort, affirmation, and useful advice. However, the authors' narrow exposure to mental health issues has caused them to see everything through the lens of sexual abuse." (Pg. 3)
She adds, "If Bass had had some formal training in psychology, she and the therapists she has trained would begin to suspect that a client who has been trying to remember sexual abuse for more than a year and has failed just might have some other problem. She might have a mood disorder, a personality disorder, depression caused by peri-menopause, or any number of other problems that could produce the same symptoms... the sufferer will never discover those alternatives as long as the group of people she depends on keeps telling her that her whole problem and cure lie in remembering her sexual abuse." (Pg. 5)
She notes, "In March 1992 a group of families falsely accused of sexual abuse formed the False Memory Syndrome Foundation (FMSF). Since then, the foundation has received eighty to one hundred phone calls a day from families who are apparent victims of false accusations. Recently, the FMSF has begun to get more and more calls from retractors---adult children swept up in the adult survivors' movement ... who now realize that their 'memories' were the result of group-induced hysteria or therapist-induced fantasy." (Pg. 8)
She observes, "People ask, Why would anyone believe anything so painful as being sexually abused by a parent if it weren't true?... here is how the retractors explain it. They had sought the advice of a professional because they were in pain, and they tried to accept that professional's diagnosis and cooperate with that professional's treatment. As they became more and more involved in the Recovery Movement, they began to spend more and more time in therapy sessions and groups. There were many voices confirming what their therapists had told them. They tried to put away their doubts. Soon they, too, were quoting their therapists and their self-help books as if they were the divine words of a guru... they began to cut themselves off from anyone who questioned their beliefs." (Pg. 22-23)
She admits, "False Memory Syndrome is a phrase coined for the False Memory Syndrome Foundation. It is not a classified psychological illness that appears in (DSM-IV)... the phrase is meant to be descriptive, to give a name to a phenomenon so it can be discussed more easily. A number of women have come to realize that the memories they 'recovered' in therapy were not memories at all; they were fantasies, fictions encouraged by their therapists that the clients were led to elaborate upon. The most common fantasy was that they had been sexually abused by a parent, and these memories often escalated over time to include involvement in satanic rituals." (Pg. 80-81)
This a sympathetic treatment that will be of considerable interest to anyone studying the "Recovered Memory" movement.
Claudette Wassil-Grimm is a writer and editor who has also written 'Where's Daddy?: How Divorced Single Widowed Mothers Can Provide What's Missing When Dad's Missing,' 'How to Avoid Your Parents Mistakes When You Raise Your Children,' 'The Twelve-Step Journal,' etc.
She wrote in the Preface to this 1995 book, "This book is for any adult who has been depressed or disturbed and is wondering if he or she was sexually abused as a child... Herein, you will find stories of people, mostly women, who were sexually abused and who never forgot... You will also find stories of women who were told they were sexually abused, spent years trying to uncover repressed memories, and later learned that the 'recovered memories' were false. This book explores the impact of incest accusations on the siblings and parents of accusing adult children... Finally, there are stories of those who never forgot certain incidents of sexual abuse but later fabricated additional memories of abuse while in therapy."
She asks, "What has led therapists to adopt unorthodox methods that are potentially harmful to their clients? The Courage to Heal... the most popular book being recommended and used by adult survivors and their counselors, was written by Ellen Bass, a creative writing teacher, and Laura Davis, a participant in one of her workshops. Bass openly admits that she began holding workshops and training professionals even though she had had no formal education or training in psychology or counseling... The book offers a great deal of comfort, affirmation, and useful advice. However, the authors' narrow exposure to mental health issues has caused them to see everything through the lens of sexual abuse." (Pg. 3)
She adds, "If Bass had had some formal training in psychology, she and the therapists she has trained would begin to suspect that a client who has been trying to remember sexual abuse for more than a year and has failed just might have some other problem. She might have a mood disorder, a personality disorder, depression caused by peri-menopause, or any number of other problems that could produce the same symptoms... the sufferer will never discover those alternatives as long as the group of people she depends on keeps telling her that her whole problem and cure lie in remembering her sexual abuse." (Pg. 5)
She notes, "In March 1992 a group of families falsely accused of sexual abuse formed the False Memory Syndrome Foundation (FMSF). Since then, the foundation has received eighty to one hundred phone calls a day from families who are apparent victims of false accusations. Recently, the FMSF has begun to get more and more calls from retractors---adult children swept up in the adult survivors' movement ... who now realize that their 'memories' were the result of group-induced hysteria or therapist-induced fantasy." (Pg. 8)
She observes, "People ask, Why would anyone believe anything so painful as being sexually abused by a parent if it weren't true?... here is how the retractors explain it. They had sought the advice of a professional because they were in pain, and they tried to accept that professional's diagnosis and cooperate with that professional's treatment. As they became more and more involved in the Recovery Movement, they began to spend more and more time in therapy sessions and groups. There were many voices confirming what their therapists had told them. They tried to put away their doubts. Soon they, too, were quoting their therapists and their self-help books as if they were the divine words of a guru... they began to cut themselves off from anyone who questioned their beliefs." (Pg. 22-23)
She admits, "False Memory Syndrome is a phrase coined for the False Memory Syndrome Foundation. It is not a classified psychological illness that appears in (DSM-IV)... the phrase is meant to be descriptive, to give a name to a phenomenon so it can be discussed more easily. A number of women have come to realize that the memories they 'recovered' in therapy were not memories at all; they were fantasies, fictions encouraged by their therapists that the clients were led to elaborate upon. The most common fantasy was that they had been sexually abused by a parent, and these memories often escalated over time to include involvement in satanic rituals." (Pg. 80-81)
This a sympathetic treatment that will be of considerable interest to anyone studying the "Recovered Memory" movement.
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