Another unsubstantiated belief is that repressed memories do not follow the general laws by which "everyday" memory is processed at the acquisition, retention and retrieval stages. It is suggested that at the acquisition stage the memory is encoded with photographic precision. It is further believed that at the retention stage the memory is encapsulated and is not subject to modification by such factors as post event information, or by self-serving reappraisals of the traumatic event(s). Finally, at the retrieval stage, it is assumed that the memory is not in any way modified by such factors as highly suggestive memory recovery techniques, such as leading questions ("Do you remember that your mother was too overwhelmed by the traumatic events to offer you assistance?"). The scientific research is clear that there is not the slightest scientific evidence for the existence of such an acquisition/retention/retrieval process. (see Kihlstrom, 1994; Loftus, 1979 for accounts of how memory is acquired, stored and retrieved).

Following the diagnosis of repressed incest memories, with or without an MPD/DID diagnosis, a number of procedures may be employed that reinforce the belief that the diagnosis is correct. Clients are sometimes urged to stage an angry confrontation with the alleged abuser(s), not permitting him and/or her to refute the accusations. They may be advised to "get strong by suing" at the same time as being informed that "you are not responsible for proving that you were abused" (Bass & Davis, p. 137). (This may well be the worst legal advice of the millennium.) Further, they are usually advised to break off all relations with the family and with anybody else who questions the abuse narrative.

In effect, this places the patient in a cult-like environment, since by following these instructions the patient is almost certain to be surrounded exclusively by like-thinking others and will not be exposed to a demurring voice. This effect may be magnified if the person follows another piece of advice -- to become involved in an incest survivors' group. For people who have yet to "recover" a memory of sexual abuse during childhood, this can increase the pressure to conform to group mores and to "remember" something that justifies their presence in such company.

This process has been documented by Nelson and Simpson (1994) in a study of 20 retractors. Of 14 respondents who developed visualizations of childhood sexual abuse during the course of group therapy, all but one reported that similar or identical memories were shared by other group members. Typical comments were: "We had very similar alters (MPD alter personalities) and memories. One woman would feel left out because she didn't have a particular alter everyone else had, and she wanted it" and "If you don't have a memory you feel like you have to come up with one to compete with everyone" (p. 126).

Suggestive Techniques: Another suggestion that may be given to the patient who has no abuse memories is to question the belief that her childhood was a happy time. The client is admonished to grieve for the happy childhood that did not actually occur, even though she may think that it did. In some books, hatred is advocated as a healing method, and fantasies of murder and castration of the alleged abuser are encouraged -- contrary to all reputable clinical belief and practice.

Writing exercises are frequently suggested to help recover memories. It is not unusual for a person to be urged to write non-stop, without regard for syntax and punctuation, on such topics as how the putative abuse occurred, and of factors in the father's childhood that may have predisposed him to the alleged pedophilia. In the accommodating environment of an approving therapist or a survivors' group, such a hastily written account of intimate details of a father's fantasized past may eventually become highly plausible and believable to the patient. Research by Elizabeth Loftus has demonstrated how the process of imagining an event inflates the likelihood of a person coming to believe it. (Loftus & Mazzoni, 1998)

After all of this, failure to "recover" the sought-after abuse memory is brushed aside with such assurances as: "If you are unable to remember any specific instances... but still have the feeling that something abusive happened to you, it probably did" (Bass & Davis, 1988, p. 21). And: "If you think you were abused and your life shows the symptoms, then you were" (ibid, p. 22). Further: "If you don't remember your abuse you are not alone. Many women don't have memories and some never get memories. This doesn't mean they weren't abused" (ibid, p. 81).

In brief, some of the possible influences that may lead to false memories include a treatment based upon the theory of repression, the use of such procedures as hypnosis, guided imagery, dream interpretation, and sodium amytal represented as "truth serum," and the therapist urging the patient to cut off all contact with an accused parent who denies being an abuser. In addition, treatments that focus upon regression to infantile experiences, the emergence of multiple personality, the recollection of past lives and the experience of alien abduction are all at high risk to produce spurious autobiographical memories. The risk is increased when these techniques are used in a culture that frequently depicts the recovered memory stories in movies, books and TV.

A demoralized person may be particularly vulnerable to a subtly woven script that sees all human distempers as a consequence of repressed memories of childhood sexual abuse. It is conceivable that a person may develop such a scripted abuse memory without recourse to a hypnotic procedure. But from what we know about hypnosis, it is highly probable that a person exposed to some hypnotic technique will more readily and more confidently come to believe in that for which there is no evidence.

The findings of the AMA were correct only in as much as the findings they related to were conducted in a manor not related to regressive theraphy protocols. In otherwords, the same manor of findings could be found in the excution of unsuitable appendectomy. Mistakes are made, and will continue to be made by non qualified people. But, that's the AMA.............................

You have hit it on the head. Where did you gain such knowledge?

The unfortunate fact is that many people practising hypnosis overlay their patients perceived problem with their own belief system. This often, in highly suggestible clients, will produce a memory result that the clients unconscious has generated in order to please the authority figure. In this case it is the therapist!

How do you get around that issue? You can't unless you remain sufficiently aware of the therapists words during therapy and actively counter the suggestion. Not easy to do without experience. Make SURE that your therapist is properly trained and actually ask him/her if they only work with what the mind presents rather than trying to overlay suggestion.