HOW COMMON IS RECOVERED MEMORY THERAPY?

Numerous numbers of adults are recovering "memories" during therapy. Obtaining an accurate estimate is impossible. Some indicators are:

The False Memory Syndrome Foundation has been contacted by more than 15,000 families distressed at the accusations of their adult children recovered during therapy. However, this is probably only a small percentage of the total number of cases - the "tip of the iceberg".
Michael Yapko gathered statistics from therapists attending national and international psychotherapy conventions. (17) These were supplemented by an additional 10% from his therapy training courses on unrelated topics. 64% had Master's degrees, 24% were Ph.D.'s. He found that:
- 97% believed hypnosis to be a useful
- 84% believed hypnotic age regression to be useful
- 54% believe that hypnosis can recover memories as far back as birth
- 41% believe that memories (even from the first years of life) are accurately stored and retrievable
- 31% believed that a trauma memory recovered during hypnosis must have happened
We are unaware of any leading memory researcher who would agree with any of the last three findings.
Mark Pendergrast (5; P. 491) estimates that there are in the US at least 62,500 of what he calls "memory focused" therapists who actively recover memories of childhood sexual abuse in an average of 18 adult clients per year. This totals over 1 million women per year. If one added in smaller numbers of male clients, and clients of unregistered therapists, the number would be much higher. His estimate is based on a number of factors:
1. the number of therapists in the United States
2. the fraction of therapists who engage in recovered memory therapy
3. the average number of clients per therapists
4. the fraction of clients who recovered memories during therapy
All of these numbers are approximations; the second factor is impossible to estimate with any accuracy from available studies. The final estimate of 1 million is thus of doubtful validity.
Poole, et al (25) conducted a survey among doctoral-level US psychotherapists and British psychologists. 71% responded that they had used various methods (e.g. hypnosis, dream interpretation) "to help clients recover suspected memories of CSA". This would seem to refer to the classical case of a patient or client coming to therapy with no conscious memories of CSA and attempting to recover repressed memories. A much lower percentage of therapists specialize in recovered memory therapy. The researchers report "Across samples, 25% of the respondents reported a constellation of beliefs and practices suggestive of a focus on memory recovery, and these psychologists reported relatively high rates of memory recovery in their clients."

Unfortunately, both of the surveys described above do not give a complete picture. Almost all of the therapists sampled were highly trained. There are also untold numbers of less qualified persons engaged in therapy and counselling: Social Workers, Medical doctors, Christian counselors, Sexual Assault Center counselors and volunteers, Women's Center counselors and volunteers, etc. It is impossible to obtain an accurate estimate of their total numbers, let alone information of the therapeutic methods used. Many jurisdictions allow persons to engage in psychotherapy without any academic training at all. Volunteer based groups are essentially unregulated. These groups remain a mystery.

If recovered memories of childhood sexual abuse are all real, then they are proof of arguably the most serious social problem to ever face North American society. If they are all false, then they represent a truly massive amount of therapy-created mental disability, responsible for the destruction of countless loving families. Reality lies somewhere between these two extremes.

On the topic of repressed and recovered memories, a member of the American Psychological Association stated (18) "nothing less than the integrity of the mental health professions and the trust inherent in the client-therapist relationship is at stake."

Unfortunately, many professional societies are paralyzed; they hesitate to take a definitive stand against repressed/recovered memories because doing so would leave their members exposed to law suits of a truly horrendous magnitude. A solution to the problem will probably come in time from insurance companies who tire of paying large settlements to therapists who use memory recovery therapy.

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