STATEMENTS BY PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS ON RMT

The following statements are arranged in chronological order:

• The American Medical Association stated in 1993, that recovered memories are "of uncertain authenticity which should be subject to external verification. The use of recovered memories is fraught with problems of potential misapplication." (8)
• The Australian Psychological Association adopted a similar statement recently.
• The American Psychiatric Association stated in 1993 that it is impossible to distinguish accurately between true and false memories. (9). They stated "Memories also can be significantly influenced by a trusted person (e.g., therapist, parent involved in a custody dispute) who suggests abuse as an explanation for symptoms/problems, despite initial lack of memory of such abuse."
• The American Medical Association revisited the topic in 1994, and stated: "It is well established for example that a trusted person such as a therapist can influence an individual's reports, which would include memories of abuse."..."The AMA considers the technique of 'memory enhancement' in the area of childhood sexual abuse to be fraught with problems of potential misapplication."
• The American Psychological Association created an APA Working Group On Investigation of Memories of Childhood Abuse to investigate recovered/repressed memories. It was composed of 3 memory researchers and 3 clinicians (including 2 who practice recovered memory therapy). They concluded in a 1994 interim report:
  • Most people who were sexually abused as children remember all or part of what happened to them.
  • However, it is possible for memories of abuse that have been forgotten for a long time to be remembered. The mechanism(s) by which such delayed recall occur(s) is/are not currently well understood.
  • It is also possible to construct convincing pseudomemories for events that never occurred. The mechanism(s) by which these pseudomemories occur(s) is/are not currently well understood.

  The APA Board of Directors enlarged upon the Working Group's interim statement by stating:

  • "There is no single set of symptoms which automatically means that a person was a victim of childhood abuse."
  • Therapists must take a neutral position on childhood abuse memories.
  • The public should beware of a therapist who diagnoses childhood abuse at the start of therapy in the absence of evidence and memories
  • Beware of therapists who "dismiss claims .... of sexual abuse without exploration."
  • Select a licensed practitioner with "with training and experience"
• The British Psychological Society has issued a booklet (10) "Recovered Memories" which mentions:
  • Complete or partial memory loss of childhood sexual abuse is frequently reported
  • Recovery of such memories is frequently reported
  • All adult memories of childhood events may contain errors
  • "Sustained pressure" by a therapist could lead to recovery of "memories of events that never actually happened."
  • People no longer debate whether therapy-induced false memories and recovery of memories from total amnesia actually occur. Debate is currently directed at how often they occur.
• The Michigan Psychological Association approved a Position Paper titled "Recovered memories of sexual abuse". It was adopted by the Executive Council on 1995-MAY-17; it reads in part:

  "In summary, given the meager and conflicting scientific data regarding the validity of reported recovered memory of sexual abuse, the Michigan Psychological Association at this time does not support the modification of any existing statutes of limitations in respect to civil and criminal complaints stemming from such reported recovered memory. Given the nature of the scientific evidence to date, there is substantial potential for harm in treating claims of recovered memories of sexual abuse presumptively valid. We must await the accumulation of pertinent and scientifically valid research on this issue before recommending the routine or uncritical acceptance of recovered memory in the absence of corroborative evidence."

• Mel Sabshin, MD, the Medical Director of the American Psychological Association condemned "past life therapy" as quackery: "The American Psychiatric Association believes that past life regression therapy is pure quackery. As in other areas of medicine, psychiatric diagnosis and treatment today is based on objective scientific evidence. There is no accepted scientific evidence to support the existence of past lives let alone the validity of past life regression therapy.", quoted in the Chicago Tribune 1995-JUN-21.

• The American Psychological Association's "Working Group On Investigation of Memories of Childhood Abuse" issued an a final report (20) on 1996-FEB-14. As expected, the committee was deeply split. They they were able to agree that:
  1. Controversies regarding adult recollections should not be allowed to obscure the fact that child sexual abuse is a complex and pervasive problem in America that has historically gone unacknowledged.
  2. Most people who were sexually abused as children remember all or part of what happened to them.
  3. It is possible for memories of abuse that have been forgotten for a long time to be remembered.
  4. It is also possible to construct convincing pseudomemories for events that never occurred.
  5. There are gaps in our knowledge about the processes that lead to accurate and inaccurate recollections of childhood abuse.

  In the body of the report, the committee recommends that the therapist avoid endorsing "retrievals" (i.e. recovered memories of trauma) "as either clearly truthful or clearly confabulated. Instead, the focus should be on aiding the client in developing his or her own sense of what is real and truthful. Clients can be encouraged to search for information that would add to their ability to find themselves credible..., and to carefully weigh the evidence..."

• The American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Ad Hoc Committee on Adult Delayed Recall states that "solid scientific evidence demonstrates that in the absence of third-party corroboration, there is no reliable way to tell real memory from the product of suggestion." They recommend against the use of hypnotism and other suggestive techniques because of the ease with which elaborate, believable but false memories can be implanted.
• The Canadian Psychiatric Association (20) issued a position paper to its members in 1996. The report included the following statements concerning the reliability of recovered memories:
  • "Developmental psychology casts doubt upon the reliability of recovered memories from early childhood" This presumably refers to people who believe that they remember events that occurred before the age of, say, 36 months
  • "Reports of recovered memories of recovered memories from early childhood may be true, but great caution should be exercised before acceptance in the absence of solid corroboration."
  • "Increases in self-injury and suicide attempts have been reported in some patients given recovered-memory treatment".
  They also commented on the widespread disruption to families when recovered memories lead to false accusations of childhood sexual abuse. They warn of therapists being sued for malpractice.
• The Canadian Psychological Association is expected to issue a statement on recovered memories in 1996-Fall.

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