WHAT IS RECOVERED MEMORY THERAPY (RMT)

RMT is a method of recovering long forgotten or repressed memories. It is often used by therapists when a client is suspected to have been abused many years ago, but has no memories of it as an adult. RMT is a hotly debated topic within the mental health community:

Most memory researchers believe that any serious abuse after the age of about 4 will be remembered into adulthood - whether it was a single event or oft-repeated.
Many therapists believe that it is extremely common for a person to actively repress memories of abuse and store them what they call "traumatic memory". According to this belief system, an adult could have been sexually abused as a child hundreds (or even thousands) of times and have no current memory of any of the events, even though the adult could recall other memories of mundane childhood activities from the same years. The survivors might not even have a vague recollection that something dreadful happened during their childhood. The more serious the abuse and the more frequent the abuse, the more likely the memories will be repressed.

Although most memories are recovered during counselling with a therapist, some individuals have recovered memories outside of therapy. Frequently, books like The Courage to Heal are involved. The techniques are the same; they are simply self-administered.

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