According to the textbook and film, there still seems to be a controversy between repressed memories and false memories that deal with childhood sexual abuse. Most of the time childhood sexual abuse is done by the father or other close relatives in the family, which gives a reason to repress the memory and try to forget that traumatic occurrence. Sigmund Freud is the one who made known the notion of repressed memories. Repressed memories are the reminiscences of a traumatic occurrence that get kept in the mind for several years, which eventually affects the aspiration, action, and conscious thoughts of these individuals. As said by Freud, repressed memories are a coping mechanism because these memories are made unconscious for many years. The …show more content…
On the other hand, false memories are the recollection of events that did not actually take place. False memories tend to deal with childhood sexual abuse that arises from suggestions of the therapists or other techniques such as hypnosis. Some methodological problems that were noted throughout the two films in order to tap into the repressed memories are hypnosis and clinical therapy. The issue that arises from these two methods is that they are divisive owing to the risks of therapists generating and embedding false memories. Hypnosis requires the incentive of relaxation, attentiveness and focus of their clients dealing with repressed memories of childhood sexual abuse. It tends to be used to recover recollections that were made unconscious in the mind for a long period of time. The human brain has the ability to repress memories of traumatic experiences. Clinical therapy has been a well known technique that is used with the purpose of recovering repressed memories from their client’s. These therapists assist their client’s in explaining how memories work, discussing a variety of options that could be the cause of distress, and help the client’s reach out to their families so as to put everything together and reach a solution.
Brian’s parents did not take notice or action when he displayed these symptoms. If they had, I believe Brian would have first gone to see a therapist. Since Brian is missing periods of time from his memory, the therapist would first start by trying to work with Brian to retrieve the repressed memories. They could use direct questioning, hypnosis, dream analysis, and attending survivors groups. I believe after Brian’s repressed memories are brought to light, the therapist would use TF-CBT (Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) when treating Brian’s trauma from the sexual abuse. Treatment starts with educating both the victim and the parents. This would really help Brian and his parents while hearing and learning about the sexual abuse. His mother could become very protective and it would be good for her to hear from a therapist about the steps necessary to help deal with the trauma in a positive way. Brian’s dad could blame himself for the abuse considering he was not around on day the abuse occurred. The therapist could help his father by explaining that we can’t focus on what he could of done but what he can do now to support Brian. Affect and regulation could help Brian identify the feelings he had towards the sexual abuse, but not by withdrawing or avoiding these feelings, which he currently does when he represses and avoids
McNally, R. J., Clancy, S. A., Schacter, D. L., & Pitman, R. K. (2000). Cognitive processing of trauma cues in adults reporting repressed, recovered, or continuous memories of childhood sexual abuse. Journal Of Abnormal Psychology, 109(3), 355-359. doi:10.1037/0021-843X.109.3.355
6. With respect to the controversy regarding reports of repressed memories of sexual abuse, statements by major psychological and psychiatric associations suggest that:
Many counselors attribute their clients' woes to long-buried "repressed" memories of childhood sexual abuse. They help clients to unlock these, and rewrite their pasts. Clients sever all former ties with "families of origin" and surround themselves only with other "survivors", to prevent confirmation or denial.
Recently there has been an extreme debate between "false" vs. "repressed" memories of abuse. A false memory is created when an event that really happened becomes confused with images produced by trying to remember an imagined event. The term false memory syndrome refers to the notion that illusionary and untrue memories of earlier child abuse can be 'recalled' by adult clients during therapy. In an increasingly polarized and emotive debate, extreme positions have been adopted, on one side by those believing that recovered memories nearly always represent actual traumatic experiences, for example, Fredrickson (1992) who argues for a 'repressed memory syndrome' and, on the other side, by those describing a growing epidemic of false memories of abuse which did not occur. (Gardner, 1992; Loftus, 1993; Ofshe & Watters, 1993; Yapko, 1994).
An alternative view to this debate, are from practicing therapist who argue that most recovered memories are true, and that there is still some evidence to support the concept of repressed memories (Briere & Conte, 1993). They claim that traumatic memories such as sexual abuse tend to be different from ordinary memories because they are encoded in a way that prevents them from being accessible in everyday life. In addition, they argue that certain procedures during therapy are necessary in order to bring the repressed memories back into conscious awareness, and this is deemed necessary in order to help the patient recover. Despite these claims, there is little evidence to support the validity of reported cases of recovered memories, and most of the theories are mainly based on speculation rather than scientific evidence. However, there have been some cases in which a recovered memory did corresponded to an actual event that occurred. For example, an article by Freyd (1999), reported a case in which a man called Frank Fitzpatrick recovered memories of sexual abuse from childhood. Although this
Understanding the traumatic reoccurrence is hard to endure leaving pain in suffering. Study shows that the acting of the event leaves the person with more trauma then the event itself. For example, this is one case with inadequate and/or compromised corroboration. This case is call,” Horrendous Trauma” by Brenner’s (1996). For example, the patient name is, Hannah she was repeatedly raped by her stepfather, and by her stepfather, homosexual friends.
Many research studies have been conducted to show the validity of repressed memories (Serendip, 2005). A study was conducted by Linda Williams, where 129 women had been sexually abused in the 1970’s (Serendip, 2005). The study showed that 20 years after the traumatic event occurred, “38% of the women did not remember being admitted into the hospital, 12% do not remember the actual abuse, and 16% claimed that for a period of time they did not remember the abuse, however they recalled the memory at a later date” (2005, paragraph 3). The results proved the validity of memory repression in which traumatic events, such as sexual abuse, cause memory loss for the specific period or for the entire event (Serendip,
First, recent findings have indicated that many practitioners and clinicians lack any suspicious feelings of doubt or uncertainty when assessing the reliability of recovered memories (Patihis, Ho, Tingen, Lilienfeld, & Loftus, 2014). Many of these clinicians believe individuals can remain unaware of traumatic events that have happened to them in the past. They believe that the human mind has tucked away these traumatic events as a way to defend the psyche from events that individuals are not yet able to effectively cope with. Moreover, these clinicians believe that these memories can be unveiled through therapeutic practices. For example, Sigmund Freud is widely recognized for his attempts to uncover repressed memories through the usage of hypnosis (Bartol & Bartol,
This essay will critically discuss the assertion that the memory wars can never be resolved. First, the essay will consider the background of the memory wars, which refers to the debate over whether recovered memories of childhood sexual abuse exist or if they are in fact false memories. The essay will then consider the approaches that both sides of the debate take in relation to memory, before discussing the relevant methods they employ and limitations these may present, which could impact a resolution to the memory wars. Based on the arguments and evidence, suggestions for a resolution of the memory wars will be considered. The essay will also consider middle ground between opponents of the debate and finally, it will explore whether false and recovered memories can be distinguished from each other.
Some people have claimed to have memories of sexual abuse, but is proven wrong. This is called false memory syndrome. Apparently in the 1980s there was a “peak of an idea based on science, the notion people can suppress memories of traumatic events, and those memories can manifest as seemingly unconnected mental health issues” (Novella, S). They interviewed clients and was said to have “notioned repressed memories that led to the satanic panic of the 1980s” (Noella, S). This was later proved to be false.
There will always be time when that memory comes up. (Scholarship) Childhood sexual abuse victims suffer from a lot of symptoms and psychological problems because of the traumatic childhood experience. To try to move past the trauma and cope with sexual abuse, children need the help of professionals and treatment methods. There are many successful treatment methods can work with different childhood sexual