Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 38
to Heal (Bass and Davis, 1988) and Secret Survivors: Uncovering Incest and Its Aftereffects
in Women (Blume, 1990), which patients were encouraged to read. These therapists
typically used suggestion to ―recover‖ lost memories of abuse. As mentioned previously,
hypnotic techniques such as guided imagery, and drugs such as sodium amytal, were
sometimes used to elicit supposedly repressed memories. There was no recognition that
hypnosis and soporific drugs render a patient more open to suggestion. Some studies have
shown that hypnosis does not necessarily help subjects to remember accurately, but that its
use increases the subject‘s belief that what they have ―remembered‖ is accurate (Yapko, p.
56). These therapists often placed their patients into groups for survivors of sexual abuse.
Similar to the dynamics of cult groups, peer pressure and the resulting tendency towards
uniformity of thought can interfere with critical thinking. Therapists would interpret dream
material and physical symptoms, along with recovered memories, as scientific evidence of
traumatic memories of sexual abuse and they would interpret recovered memories as
scientific evidence of abuse (Yapko, 1994). Their stance was, ―All recovered memories are
reality.‖
The patients of trauma therapists, particularly those who were more anxious and
suggestible, often accepted the suggestion of abuse, because it became the simple
causative answer for all their problems and pain. In this way, these patients were similar to
those who were recruited successfully into cults. Simple answers for life‘s difficulties can be
very reassuring. Furthermore, Brenneis, writing in a recent JAPA article, has indicated that
the anxious patient seeks comfort and direction from, and affiliation with, a perceived
expert. Suggestion operates in areas of doubt and uncertainty. The force of {the
therapist‘s} convictions creates for the patient what amounts to a stacked deck: solace and
direction require affiliation, and affiliation in turn requires some measure of agreement or
acceptance of the beliefs of the analyst. (Brenneis, p. 1034)
Brenneis also points out that both the therapist and the patient gain what they are seeking:
The therapist gains confirmation of her/his beliefs and the patient gains ―cognitive clarity
and affiliation with an accepting authority figure‖ (Brenneis, 1035).
Ganaway states that the new belief system becomes the substitute for the symptoms that
had brought the patient to the therapist. While the patient may gain a new identity and
satisfy a desire for affiliation by being a member of the abuse survivor movement, the
therapist has diverted the patient from an understanding of the true, more complex
meaning of the symptoms and their underlying defenses (Ganaway, 1994).
Many of these patients would become increasingly angry over time. This increased anger
may have been generated because these patient were not feeling better emotionally since
real issues were not being addressed and, for some, there was a loss of the support system
of the family. Also, contagion might exist as the patient‘s anger is set off exacerbated by
the anger of the believing therapist and/or group members. Therapists often would join
with the patients against the ―abusers. They would abandon their neutral stance and
encourage patients to take action against the abusers (including lawsuits). This joining with
the patients‘ actions against the abusers, usually the parents, was fed by the
countertransferential reaction to keep the anger away from the therapists (Hedges, L.,
1994). Cutting off the relationship with family members also served to increase the patient‘s
dependency on the therapist.
Hearing about these incidents was disturbing. Psychoanalysts believe that recovered
memories may be reconstructions rather than exact reproductions of past events and
experiences. These memories are continuously influenced by conscious and unconscious
fantasies, beliefs, moods wishes, etc. (Ganaway, 1994). The patients need not be believed
(traumatists were insisting), but needed to be taken seriously (Hedges 1994). Memories
could be seen as metaphors for boundary violation from the past and present (Spence,
to Heal (Bass and Davis, 1988) and Secret Survivors: Uncovering Incest and Its Aftereffects
in Women (Blume, 1990), which patients were encouraged to read. These therapists
typically used suggestion to ―recover‖ lost memories of abuse. As mentioned previously,
hypnotic techniques such as guided imagery, and drugs such as sodium amytal, were
sometimes used to elicit supposedly repressed memories. There was no recognition that
hypnosis and soporific drugs render a patient more open to suggestion. Some studies have
shown that hypnosis does not necessarily help subjects to remember accurately, but that its
use increases the subject‘s belief that what they have ―remembered‖ is accurate (Yapko, p.
56). These therapists often placed their patients into groups for survivors of sexual abuse.
Similar to the dynamics of cult groups, peer pressure and the resulting tendency towards
uniformity of thought can interfere with critical thinking. Therapists would interpret dream
material and physical symptoms, along with recovered memories, as scientific evidence of
traumatic memories of sexual abuse and they would interpret recovered memories as
scientific evidence of abuse (Yapko, 1994). Their stance was, ―All recovered memories are
reality.‖
The patients of trauma therapists, particularly those who were more anxious and
suggestible, often accepted the suggestion of abuse, because it became the simple
causative answer for all their problems and pain. In this way, these patients were similar to
those who were recruited successfully into cults. Simple answers for life‘s difficulties can be
very reassuring. Furthermore, Brenneis, writing in a recent JAPA article, has indicated that
the anxious patient seeks comfort and direction from, and affiliation with, a perceived
expert. Suggestion operates in areas of doubt and uncertainty. The force of {the
therapist‘s} convictions creates for the patient what amounts to a stacked deck: solace and
direction require affiliation, and affiliation in turn requires some measure of agreement or
acceptance of the beliefs of the analyst. (Brenneis, p. 1034)
Brenneis also points out that both the therapist and the patient gain what they are seeking:
The therapist gains confirmation of her/his beliefs and the patient gains ―cognitive clarity
and affiliation with an accepting authority figure‖ (Brenneis, 1035).
Ganaway states that the new belief system becomes the substitute for the symptoms that
had brought the patient to the therapist. While the patient may gain a new identity and
satisfy a desire for affiliation by being a member of the abuse survivor movement, the
therapist has diverted the patient from an understanding of the true, more complex
meaning of the symptoms and their underlying defenses (Ganaway, 1994).
Many of these patients would become increasingly angry over time. This increased anger
may have been generated because these patient were not feeling better emotionally since
real issues were not being addressed and, for some, there was a loss of the support system
of the family. Also, contagion might exist as the patient‘s anger is set off exacerbated by
the anger of the believing therapist and/or group members. Therapists often would join
with the patients against the ―abusers. They would abandon their neutral stance and
encourage patients to take action against the abusers (including lawsuits). This joining with
the patients‘ actions against the abusers, usually the parents, was fed by the
countertransferential reaction to keep the anger away from the therapists (Hedges, L.,
1994). Cutting off the relationship with family members also served to increase the patient‘s
dependency on the therapist.
Hearing about these incidents was disturbing. Psychoanalysts believe that recovered
memories may be reconstructions rather than exact reproductions of past events and
experiences. These memories are continuously influenced by conscious and unconscious
fantasies, beliefs, moods wishes, etc. (Ganaway, 1994). The patients need not be believed
(traumatists were insisting), but needed to be taken seriously (Hedges 1994). Memories
could be seen as metaphors for boundary violation from the past and present (Spence,
