Table of Contents

Preface - Author Info. & Aims for this Page

The Books

Related Pages at This Site

I am a researcher and therapist with a doctorate (Ph.D.) in clinical psychology. I am a licensed clinical psychologist, and for nearly 20 years I have been a therapist to men and women abused in childhood, providing individual and group treatment. I have studied the characteristics of traumatic memories and the effects of psychological trauma on biological systems involved in emotion regulation. My collaborators include Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, a leader in the psychological trauma field at The Trauma Center and Boston University. I am currently Instructor in Psychology at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, where I focus on PTSD and substance abuse research. The contents of this page reflect my level of experience and expertise, as well as opinions I have formed over the years.

I have published this page to direct people to quality books, on recovered memories in particular and traumatic memories more generally. The books here are appropriate for therapists, students, scientists, lawyers, and anyone interested in these memories. I am not attempting to address the issue of "false" or "implanted" memories, and honestly would not feel comfortable referring people to the books I have read which exclusively focus on that issue. Those tend to present a distorted caricature of most therapists' work and to deny the scientific evidence on recovered memories. However, several of the books on this page provide thoughtful and ethical guidance for clinicians, particularly concerning awareness and management of the risks of suggestion. And one of the books does have contributions by scholars and researchers focused on false and implanted memories.

There are now available many good, and some great books on recovered memories of sexual abuse in particular and traumatic memories in general. Below is a short list of books that I have found very informative and thought-provoking. I am confident that these are worthwhile reading for therapists, students, scientists, lawyers, philosophers and anyone else interested in the many facets and implications of traumatic memory.

Unchained Memories: True Stories of Traumatic Memories, Lost and Found
By Lenore Terr. New York: Basic Books, 1994.
     Psychiatrist Lenore Terr University of California's San Francisco Medical School helped found the field of psychological trauma with her study of children involved in the Chowchilla kidnapping incident. In this book, which is accessible to everyone interested in this topic, she recounts her experiences as a therapist working with people who have experienced amnesia and delayed recall for traumatic memories. Written by a competent and ethical therapist and researcher, this book is a matter of fact response to sweeping generalizations about professionals doing this work.

Trauma and Cognitive Science
Edited by Jennifer J. Freyd & Anne P. DePrince. Binghamton, NY: Haworth Press, 2001.
     This book is based on a ground-breaking 1998 conference hosted by Jennifer Freyd and Chris Brewin, which brought together clinicians, clinical researchers, cognitive scientists and neuroscientists, in an effort to bridge gaps across these disciplines and their respective theoretical frameworks and research methodologies. As indicated by the contents below, this collection of papers addresses a variety of important issues concerning recovered memories of abuse and traumatic memories more generally. (This book contains two papers that I co-authored with Bessel van der Kolk - see links to pdf files below.) For the publisher's information/spin on the book, click here.

You can order the book from Amazon (easy if you've ordered from Amazon before, 1-2 weeks for delivery), or directly from the publisher, The Haworth Press (harder to order, but probably faster delivery):

Phone: 800-429-6784
Email: getinfo@hasworthpressinc.com
Web: http://www.haworthpressinc.com/store/product.asp?sku=2228

• Foreword: Entering the Secret Garden: The Interface of Cognitive Neuroscience and Trauma Research - Terence M. Keane
• The Meeting of Trauma and Cognitive Science: Facing Challenges and Creating Opportunities at the Crossroads - Anne P. DePrince & Jennifer J. Freyd
• Exploring the Nature of Traumatic Memory: Combining Clinical Knowledge with Laboratory Methods - Bessel A. van der Kolk, James W. Hopper, & Janet E. Osterman
• Retrieving, Assessing, and Classifying Traumatic Memories: A Preliminary Report on Three Case Studies of a New Standardized Method - James W. Hopper & Bessel A. van der Kolk
• A Cognitive Analysis of the Role of Suggestibility in Explaining Memories for Abuse - Kathy Pezdek
• The Role of the Self in False Memory Creation - Mark A. Oakes & Ira E. Hyman, Jr.
• Discovering Memories of Abuse in the Light of Meta-Awareness - Jonathan W. Schooler
• Perspectives on Memory for Trauma and Cognitive Processes Associated with Dissociative Tendencies - Jennifer J. Freyd & Anne P. DePrince
• A Biological Model for Delayed Recall of Childhood Abuse - J. Douglas Bremner
• Active Forgetting: Evidence for Functional Inhibition as a Source of Memory Failure - Michael C. Anderson
• Experiential Avoidance and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Cognitive Mediational Model of Rape Recovery - Laura E. Boeschen, Mary P. Koss, Aurelio Jose Figueredo, & James A. Coan
• Autobiographical Memory Disturbances in Childhood Abuse Survivors - Valerie J. Edwards, Robyn Fivush, Robert F. Anda, Vincent J. Felitti, & Dale F. Nordenberg
• A Preliminary Report Comparing Trauma-Focused and Present-Focused Group Therapy Against a Wait-Listed Condition Among Childhood Sexual Abuse Survivors with PTSD - Catherine Classen, Cheryl Koopman, Kirsten Nevill-Manning, & David Spiegel
• Dialogue Between Speakers and Attendees at the 1998 Meeting on Trauma and Cognitive Science: Questions and Answers About Traumatic Memory - Chris R. Brewin & Bernice Andrews
• Finding a Secret Garden in Trauma Research - Jennifer J. Freyd & Anne P. DePrince

Memory, Trauma Treatment and the Law
By Daniel Brown, Alan W. Scheflin, & D. Corydon Hammond. New York: Norton, 1997.
     This book is by far the most comprehensive and acclaimed on this topic. Brown, Scheflin and Hammond's encyclopedic volume is a remarkably thorough treatment of many crucial issues, including memory, suggestibility, therapy, and the law. It is an expensive and massive book, at $100 and over 700 pages, and will be an authoritative work for years to come.

The chapter titles:

1. The False Memory Debate
2. The Contours of the False Memory Debate
3. The Nature of Memory
4. Laboratory Simulation Studies on Memory for Negative Emotional Events
5. Personal Memories
6. Memory for Events of Impact
7. Trauma Memory
8. Misinformation Suggestibility
9. Interrogatory Suggestion and Coercive Persuasion
10. Hypnosis and Memory: Analysis and Critique of Research
11. A Critical Evaluation of Research on Emotion and Memory
12. The False Logic of the False Memory Controversy and the Irrational Element in Scientific Research on Memory
13. Phase-Oriented Trauma Treatment
14. Trauma Treatment and the Standard of Care
15. Suing Therapists
16. Repressed Memory and the Law
17. Distingushing between True and False Memories
18. Hypnosis and the Law

Recovered Memories of Abuse: Assessment, Therapy, Forensics
By Kenneth Pope & Laura Brown. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, 1996.
     This highly acclaimed book is an excellent practical resource for therapists, lawyers, and expert witnesses.

Three examples of the praise this book has received:

"Pope and Brown have presented a careful review of memory science that both appreciates complexity and cautions against overgeneralization. . . . The book presents very pragmatic guidelines for clinicians that serve to improve the standard of care and decrease liability risk. . . . This is a very sane, ethical, and compassionate approach to a very controversial and often irrational debate."
     - Daniel Brown, Ph.D., ABPH, Harvard Medical School

"Essential reading for lawyers and expert witnesses, this landmark book is scientifically grounded, carefully researched, and – thankfully! – of great practical use. The consent forms, deposition and cross-examination questions, outlines for reviewing treatment plans, and scrupulously fair examinations of the major controversies are major contributions. Avoiding the polarizing polemics and limited points of view that mar so much of the work in this area, this is the best book on this topic."
     - Gary Sampley, Esq., Attorney at Law

"This is a book that a clinician, researcher, or trainee cannot afford to miss. . . . Only with this type of comprehensive information can we begin to appreciate the complexities of therapeutic and legal issues surrounding child sexual abuse."
     - Gail Elizabeth Wyatt, Ph.D., Department of Psychiatry, UCLA

Betrayal Trauma: The Logic of Forgetting Childhood Abuse
By Jennifer Freyd. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1996.
     Freyd is a University of Oregon research psychologist. In this acclaimed book she advances her theory of why it is adaptive  for some children not to remember childhood abuse experiences. Freyd focuses on the issue of betrayal, and argues that the need for mental and physical survival, not merely the avoidance of painful feelings, leads children abused by caregivers to block out information about the abuse.

Here are excerpts from the New York Times Book Review:

"Betrayal Trauma  is a thoughtful, judicious and thorough scholarly analysis of a subject that has hitherto generated more heat than light. . .
      Although the mechanisms involved [in memory loss and retrieval] are far from fully understood, Ms. Freyd marshals the psychological, neurological and cognitive-science literature with impressive skill to suggest several plausible possibilities. Her work serves as a salutary reminder that if treated as serious science rather than media hoopla the recovered-memory debate could provide a significant window on mind-brain relationships; anyone interested in the latter will find much stimulating material here. . .
      She has a complex enough case to argue; she argues it fairly and with virtuoso skill, blending vivid anecdote with statistical evidence, first-person accounts with research reports, in a highly literate and engaging style. Partisan passions, alas, are seldom quenched by reason. But unblinkered readers will surely agree that Ms. Freyd's book places recovered memories squarely on the cognitive-science agenda. Her diagnosis of their source may well turn out to be correct."
     - Derek Bickerton, New York Times Book Review

Sexual Abuse Recalled: Treating Trauma in the Era of the Recovered Memory Debate
Edited by Judith Alpert. Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson, 1995.
     This collection of thoughtful and informative essays addresses the range of clinical issues encountered in this work, from therapeutic practice and ethics, to scientific bases and legal concerns. Contributors include Judith Alpert, Bessel van der Kolk, Laura Brown, and Daniel Brown. Richard Kluft, an expert on dissociation and dissociative identity disorder, says this about the book:

"Dr. Alpert and her contributors have produced a foundation resource document for therapists who labor to console and heal patients struggling with issues of trauma. By restraining from indulgence in unseemly polemics. . . they bring thoughtful insight to the study of recollections of sexual traumatization and to the management of such memories in treatment. This is not a gratifying text for the true believer who seeks confirmation of a particular point of view, but it is an excellent text for the honest clinician or scholar willing to grapple with an extremely complex and challenging problem in a candid and circumspect manner. We owe Dr. Alpert and her colleagues a debt of gratitude."

Holocaust Testimonies: The Ruins of Memory
By Lawrence Langer. New Haven, CN: Yale University Press, 1991.
     Boston University scholar Lawrence Langer has spent years studying videotapes from the Holocaust Archive at Yale University. Langer's research has focused on Holocaust survivors' oral testimonies. Based on this work he has formulated a distinction between what he refers to as "common memory" and "deep memory." Langer's insights may shed light on memories of the most extreme forms of child abuse.

Common memory has meaningful continuity with the present for its possessor, and can be linked to the present by a storyline. Common memory can be communicated to a listener who can imagine a relevant past in common with the speaker. It can be communicated to another as a narrative that is, by its nature, comprehensible to its audience. In contrast, deep memory cannot be integrated into a narrative continuous with the present, even by its possessor. Indeed, deep memory ultimately cannot be understood by another person, since a listener has no basis for imagining the past it depicts.

Langer conveys the experience of watching videotapes of oral Holocaust testimonies:

"We wrestle with the beginnings of a permanently unfinished tale, full of incomplete intervals, faced by the spectacle of a faltering witness often reduced to a distressed silence by the overwhelming solicitations of deep memory. Witnesses' chronic frustration and skepticism about the audience's ability to understand their testimony is almost a premise of these encounters. Written texts, on the other hand, are designed to avert this possibility – otherwise, one assumes, they would not be published. Indeed, the initial problem surfacing in these oral testimonies with sufficient regularity to call it a 'theme' is exactly the opposite: whether anything can be meaningfully conveyed" (1991, p.21).

The Recovered Memory/False Memory Debate
Edited by Kathy Pezdek & William Banks. San Diego: Academic Press, 1996.
     This collection of scholarly papers, including a number of research studies, presents work representing a range of opinion. It is a good resource for therapists, lawyers, graduate and college students, and anyone else interested in these issues.

Trauma: Explorations in Memory
Edited by Cathy Caruth. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1995.
     Cathy Caruth of Yale University's English Department edited two 1991 special issues of American Imago, and this book presents the same material. These are historically, culturally and philosophically rich essays on psychological trauma and traumatic memory, from child abuse to Holocaust experiences.

Special Issue: Psychoanalysis, Culture, and Trauma, I. American Imago, 48(1).

Special Issue: Psychoanalysis, Culture, and Trauma, II. American Imago, 48(2).

This page is maintained by Jim Hopper, Ph.D., as are these related pages:

Recovered Memories of Sexual Abuse: Scientific Research & Scholarly Resources

The Validity of Recovered Memory: Decision of a United States District Court

Questioning Claims About the False Memory Syndrome Epidemic

Sexual Abuse of Males: Prevalence, Lasting Effects, and Resources

Factors in the Cycle of Violence - Abused Boys, Gender Socialization, and Violent Men

Trauma and Recovery - Judith Herman's Landmark Book on Child Abuse & Other Traumas