chanism behind childhood amnesia, the fact that children do not develop long term memory until roughly age three.) Otherwise, research finds, even emotional experiences we are sure we will never forget --the Kennedy assassination, the Challenger explosion-- will fade from memory, and errors will creep into the account that remain.(Travis, 1993) Research articles and court testimony confirm the wide spread use of memory enhancement techniques, in the belief that these will help recover accurate "memories". These techniques include hypnosis, sodium amytal, dream interpretation, guided imagery, journaling, body massages, participation in survivor groups and reading of self help books. In the summer of 1993, the American Medical Association passed a resolution warning of the dangers of misapplication in the use of these techniques. In June of 1994 they issued a warning about all recovered memories. Both the AMA and the American Psychiatric Association have stated: ..there is no completely accurate way of determining the validity of reports in the absence of corroborating information.[note 3] The problem with the practices mentioned above is that when they are used they increase the risk of influence and suggestibility. Why would someone remember something so horrible if it really did not happen? This is a haunting question, but there are several possible explanations which might shed light on some of the false memories. A pseudomemory, for example, may be a kind of symbolic expression of troubled family relationships. There may be a cultural climate in our society in which the belief in the relationship between sexual abuse and individual pathology is nurtured. It may be that in such a climate people more readily believe things happened when they didn't. When people enter therapy, they do so to get better. They want to change. People also tend to look for some explanation for why they have a problem. Clients come to trust the person the...
