QUESTIONING MEMORIES: ADDITIONAL READING

There are many books that people who began to question their memories of abuse have told us were helpful. Over the years, however, the six books listed below are the ones most often mentioned.

Myth of Repressed Memory: False Memories and Allegations of Sexual Abuse
Elizabeth Loftus and Katherine Ketcham
St. Martin’s Press (1994)

World-renowned expert in memory distortion, Elizabeth Loftus with collaborator Katherine Ketcham sought to bring public attention to the risky therapy practices that are based on the folklore of repression. The authors show that there is no basis for the assumptions that we banish traumatic memories from consciousness, that there are special techniques that can recover these memories, and they represent historical truth. They also show the terrible damage to patients and their families that can happen when these assumptions and techniques are used.

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My Lie: A True Story of False Memory
Meredith Maran
Josey-Bass (2010)

Meredith Maran is a journalist, mother and daughter who accused her father during the height of the recovered memory phenomenon during the 1980s and 1990s. Because of that, her two sons grew up without a grandfather. Maran explains how her abuse beliefs began to fall apart and tells her story within a psychological, cultural and neuroscientific context.

There is an interesting 2010 interview of Maran posted on Salon at www.salon.com

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Remembering Trauma
Richard J. McNally
Harvard University Press (2003)

Harvard psychologist Richard McNally, a clinician and laboratory researcher, addresses the scientific evidence to answer the questions of whether horrible experiences are forever fixed in the memory of a victim. He makes it clear that failing to think about a trauma such as early sexual abuse should not be confused with amnesia or the inability to remember.

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Victims of Memory: Sex Abuse Accusations and Shattered Lives
Mark Pendergrast
Upper Access Books (1996)

Victims of Memory is a comprehensive overview of the recovered-memory controversy. It contains numerous transcriptions of interviews so that readers can come to their own decisions. Pendergrast provides historical context that lead readers to consider the factors that underlie the recovered-memory of the 1990s and 1980s.

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Second Thoughts: Understanding the False Memory Crisis and How It Could Affect You
Paul Simpson
Thomas Nelson (1996)

Paul Simpson is a Christian therapist who formally helped his patients recover memories. After reading the scientific research in the area of memory and memory recovery techniques, he came to realize that therapists could lead patients to have false memories. This book is particularly appropriate for those from a Christian perspective.

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Suggestions of Abuse: True and False Memories of Childhood Sexual Trauma
Michael Yapko
Simon & Schuster (1994)

An expert in the use of hypnosis, Michael Yapko shows that a large percent of professionals are frighteningly misinformed about that technique when it comes to memory. Memories recovered with the use of hypnosis are not reliable. He believes that many therapists are responsible for patients coming to believe in things that may never have happened.

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Last Updated: March 25, 2014