Opinion ID: 1714111
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 10

Heading: recovered memory therapy

Text: ¶ 90. This concurrence is not intended to pass judgment on the legitimacy of recovered memory therapy. However, an understanding of commonly practiced methods of recovered memory therapy is essential to any evaluation of whether Charlotte waived her privilege by voluntarily disclosing any significant part of the privileged matter. Without understanding the salient features of the privileged matter, it would be nearly impossible to determine whether Charlotte disclosed any significant part of the matter or the communications relating to the matter. ¶ 91. Studies reveal that therapists practicing recovered memory therapy use a wide variety of techniques, [4] including hypnosis, age regression, free narrative recall, flashbacks, body memories, and survivors' groups. See Daniel Brown, et al., Memory, Trauma Treatment, and the Law 482-83 (W.W. Norton & Co. 1998) [5] (hereinafter Brown, Memory, Trauma Treatment, and the Law ); Ellen Bass & Laura Davis, The Courage To Heal 73-75 (Harper & Row, 1st ed. 1988) (hereinafter Bass, The Courage to Heal ); Hollida Wakefield & Ralph Underwager, Return of the Furies: An Investigation Into Recovered Memory Therapy 128 (Open Court Publishing 1994) (hereinafter Wakefield, Return of the Furies ); Joanne M. Hall & Lori Kondora, Beyond True and False Memories: Remembering and Recovery in the Survival of Childhood Sexual Abuse, 19:4 Advances in Nursing Science (June 1997) (hereinafter Hall, Beyond True and False Memories ). Clinicians disagree about which techniques are preferable, or even acceptable. Brown, Memory, Trauma Treatment, and the Law at 482-83. However, some observers believe there are certain common patterns running through treatment methods. Wakefield, Return of the Furies at 149. This concurrence relates some of these commonalities in an effort to understand Charlotte's disclosures. ¶ 92. For many patients the first step on the road to recovered memories is entering treatment for problems other than abuse, such as depression, eating disorders, or marital distress. Cathy Spatz Widom & Suzanne Morris, Accuracy of Adult Recollections of Childhood Victimization: Part 2 Childhood Sexual Abuse, 9 Psych. Assessment 34, 42 (Mar. 1997) (hereinafter Widom, Accuracy of Adult Recollections of Childhood Victimization ); Bass, The Courage to Heal at 50, 217-19; Wakefield, Return of the Furies at 149; see generally Harrison G. Pope Jr. & James I. Hudson, Recovered Memory Therapy for Eating Disorders: Implications of the Ramona Verdict, 19:2 Int. J. of Eating Disorders (Mar. 1996) (hereinafter Pope, Recovered Memory Therapy for Eating Disorders ). Some therapists question women exhibiting these symptoms about the possibility that they were abused as children. Id. ¶ 93. A common thread running through most recovered memory treatment methods is the use of hypnosis. Donald A. Eisner, The Death of Psychotherapy 72 (Praeger Publishers 2000); Wakefield, Return of the Furies at 128-130. In one recent survey about recovery of repressed memories of sexual abuse, 97 percent of therapists agreed that [h]ypnosis is a worthwhile psychotherapy tool. Wakefield, Return of the Furies at 133. Almost 90 percent of the respondents had either a master's degree or a Ph.D. [T]he issue is not whether hypnosis is used, but how it is used. Brown, Memory, Trauma Treatment, and the Law at 519. A critical feature of the hypnotic procedure is a flashback, or the reliving of a traumatic experience, or an aspect of trauma, as if it were happening now. Wakefield, Return of the Furies at 137-42. ¶ 94. Recovered memory practitioners concede that hypnotized patients are especially vulnerable to suggestive influence from their doctors, and therefore therapists should not `push' their clients to recall [child abuse.] John G. Watkins, Dealing With the Problem of False Memory in Clinic and Court, Fall 1993 J. Psych. & Law 297, 301 (hereinafter Watkins, Dealing With the Problem of False Memory ). However, memories of abuse usually emerge only after much resistance . . . . Id. at 303. A patient recalling abuse may exhibit physical manifestations of terror, including sweating through and physically reliving the abuse. Id. at 308. ¶ 95. During these physical manifestations, patients may experience body memories to gain information about hypothesized abuse that is not remembered. Wakefield, Return of the Furies at 145; see also Hall, Beyond True and False Memories. In essence, the patient's physical symptoms correspond to the childhood abuse even without conscious memories. Id. ¶ 96. Some therapists believe that once patients recover memories of abuse, they can get well only if they `confront the abuser.' Watkins, Dealing With the Problem of False Memory at 301. However, there is dispute over whether this technique is effective. Id.; see also Brown, Memory, Trauma Treatment, and the Law at 36, 167. ¶ 97. As therapy continues, patients are often asked to make journal entries, keep a diary, or create artwork in an effort to recover more memories. Brown, Memory, Trauma Treatment, and the Law at 414-16; Christine Courtois, Recollections of Sexual Abuse: Treatment Principles and Guidelines 36-37 (W.W. Norton & Co. 1999); Wakefield, Return of the Furies at 145-46; Bass, The Courage to Heal at 83. In a related tactic, patients are asked to read books relating to remembered childhood abuse such as The Courage to Heal. [6] ¶ 98. Another common technique is to advise the patient to cut off all ties with her family and join a survivors' group which becomes the patient's new family. Wakefield, Return of the Furies at 143-44. As The Courage to Heal puts it, It is painful to make a break with your family, but it is even more painful to keep waiting for a miracle. Bass, The Courage to Heal at 305. The book also notes that some women have changed their names, casting off any identification with the abuser. Id. at 306. ¶ 99. As one of the final steps in the cleansing process, recovered memory therapists and survivors' groups often recommend filing civil lawsuits against the accused abuser. [7] One recent study reported that 1 of every 16 accused parents has a lawsuit filed against him or her, and [m]any others have been threatened. Wakefield, Return of the Furies at 146. Practitioners believe that civil litigation fulfills a double purpose by ensuring that the abuser is held liable for the abuse and providing therapeutic closure for the victim. Id. at 147. ¶ 100. Having outlined some of the broad characteristics of the admittedly diverse therapy at issue, I turn to the discussion of waiver.