FALSE MEMORY SYNDROME FOUNDATION NEWSLETTER

SUMMER 2009 Vol. 18 No. 3

Dear Friends, The final “nail in the coffin” that the story behind Sybil Do you know what a “Sybil attack” is? We didn’t until was other than a hoax has been hammered by Mikkel we saw a reference in a recent Nature article. [1] “Security Borch-Jacobsen in his new book Making Minds and experts call the creation of a network of impostors a Sybil Madness: From Hysteria to Depression. (See p. 3) In chap- attack.” For example, if a single person opens multiple com- ter three, the author presents irrefutable documentation that puter accounts and has all of them recommend the same the MPD movement was based on a myth. article, that article could receive an unfairly high rating. When the book Sybil was published, all of the papers, This is a delightful notion of “multiple personalities,” with transcripts, and recordings were sealed. No one was able to a base in reality, unlike the story of the fictional Sybil. confirm or contradict the claims of Dr. Wilbur who treated In a metaphoric sense, Sybil has been attacking the Sybil or Flora Schreiber who wrote the book. Over the years credibility of psychiatry since its publication in 1973. To its doubts about the truth of the story have been leaking out. In shame, the American Psychiatric Association uncritically 1997, Herbert Spiegel, MD, who also treated Sybil, said he accepted the phenomenal increase in the diagnosis and the did not think that she had MPD. In 1998 Robert Rieber dis- phenomenal claims that went with multiple personality dis- closed that he had tapes documenting Wilbur’s highly sug- order (MPD). To its shame, the American Psychiatric gestive therapy sessions with Sybil. Association did nothing to rein in the enthusiasms of the With a determined investigation, Borch-Jacobsen was group of psychiatrists, mostly affiliated with the able to identify the real person on whom Sybil was based, International Society for the Study of Multiple Personality Shirley Ardell Mason. Knowing that, he was then able to Disorder and Dissociation,[2] who became carried away with collect the testimony of people who had known her and to ever more bizarre beliefs and claims, such as writing that gather her correspondence, writings and photographs. At they had patients with 4,000 personalities. [3] To its shame, that point, there was so much media coverage that one of the the American Psychiatric Association did nothing to help colleges holding the archives lifted restrictions and granted the courts dispose of the MPD junk-science cases. access to Borch-Jacobsen. What will the American Psychiatric Association do Sybil is, without doubt, a fascinating story. But its fasci- about multiple personality disorder (or the same concepts nation is due to the insights it provides about our society and and beliefs encompassed in the new name of dissociative our beliefs about the mind and mental illness. It is a com- identity disorder (DID) in the upcoming revision of the pelling story, not a factual account. Tremendous harm was Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM)? At least one done to patients and their families by psychiatrists and other group of psychiatrists has signed a letter asking the editors therapists who succumbed to the allure of Sybil and who of the DSM to reconsider the inclusion of DID. There is then unwittingly treated their patients based on a hoax. nothing left to hide behind. Sybil was a fraud. The branch of Unfortunately, although it has greatly diminished, there are psychiatry inspired by Sybil is without factual foundation; it is cut from the proverbial “whole cloth.” In this issue... “If M.P.D. was supposed to rescue insight therapy, it Waugh ...... 5 did the opposite: it covered insight therapy with shame.” Frank Kane ...... 10 Robert Chatelle...... 12 Joan Accocela From Our Readers ...... 13 New Yorker (April 6, 1998, p. 78b) Bulletin Board ...... 15

1955 Locust Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103-5766, 215-940-1040, Fax 215-940-1042, www.FMSFonline.org still pockets in which belief in multiple personalities is alive and not have to think about the fact that sometimes things and there are still many families trying to cope with the go wrong in the justice system. As Robert Chatelle reminds aftermath. us: During the same years that multiple personalities have “Democracy requires more than voting — and far too few flourished, great harm has also been done to untold numbers Americans even do that. Democracy requires that citizens of people caught up in the day-care and child sexual abuse inform themselves, work for needed reforms, and hold their panic that ignited by the publicity of the McMartin case in government accountable for its actions.” the mid 1980s. We are delighted to report that in The truly good news is that the FMSF office is hearing Massachusetts, Bernard Baran who was a 19-year-old day- from fewer new families. Telephone calls, letters, and even care assistant when he was convicted of child abuse, is now emails have all diminished. The FMSF volunteer contacts completely free. (See p. 10). His original conviction was across the country have reported fewer and fewer calls. overturned a few years ago and since then he has been liv- Some have not had any calls in several years. There is plen- ing under the cloud of another trial. In May, the district ty of scientific information readily available to support attorney in the case stated that he will not retry Baran. Baran attorneys who become involved in the few legal cases that is free due to the help of a great many people, but the per- proceed. son who led the effort was Bostonian Robert Chatelle.[4] On This is not to say that the problem of recovered memo- page 12, Chatelle writes about his thoughts on trying to help ries has disappeared. It may not totally disappear in our life wrongfully convicted people: time. But the changes, changes we have been hoping for “Should it really take citizens over ten years and over half years would happen, indicate that it is time for the FMSF to a million dollars to right a grievous wrong committed by their consider its future role. The structures and systems that own government?” were set up to help families are less needed. The effort to Once a person is convicted in our justice system, it takes work for freeing those wrongfully accused is greatly need- almost super-human effort to show that it was a wrongful ed as is the need to work for reforms. conviction. In the American justice system if a person is Have a wonderful summer. guilty, there are many legal safeguards. However, the sys- tem has almost no procedures to help those wrongfully con- Pamela 1. Laursen, L. (2009, April 30). Fake Facebook pages spin web of victed. No one knows that better than James Toward who deceit. Nature Vol 458, #7242, p. 1089. has been in prison since 1986 in the Glendale, Florida 2. The organization changed its name in 1994 to International Society Montessori day care case. On page 7 there is a letter from a for the Study of Dissociation. parent whose children attended the school. She gives an 3. See, for example, Kluft, R. (1988). The phenomenology and treat- insightful perspective of the climate of hysteria that sur- ment of extremely complex multiple personality disorder. Dissociation, 1(4), p.52. rounded day care sexual abuse cases at the time. Although 4. Robert Chatelle founded the National Center for Reason and Justice James was up for parole in 1999, legislation passed in 1998 organization. See website www.ncrj.org allows him to be kept in civil confinement indefinitely. c Bruce Perkins is another person whose efforts to have his conviction reexamined have faced wall after wall. Try to Remember: Psychiatry’s Clash Similar to Gerald Amirault and others caught in the system, Over Meaning, Memory, and Mind his very refusal to confess is interpreted as a lack of Paul McHugh, M.D., Washington, DC: Dana Press remorse. Perkins who has been in prison in Texas since (Excerpts from Wall Street Journal Book Review) 1993, was found guilty of the impossible in the heat of “One of the most extraordinary outbreaks of popular panic. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if all the people wrongful- delusion in recent years was that which attached to the ly convicted were now free? We could go on with our lives possibility of ‘recovered memory’ of sexual and satanic childhood abuse, and to an illness it supposedly caused, Multiple Personality Disorder. No medieval peasant pray- Making Minds and Madness: ing to a household god for the recovery of his pig could From Hysteria to Depression have been more credulous than scores of psychiatrists, hosts of therapists and thousands of willing victims. The by Mikkel Borch-Jacobsen whole episode would have been funny had it not been so See Chapter 3 “A Black Box Named Sybil” tragic.” Cambridge University Theodore Dalrymple. (2008, November 19). Destructive delusions. Wall Street Press 2009 Journal. Retrieved on November 20, 2008 from http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122714489697843157html.

2 FMS Foundation Newsletter SUMMER 2009 Vol. 18 No. 3 Sybil: The Myth different languages. The movie con- known about the subject of such an Making Minds and Madness: From tract was signed before book was even influential book? That is because the Hysteria to Depression published. identity of the real person on whom the Mikkel Borch-Jacobsen Consider the growth in the number book was based was kept secret. Cambridge University Press 2009 of multiple personality disorder diag- Although Schreiber claimed that her Making Minds and Madness is a noses. book was the result of careful research [1] and original documents such as analy- fascinating book. It examines psy- 1944-There had been 76 cases over choanalysis and biomedical psychiatry the past 128 years. sis notes, tape recordings from the and argues that some mental illnesses therapy sessions, diaries, letters, fami- 1957-Three Faces of Eve appearedÐ are cultural and historical artifacts that ly archives, and medical files, no one book and film. are “co-produced” by therapists and was able to corroborate her conclu- patients. For example melancholy, 1973-Sybil book appeared. sions. Schreiber said that Sybil was a vapors, grande hysteria, neurasthenia, 1976-Sybil movie appeared. true story and not a novel. Yet, she and and shell shock are all diagnoses that Dr. Wilbur saw to it that all of the 1980-George Greaves reported 37 records were sealed. No one had became popular and then virtually dis- cases since 1971. appeared. access. For FMSF Newsletter readers, the 1980-Eugene Bliss said he had per- The true history of Sybil, however, chapter called “A Black Box Named sonally seen 14 cases. has been leaking out ever since psychi- ‘Sybil’” is sufficient reason to purchase 1982-Myron Boor Ð 79 cases. atrist Herbert Spiegel, who also treated the book. It is dynamite! Borch- 1982-Richard Kluft Ð 130 cases of her, first spoke in 1997 to say that he Jacobsen considers multiple personali- which he had treated 70. did not consider her to have suffered ty disorder to be a diagnosis that is a from multiple personality disorder. 1984-There were 1,000 cases. cultural artifact. In this chapter, he pro- Spiegel made this comment in an inter- vides the documentary evidence to lay 1989-There were 4,000 cases. view written by Borch-Jacobsen and bare the fact that the multiple personal- 1991-Colin Ross said MPD affects published in the New York Review of ity industry that exploded after the 1% of population. (The population in Books. [2] This was followed in 1998 by publication of Sybil was based on noth- 1990 was 248,709,873 million. One Robert Rieber’s disclosure of tape ing more than a myth. percent would be 248,710 people with recordings of analysis sessions It is important to note that Borch- multiple personality.) between Sybil and her psychiatrist Jacobsen does not approach the subject Borch-Jacobsen writes: “from the Cornelia Wilbur that were in his pos- of transient mental illnesses by asking beginning of the 1990s onwards, ‘mul- session. [3] “A Black Box Named if they are “real” or not. He observes tiples’ were everywhere Ð in therapy, in ‘Sybil,’” the result of extensive that in the legal arena it is fair to ask psychiatric hospitals, on television, research and access to the diaries and whether an illness is real, but for the and in the courts.” (p.65) notes of both Wilbur and Sybil, com- rest of the population it is more infor- Not only does it seem obvious pletes the disclosure. mative to ask how it is made, out of from the huge increase in cases after How did Borch-Jacobsen get what elements, how it works, and what the publication of Sybil that it was access to all the records? Wilbur, who purpose it serves. The author writes uniquely influential, but we also have died in 1992, stated in her will that the that we often do not know the causes or comments from the psychiatrists who section of her personal archives that origins of the diagnoses that appear pioneered the diagnosis. Borch- pertained to Sybil should remain confi- and then disappear. He argues that Jacobsen quotes Frank Putnam, M.D.: dential for seven years after the death of the person known as Sybil. But multiple personality affords an oppor- [The book] “The Three Faces of tunity to study a transient mental ill- Eve, while well known, gives a mis- unless one knew the identity of the real ness. leading picture of MPD and ironically Sybil, that basically kept the archives For multiple personality disorder, may have helped to obscure the clini- closed forever. Schreiber’s records he observes, we can see clearly the cal features of the disorder. The book about Sybil were also placed in a con- influence of the book by Flora Rheta Sybil, with its graphic treatment of the fidential collection at John Jay College Schreiber, Sybil: The True and amnesias, fugue episodes, child abuse, in New York. Extraordinary Story of a Woman and conflicts among alters, served as a The first step for Borch-Jacobson Possessed by Sixteen Separate template against which other patients was to determine the identity of the could be compared and understood.” Personalities. The book was an instant real Sybil. He and his colleague Peter (p. 72) Swales managed to do that by careful best seller with 11 million copies in 17 How could it be that so little was

FMS Foundation Newsletter SUMMER 2009 Vol. 18 No. 3 3 examination of the non-confidential She was referred to Dr. Cornelia February 10, 1956: “[Wilbur] Came part of Schreiber’s files. In 1998, they Wilbur with whom she seemed daz- three times. Gave pentothal and identified Shirley Ardell Mason. zled. Wilbur saw Shirley six times in shock. Borch-Jacobsen related that after that it Nebraska in 1945. Sustained release spansuals [sic] of was “easy to collect the testimony of Wilbur moved to New York, and phenobarbitol. Began to menstruate.” relatives and friends who had known Shirley finished school and became a February 16, 1956: “[Wilbur] Gave her,” and to gather the things she had teacher. In 1954, however, Shirley equinol and dexamyl. Should be all left behind such as correspondence, moved to New York in order to get a right in 30 minutes or so.” writings, art work and photographs. At master’s degree in art at Columbia Borch-Jacobsen observes that that point, because of the extensive University. She seemed to be doing Shirley’s health deteriorated; she accu- media coverage of the discovery of the fine with her life in New York. Shirley mulated addictions, self-medicated real Sybil, John Jay College decided to soon discovered that Wilbur taught at wildly, mixed medications and regular- de-restrict the archives and grant Columbia and she went to Wilbur’s ly took more than the prescribed dose. access to the documents about Sybil, in office to say hello. By the end of 1954, He writes: “It was during this long spite of the opposition of Schreiber’s Shirley began analysis with Wilbur. By ‘trip’ under medication that most of estate. 1959, Shirley was unemployed, Shirley Mason’s personalities We cannot begin to cite all of the depressed and constantly sedated. appeared and that she remembered the discrepancies between the original What is known of the period 1955 to gruesome abuses to which she had records and the book that are docu- 1959 comes from a diary that Shirley been subjected… Shirley's traumas mented by Borch-Jacobsen. Publishers kept of her analytic sessions. were also, in large part, hallucinated in have withdrawn books with fewer fab- Borch-Jacobsen observes: “before a drug-induced state.” [4] rications. Borch-Jacobsen notes that Shirley started her analysis with Wilbur and Shirley were both the Mason’s family was not at all as Wilbur in New York, no one had ever familiar with the work of Morton described by Schreiber. They were not noted the slightest shift in personality Ð Prince. In fact, in 1955, Shirley asked fanatical about religion, her parents neither her family, nor her playmates, Wilbur if she could so some research read a lot, and her father took her to nor her schoolmates, nor her doctors, on multiple personalities. Wilbur was movies. Shirley’s mother did not pre- nor even Shirley herself.” (p. 80) The familiar with the 1954 paper by vent her from playing with other chil- multiple personalities were only evi- Thigpen and Cleckley that later dren. People who knew Shirley deny denced in therapy. Only Wilbur, became the book The Three Faces of that she was ever malnourished. They Schreiber and one other patient of Eve. According to Shirley’s analytic also deny that her mother was schizo- Wilbur’s ever saw them. Shirley’s per- diary, Wilbur asked her in December phrenic. No one in Dodge Center ever sonalities clearly seem an artifact of 1955 if she would collaborate with her noticed any change in Shirley’s per- her therapy. on a book about her case. sonality. She was a normal child. Her Following are some notes from One aspect of Shirley’s back- teacher said that it was nonsense in the Shirley’s analytic diary written at a ground that differs from most current book that Shirley ever forgot her mul- time when Wilbur was going to multiple personalities is that her moth- tiplication tables. Even the episode of Shirley’s apartment to treat her: er, not her father, supposedly abused the accidental death of her playmate January 27, 1956: “She came at 4 Shirley. Shirley’s “memories” of was fictional. There was a boy who o’clock. Pentothal . . . maternal abuse came at the time when died in that way but Shirley was 17 “schizophrenogenic mothers” were when it happened. The hospitalization Treatment electric first, must have been shock. Saturday – pentothal” considered to be responsible for the for malnutrition when Shirley suppos- problems of their children. Wilbur edly had her first dissociation experi- February 5, 1956: “Asked for pen- tothal instead of electric treatment.” actually made Shirley’s mother a ence had actually been a hospitaliza- schizophrenic Ð a diagnosis that could tion for tonsillitis. February 9, 1956: “Barbiturate, never be corroborated. In 1965, Shirley’s psychological problems intravenous, also pentothal. Very nau- Schreiber wrote to Wilbur: began at the end of high school. She seated. “What do we say, by way of selling suffered anxiety attacks when she Same arm, very dizzy, couldn’t the idea, that establishes uniqueness, moved away to study to become an art walk to bathroom alone. Willie carried that makes a publisher feel that this is teacher. She was diagnosed at the me. sufficiently different from Eve to jus- Mayo Clinic with hysterical neurosis [Wilbur] Came two or three times a tify his interest?. . . One [factor] I can and given drugs, but she got worse. day. Talked about mother.” think of, of course, is the linkage with

4 FMS Foundation Newsletter SUMMER 2009 Vol. 18 No. 3 the battered child syndrome.” Bernheim effect; 6. Simulating the uncon- behind that book. ACC is a wide-rang- Schreiber and Wilbur played loose scious; Part III. The Freudian Century: 7. Is ing, no-fault form of insurance, cover- with the facts in order to make a com- psychoanalysis a fairy-tale?; 8. Interprefactions: Freud’s legendary science (in ing the entire population, which pro- pelling story. collaboration with Sonu Shamdasani); 9. vides rehabilitation and compensation Even the end of the book is a lie. Portrait of the psychoanalyst as a chameleon; after accidents at work, on the roads, in The “end of analysis” and the therapy Part IV. Market Psychiatry: 10. Science of sports, by medical misadventure, and relationship was nothing like the madness, madness of science; 11. The great at home. It began with new legislation depression; 12. Psychotherapy today; 13. happy ending presented in the book. Therapy users and disease mongers. in April 1974. Funds are provided for it What actually happened is that Wilbur 2. Borch-Jacobsen, M. (1997, April 24). New by individual and business levies and moved to Weston, West Virginia. York Review of Books, 60-64. by general and specific taxation. For Shirley soon followed and obtained a 3. Rieber, R. W. (1999). Hypnosis, false mem- example, our annual Vehicle job as an occupational therapist in a ory, and multiple personality: A trinity of Registration Fee includes a component psychiatric hospital a few hours down affinity. History of Psychiatry, X, 3-11. which directly funds ACC’s Motor the road from Weston. 4. See, for example: Fragments by Binjamin Vehicle Account. ACC has a website According to Borch-Jacobsen, Wilkomirski; Angel at the Fence by Herman Rosenblat; Love and Consequences by at: http://www.acc.co.nz/index.htm. Shirley spent all her weekends and Margaret Jones; and Misha: A Memoir of of ACC has a department called the vacations with her ex-analyst. In 1973, Holocaust Years by Misha Defonseca. Sensitive Claims Unit which deals after the publication of Sybil, Shirley c mainly with claims for mental injury retired and she supported herself with Update From New Zealand caused by sexual abuse. It publishes the royalties. She moved a few blocks Gordon Waugh statistics annually that cover the previ- away from Wilbur and the two contin- ous ten years. Prior to 1988, ACC did ued to spend much time together until Kim McGregor, Ph.D, the director not pay compensation on such cases. separated by death. of the Rape Crisis organization in At that time, New Zealand had only a Borch-Jacobsen writes: Auckland, continues to tell us that one handful of counselors working with in three girls and one in six boys will sex abuse victims. “MPD lasted as long as the consen- be raped or otherwise sexually abused sus of psychiatrists, hypnotic practice, the concept of repression, insurance by the age of 16. She even teaches this “There is no single set of symp- companies, judges, the campaigns for to children in some of our high toms which automatically indicates the prevention of child abuse, the fem- schools. When applied to our actual that a person was a victim of child- inist movement, the media, and x population, that dubious claim implies hood abuse. There have been media number of other elements conjoined that hundreds of thousands of our chil- reports of therapists who state that to make it last, to support its existence dren have been sexually abused and people (particularly women) with a in the manner of a ‘continued cre- that hundreds of thousands of ordinary particular set of problems or symp- ation.’” (p. 70) citizens are sexual abusers. toms must have been victims of Sybil is, without doubt, a fascinat- Exaggerating statistics is not a good childhood sexual abuse. There is no ing story. But it’s fascination is due to way to address the all-too-real problem scientific evidence that supports this the insights it provides about our soci- of abuse. conclusion.” ety and our beliefs about the mind and Related to those broad claims is a American Psychological Association mental illness. It is a compelling story, recent publication of guidelines for sex Questions and Answers about Memories of not a factual account. The revelations abuse counselors written by a Massey Childhood Abuse, 1995. in Making Minds and Madness should University psychology team. The pub- “Psychologists recognize that hasten the ultimate demise of the diag- lication states that they found over 700 there is no constellation of symptoms nosis of multiple personality. indicators of sexual abuse. [1]. Didn’t which is diagnostic of child sexual We strongly recommend Making they see the absurdity of that number? abuse.” Minds and Madness: From Hysteria to It’s as though the team had never read Canadian Psychological Association, Position Depression. the many statements from professional Statement on Adult Recovered Memories of Childhood Sexual Abuse, 1996. 1. An overview of the chapters: Introduction: organizations about the danger of Making psychiatric history (questions of using “symptoms” to determine sexual “Previous sexual abuse in the method); Part I. Microhistories of Trauma: 1. abuse. And so the battle continues. absence of memories of these events How to predict the past: from trauma to cannot be diagnosed through a repression; 2. Neurotica: Freud and the seduc- I understand that the New Zealand tion theory; 3. A black box named ‘Sybil’; Part Accident Compensation Corporation checklist of symptoms.” Royal College of Psychiatrists, Reported II. Fragments of a Theory of Generalized (ACC) commissioned the “research” Artifact: 4. What made Albert run?; 5. The Recovered Memories of Sexual Abuse, 1997.

FMS Foundation Newsletter SUMMER 2009 Vol. 18 No. 3 5 Legislation was changed and in 4,000 people make ACC claims for Chief of Staff I. Lewis “Scooter” the year 1988, ACC paid compensa- mental injury allegedly caused by sex- Libby said that he did not remember tion on just 221 such cases. By the ual abuse. Almost all make single mentioning the name of a CIA agent to early 1990s, and coincident with the claims, while a very small number other government officials and spread of “recovered memory therapy” claim for multiple alleged events. reporters.[1] The jury didn’t believe that and related belief systems, ACC began In the 2008 financial year, ACC someone would forget such important receiving tens of thousands of sexual paid out NZ $47 million that was information and found him guilty of abuse claims. For a good part of that shared by counselors, 4,000 new obstruction of justice, making false decade, new claims averaged about claimants, and more than 18,000 on- statements, and perjury. 11,000 per year. Many of these— going claimants whose treatment Kassam and colleagues note that impossible to know for certain—were extends between one and ten (or more) although Libby’s conversations were based on recovered memory therapy. years. important, they were much less impor- From just a handful of counselors, To diagnose and treat those tant at the time he had them. They there were suddenly thousands. In the claimants, ACC maintains a list of became more important after the 1990s ACC had some 1,000 “approved approximately 1,400 “approved coun- Justice Department investigation. counselors” doing sexual abuse /men- selors” to do such work. The majority The authors said that research has tal injury work on its behalf. of ACC counselors are not registered shown that people are motivated to Compensation of $10,000 per under the New Zealand Health remember important information. The alleged abuse event was virtually auto- Practitioners Competence Assurance question the researchers sought to matic. Claimants were not (and are Act 2003. explore was whether people take the still not) required to provide proof that The activity of “counselor” is not timing of the motivation to remember abuse actually occurred, proof that any registered partly because amateur into account when they judge other mental injury was caused by that counseling organizations have much people’s memories. abuse, identify the alleged assailant, or difficulty trying to specify why a coun- One hundred thirty people were report the alleged assault to the police. selor is the same as, better than, or shown photographs and asked to learn ACC uncritically accepts the word of worse than a registered psychologist or facts about them. Some were given the claimant and the counselor. a registered psychotherapist, and in special motivation to remember infor- During the early 1990s the costs describing how and why counseling mation about the photos and others became enormous, amounting to hun- differs from those activities. I am con- were not. Some were given motivation dreds of millions of taxpayer dollars. tinuing to pursue this matter. before learning and others after learn- The (then) national government finally 1. See: http://www.acc.co.nz/publications/ ing. The judges saw the same pictures realized what was going on and index.htm?ssUserText=sexual+abuse+and+me as the subjects and were asked to pre- amended the legislation to stop the vir- ntal+injury. ACC4451 Sexual abuse and dict the percentage of motivated mem- tually automatic compensation. mental injury practice guidelines for Aotearoa orizers who would remember the facts. NZ PDF 2. Excerpt from Page 100 “To identi- Predictably, the number of new claims fy effects of sexual abuse, the international lit- The results showed that the people fell. The new level was typically about erature and traditional diagnostic systems were motivated before the learning remem- 4,000 a year. In 1999 there was anoth- thoroughly searched and researchers and prac- bered more. People motivated after the er change of government and that titioners across New Zealand consulted. This learning didn’t remember any more led to a large number of effects (initially more resulted in a revision of ACC legisla- than 700) being identified and reviewed. than those who were not motivated. tion. Lump sum compensation exceed- The judges expected the motivated 3. For details of the stats see: ing $100,000 is now available. http://www.acc.co.nz/about-acc/statistics/acc- memorizers to remember more In 2008, ACC published a new set injury-statistics-2008/index.h whether they were given the motiva- of statistics showing the annual aver- Gordon Waugh can be contacted by e- tion before or after the learning. age number of new sex abuse claims mail to [email protected] “Participants who were asked to for the decade 1998 to 2008 was a c judge another individual’s memory did mere 184. [2] That low number really not distinguish between information got my attention and I sought clarifica- Motivation to Remember that was important when the individual tion from ACC. Kassam, K.S., Gilbert, D.T., Swencionis, encountered it and information that J.K., Wilson, T.D. (2009). Misconceptions They admitted the published data became important only later. Clearly, of memory: The Scooter Libby effect. showing an annual average of 184 new people’s theories about the effects of Psychological Science, 20(5), 551-552. claims was wrong. The answers they motivation on memory are imperfect.” provided indicate that each year about In his 2007 trial, Vice-Presidential The U.S. District Court did not

6 FMS Foundation Newsletter SUMMER 2009 Vol. 18 No. 3 allow Libby to have a psychologist tes- We have written previously about James remember it,” I recall the feeling of tify about the foibles of memory and Toward who has been in prison since 1989 shame, immediately, that I’d subjected metamemory because the court said for allegedly abusing children at the them to this. I had sat in on most of the that the jurors already knew such Glendale Montessori School in Stuart, sessions with Dr. Tesson, and concur information. Florida. After reading several of the child that there was simply nothing to interview transcripts, we have no doubt The authors comment that uncover. I was reading the same books, that James is a victim of a miscarriage of although “people do encounter frailties justice, of the hysteria that spread in the knew all about what was going on of memory as a matter of course,” that wake of the McMartin case. In the past two across the country, and found myself in doesn’t mean that they understand the years, an effort has started to have James a state of suspended disbelief much of nature of the frailties. They observe released. The following letter was written the time. I think Dr. Tesson was a vic- that people can sometimes expect oth- to James and we think that it provides a tim of his own belief system, just as ers to “remember more than they pos- sensitive insight into the thoughts and feel- caught up in the furor as the rest. sibly can.” ings of parents when the case exploded. I belonged to a “support” group of Printed with permission. 1. United States v. Libby, 461 F. Supp. 2d12 Glendale parents who were pretty (D.D.C. 2006.) Letter to James Toward From A much in the same boat as myself—torn c Glendale Montessori Parent between disbelief and dubious convic- Retrieved on April 14, 2009 from tion—mostly convinced that the http://freejamestoward.com/2009/04/13/fr behaviors of their own children could “I am not a cognitive neuro-sci- om-a-glendale-montessori-parent/ be attributed only to the reported entist but I recently met one at a James … I wish you good luck in events at the school. party. He told me rather a lot about your hearing, apparently slated for It was the worst of times. The memory. I’ve forgotten most of it, of later this month (April 2009). I think rumor and innuendo that circulated course, but I do recall him telling me what you have written on the website was insane. Gossip and speculation that memory comes in long-term and should be read by all whose lives were presented as truth—I know this short-term varieties and that neither impacted by the alleged events at because I frequently took it upon is much cop*. The short-term memo- Glendale, back in the Eighties. I myself to go to the root of “he said/she ry’s feeble; the long-term memory’s remember only too well the panic of saids” to try to get at the truth for fictional.” the times, and the way in which so myself. Many of us behaved as if we “Apparently the short-term many of us (parents) were caught up in were completely mad. We withdrew memory, even when in mid-season the horror of it all. our children from Camp High Rocks in form, can only hang on to about half It was impossible to know whether the Carolinas because it was represent- a dozen separate bits of stuff.” what we were hearing was real, or not. ed that “the Cult” was reprogramming “The long-term memory is a lot My personal experience consisted of a our children while they were there! I more capacious but a lot less honest. phone call from another parent, beg- know of two parents who actually It works like a Marxist historian. It ging me to get my three children “eval- went out under cover of darkness to revises the past.” uated by a therapist” as soon as possi- keep watch on one of Dr. Tesson’s “Every time you tell a story, the ble because “it looks as though every patient’s home because she was so memory erases what actually hap- child at Glendale has probably been convinced that members of a Satanic pened and replaces it with your latest involved, in some way, in what went Cult were visiting her on nights of the version of what happened. on there!” And, this was a parent who full moon! One of them actually Eventually, there’s none of the origi- was a supporter, in the beginning! “bugged” a local nursery school hop- nal program left and the truth and Despite conflicting thoughts, I felt, ing to catch the teachers in the act of your story have had a divorce.” naively, that there was nothing to be molesting children. One family was so Bennett, J. (2008, September 10). That’s lost by taking the children to the thera- persecuted that it became “common how I remember it. The Dominion Post. pists, Jean Ralicki initially, then Dr. knowledge” that they held Satanic rit- Retrieved on 9/11/08 from http://www.stuff.co.nz/the- Tesson. It became clear, thankfully all uals at their home, and were probably press/opinion/columnists/joe-ben- too soon, that my children were more at the root of “everything”! One parent nett/620990/Thats-how-I-remember-it intimidated by the therapy itself, one dug up the grounds at the school, look- * According to Gordon Waugh who called our of them dissolving in tears, after a visit ing for tunnels and hidden graves. It attention to this article, “cop” in this context was “reported” that a case of chloro- is a bit of local New Zealand slang, meaning with Dr. Tesson declaring “Mommy, the article, idea, proposal, etc. has little value, it’s so scary to think that you can’t form was found in the attic, and so on. or is not very good. remember something so bad you can’t But, for all of it, the nagging reality in

FMS Foundation Newsletter SUMMER 2009 Vol. 18 No. 3 7 the back of my mind was always there feel for Rosario and Margaret, and for some were also shown a class-group “but, we were DROP-IN PARENTS, you and the years you have lost. And, photo from the school year. Twenty- always showing up at the school, unan- indeed for all the rest of us, who got three percent of the people who only nounced, day in/day out”! It was part caught up in it, despite ourselves, and heard the story claimed that it had hap- of the attraction of consigning your who—however unwittingly—con- pened. Sixty-five percent of those who child to Montessori—you could tributed to what happened to you. saw the photo, came to believe the always be “hands on”. I can’t ever Good luck, James. story. [2] remember being discouraged. So Sheila Rimer False Feedback is an even simpler when, I would ask the support group, c procedure that has been used to plant could the children have possibly been Creating False Memories false memories. People who have been “kidnapped” and taken off campus for Wade, K.A. & Laney,C. (2008). Time to given a feedback profile indicating that nefarious purposes? rewrite your autobiography. The they once got sick from eating hard- It was a time of total insanity, and Psychologist, 21(7), 588-592. Available at boiled eggs are less likely to eat them though there are few of us who main- http://www.thepsychologist.org.uk/archive at a future time. In another study in tain contact today, most are only too /archive_home.cfm?volumeID=21&editio which participants’ dreams were inter- happy to lets those times fade into nID=162&ArticleID=1375 preted by a psychologist as evidence of obscurity. I often wonder how many Wade and Laney present a clear repressed memories of being bullied there are who, like me, feel that it was and concise overview of the research when they were young, became signif- all some sort of mass hysteria that on creating false memories. They note icantly more confident that this had infected our community even as exam- that “as strange as it might seem, plen- happened compared to people who did [3] ples of the same happened all over the ty of psychological research shows that not receive that feedback. country. I often wonder when are the it is possible to plant . . . false autobio- Recent research has documented children themselves likely to come for- graphical memories, using various Social Influence as a way in which ward and recant? Probably never, I techniques.” The authors relate those false memories can develop. When think. As you pointed out in your techniques to techniques used in thera- people talk to family members about poignant essay, the majority were py. shared experiences and try to deter- probably so damaged by the therapy One method that has been well mine what actually happened, they itself that the time is to be a terror for documented is the Suggestive inter- often incorporate the memories of oth- [4] them, one way or other, no matter view, in which an adult is asked to read ers into their own. what. Frankly, I can’t believe that there descriptions of events that he or she The authors conclude: have been so few retractions. I’ve read experienced as a child. The subject, “Finally, one of the ultimate pur- every publication on the aftermath of does not know that one of the events poses of conducting false-memory those times I could get my hands on. has been fabricated by the experi- studies is to determine whether there is And though there is plenty to hear from menter. Looking at 560 subjects in 10 some characteristic that differentiates the accused, there is little from the published studies, the authors found real from false memories. If such a accusers; the children OR their parents. that 17 percent of the subjects devel- characteristic could be found, then psy- To my own children, it’s become a oped partial false memories and 17 chologists might be able to look at a sort of “urban legend,” though I’ve percent developed complete false particular memory and determine expressed my feelings about what hap- memories for the fabricated events. whether that memory is true or false. pened (or what I believe never hap- They found that the false memories Thus far, there is no such characteris- pened) and encouraged them to contact could be emotional, extremely tic.... Like true memories, false memo- their old friends and classmates via the detailed, and that the participants held ries can be held with great confidence, auspices of MY SPACE and FACE them with confidence. [1] can be detailed, can be vivid, can have BOOK to see if there is anyone, a “sur- Some studies have used Suggestive behavioral consequences, and can even vivor,” who might come forward to Interviews with Props such as pho- be emotionally rich. But the fact that a shed some light at this time. tographs. In one study people were particular memory is confidently held, I don’t know what purpose this let- asked to recall three childhood events, detailed, vivid, consequential or emo- ter will serve, other than to let you with one being false. The false event tional, or even all of these, cannot know that there’s at least one person was about the time when the subject guarantee that the memory is real.” (p. who supports the probability that you was punished at school for sneaking 592) 1.See for example: Loftus, E.F. & Pickrell, J.E. are, indeed, completely innocent. I Slime into the teacher’s desk. All the suppose I want you to know how sad I (1995). The formation of false memories. participants heard the same story but Psychiatric Annals, 25, 720-725. Wade, K.A.

8 FMS Foundation Newsletter SUMMER 2009 Vol. 18 No. 3 & Garry, M. (2005). Strategies for verifying New MPD Misery Memoir false autobiographical memories. American Today I’m Alice - A Memoir of Multiple Do Repeated Interviews of Journal of Psychology, 118, 587-602. Hyman, Personality Disorder by Alice Jamieson Children Increase Children’s I.E., Jr. & Billings, F.J. (1998). Individual dif- Reviewed by FMSF Staff False Reports? ferences and the creation of false childhood Goodman, G.S. & Quas, J.A. (2008). memories. Memory, 6, 1-20. Porter, S., Yuille, According to an article in the Repeated interviews and children’s J.C. & Lehman, D.R. (1999). The nature of Birmingham Post, (UK) Alice real, implanted, and fabricated memories for memory: It’s more than just how many. emotional childhood events. Law and Human Jamieson’s saving mechanism was to Current Directions in Psychological Behavior, 23, 517-537. Heaps & Nash 2001 repress the memories of being raped Science, 17(6), 386-389. 2. See, for example: Lindsay, D.S., Hagen, L. and tortured by her father that began Abstract: A crucial issue in the Read, J.D., et al (2004). True photographs and when she was two-years-old. In her study of eyewitness memory con- false memories. Psychological Science, 15, teens she used alcohol, drugs and self- 149-154. Gary, M. & Wade, K.A. (2005). cerns effects of repeated interviews Actually a picture is worth less than 45 words: harm to keep those memories out of on children’s memory accuracy. Narratives produce more false memories than her mind. In her 20s, Ms. Jamieson There is growing belief that exposure photographs do. Psychonomic Bulletin & began to suffer voices in her head that to repeated interviews causes Review, 12, 359-366. Nash, R.A. & Wade, developed into multiple personalities. K.A. (in press). Innocent but proven guilty. increased errors. In some situations, Fake video evidence and false confessions. When she was a teenager, it may. Yet, several studies reveal Applied Cognitive Psychology. Jamieson went to various mental health increased accuracy with repeated 3. See, for example:Mazzoni, G.A.L, services and she was hospitalized in a interviewing, even when the inter- Lombardo, P., Malvagia, S. & Loftus, E.F. closed unit. She said that she was not views include misleading questions. (1999). Dream interpretation and false beliefs. helped by any of this because her doc- Professional Psychology: Research and We review repeated-interview Practice, 30, 45-50. Bernstein, D.M., Laney, tors did not understand how her per- research in relation to event veracity, C., Morris, E.K. & Loftus, E.F. (2005). False sonality had fractured. She said that interviewer bias, and delay. We con- memories about food can lead to food avoid- many of her psychiatrists and thera- clude that when and how children are ance. Social Cognition, 23, 10-33. Laney, C., pists would not refer to her nine alters. Morris, E.K., Bernstein, D.M. et al (2008). interviewed is at least as important Asparagus, a love story. Healthier eating could She feels that she moved forward when for their accuracy as is how many be just a false memory away. Experimental she finally found a counselor who times they are interviewed. Psychology, 55, 291-300. would talk to the alters by name. c 4. See, for example: French, L, Sutherland, R. Validating her memories seems & Garry, M. (2006). Discussion affects memo- important to Jamieson. In one case she “Memory is not so much like ry for true and false childhood events. Applied says that reading what she had written reading a book as it is like writing Cognitive Psychology, 20, 671-680. Peterson, T, Kaasa, S.O. & Loftus, E.F. (2009). Me too! was validation: one from fragments. As time goes Social modeling influences on early autobio- “I had all these memories of my child- by, details get lost.” graphical memories. Applied Cognitive hood and I wanted to write them Psychology, 23, 267-277. “Long-term memory may reflect down. Once I started, it all just came c a tendency “to see one’s self as a tumbling out. It was hard to do in hero of a drama worth telling. It may some ways but they were all things we “Forgiving does not erase the become a positive affirmation of a had touched on in therapy. Seeing it in bitter past. A healed memory is not a black and white was difficult but it life well-lived through “mythisiz- deleted memory. Instead, forgiving was also a validation of what had hap- ing.” what we cannot forget creates a new pened to me.” “Our memories recreate a past way to remember. We change the Although Jamieson did not have that justifies our self-esteem. We memory of our past into a hope for enough evidence to sue her father, she seek to order our universe. We are our future.” did apply to the Criminal Injuries inconsistent and self-serving, even Lewis B. Smedes Compensation Authority that awarded with the best intentions.” her a “substantial” amount. She felt “Humans also tend to recall “I’ve never tried to block out the validated. The award showed that peo- details of the past in terms of what is memories of the past, even though ple believed her. important in their current lives.” some are painful. I don’t understand Parkes, D. (2009, May 6). Multiple personality Walter Menninger, M.D. people who hide from their past. disorder: A battle with nine lives. Birmingham Post. Retrieved on May 16, 2009 from Emporia Gazette Everything you live through helps to http://www.birminghampost.net/life-leisure- April 27, 2009 Menninger describes traps of memory make you the person you are now.” birmingham-guide/postfeatures/2009/05/06/ Sophia Loren http:??www.emporiagazette.com/news/2009 c /a/27/menninger_describes_traps_memory/

FMS Foundation Newsletter SUMMER 2009 Vol. 18 No. 3 9 Colin Ross, M.D. Receives Pigasus Award On April 14, 2009, the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF) announced that it had given the Pigasus award to Colin Ross, MD for his work claiming that he had Bernard Baran Finally Free the ability to send a beam of energy from his eyes and make On June 9, 2009, Berkshire Massachusetts District a tone sound out of a speaker. The Pigasus Award is given Attorney David F. Capeless stated that he has dropped the each year, “to the scientist or academic who said or did the case against Bernard Baran who was sentenced to three con- silliest thing related to the supernatural, paranormal or current life sentences for child molestation when he was just occult.”[1] 19-years-old. Baran was the first person convicted in the FMSF Newsletter readers are probably familiar with Dr. day-care-panic that followed in the wake of the infamous Ross because of his promotion of multiple personality dis- McMartin trial and he spent 21 years in prison. Baran was order and beliefs that encompass satanic ritual abuse and released in 2006 when an appeals court found that his orig- CIA mind control conspiracies. He has been sued by sever- inal attorney had been incompetent and that conduct during al former patients who claimed that they developed false his trial provided sufficient grounds to overturn his guilty memories during therapy. Along with Richard Kluft, M.D., verdict. In fact, the appeals court suggested that there may Colin Ross, M.D. is an advisor to the CBS television series have been prosecutorial misconduct. Baran was granted a “United States of Tara.” new trial and has been preparing for it for the past three According to the Randi website, [2] the awards seek to years. No reason was given by Capeless for dropping the expose parapsychological frauds that Randi, the noted case. If the case had gone to trial, it would surely have magician and a member of the FMSF Scientific Advisory involved the misconduct charges by the former assistant dis- Board, has noted over the previous year. The website states trict attorney who is now a Superior Court judge. that “the awards are announced via telepathy, winners are *** allowed to predict their victories, and the Flying Pig tro- For background on this case, we reprint an article about Bernard phies are sent via psychokinesis. We send; if they don’t Baran that appeared in the FMSF Foundation Newsletter, 15 (5) receive, that’s probably due to their lack of paranormal tal- in 2006. ent.” Pittsfield Massachusetts Day-Care Worker Dr. Ross has stated: “I am not the first unconventional Conviction Overturned thinker who has had to endure the snickering of cynics and Massachusetts vs. Baran, No. 18042-51; 18100-1, skeptics, so I happily accept this recognition. Every signifi- Superior Ct, Berkshire, Mass., June 13, 2006. cant scientific advance faces resistance, but it is time that Frank Kane the JREF stop ridiculing me and test the protocol.” Superior Court Justice Francis R. Fecteau, in his 80- From the JREF website: page decision of June 13, 2006, granted Bernard Baran’s “Now, to be fair, this was long thought to be how vision request for a new trial. Fecteau noted that Baran “raises sev- worked... in the Middle Ages. However, we now understand eral issues generally including whether he was convicted that light emitted or reflected by external objects enters the upon unreliable evidence, that he received ineffective assis- eye, and that’s how we see. But Dr. Ross claims to have tance of counsel, and that there is newly-discovered evi- reversed this process, and not only can he send EM beams dence that appears to have been improperly withheld, from his eyes, but he has rigged up a system to detect it. He amounting to prosecutorial misconduct, as well as other applied for our famous Million Dollar Challenge with this issues.” idea, and when we sent it to our team of experts, they object- The Berkshire County District Attorney states unequiv- ed, saying it was the movements of Dr. Ross’s eyes that trig- gered his system. He has since put his application on hold ocally that he will appeal Judge Fecteau’s decision. Hence, while he works on this, still claiming, of course, that there is Baran had to post $50,000 cash bail, and he must wear a “definitely a beam” emerging from his eyes. [It has come to transmitting ankle — despite the fact that the verdict was our attention after posting this originally that Dr. Ross has overturned. re-activated his application. -Ed.] Oh, and did we mention On June 30, 2006, Bernard Baran (he prefers to be he’s writing a book on this as well?” called “Bee”) walked free from the Berkshire County Court 1. Retrieved on June 4, 2009 from House, into the arms of his family, three months shy of 22 http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS144178+14-Apr- years since his arrest for alleged sexual offenses against 2009+MW20090414. children in the Pittsfield Massachusetts Early Childhood 2. http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/pigasus-awards.html Development Center (ECDC). Baran, a teacher’s assistant, c

10 . FMS Foundation Newsletter SUMMER 2009 Vol. 18 No. 3 was the first day-care worker to be Chatelle took up the banner to get jus- run over to Bee. Ford then dropped the convicted in the United States during tice for Baran. During seven years of boy from the case, apparently due to the wave of day-care sex abuse hyste- Herculean effort, Chatelle was a dri- his lack of cooperation and unreliable ria of the ‘80s and ‘90s. ving force pressing for a new trial. testimony. Ironically, this boy’s mother Arrested in early October, 1984, Chatelle enlisted attorney John was the first accuser and had filed a three weeks after the arrest of the Swomley who then sought an eviden- civil suit against the day-care center, Amirault family in Malden, tiary hearing into the original trial and even before indictments were brought. Massachusetts, Bee was convicted just its perfunctory appeal. Because the In September, 1984, this same woman 115 days later, and sentenced to three Berkshire County District Attorney’s and her boyfriend had demanded the concurrent life terms. He was slammed office dragged its feet, claiming the center fire Bee because he was gay. into the general population at the max- bulk of the trial evidence had been lost When the day-care center refused, they imum security prison in Walpole, the or destroyed, nothing happened. brought sexual abuse charges. Commonwealth’s “home” for its worst, Two events in late 2003 opened up Historical Context most dangerous offenders. Even the possibility for a new trial: Superior How could all this have happened though Assistant District Attorney Dan Court Judge Fecteau’s order to allow to Bernard Baran and to so many oth- Ford had offered him a deal of five attorney Swomley full subpoena power ers? How does this case relate to FMS “easy” years for his guilty plea, Bee to locate any and all evidence in crimi- adult-children situations? refused, declaring, as he always has, nal and civil domains, and the snow- In the 80s, there was a tsunami of that he was innocent. Bee thought that shoveling death of Berkshire County satanic ritual abuse, sexual abuse, and he would never again see the light of District Attorney Gerard Downing who child pornography-ring hysteria that day as a free man. had been responsible for the delays. A flooded North America, drowning out And so it seemed, to Bee, for many few months later, the new District “innocent-until-proven guilty” rights. years. Four days after his incarceration, Attorney found most of the long sought Fad theories gave energy to the wave. he suffered his first rape and beating. unedited tapes of the children’s inter- For example, Roland Summit’s “Child His family was without a car because views that had never been seen by the Sexual Abuse Accommodation his mother had had to sell it to raise grand jury or the defendant. These Syndrome” suggested that children money to pay the lawyer. tapes were presented in an evidentiary didn’t lie about being sexually abused. Consequently, they were able to visit hearing along with comments and They might, however, effectively block Bee only rarely, and the rest of the observations by Dr. Maggie Bruck. out the abuse until aggressively ques- world seemed not to notice that it had Judge Fecteau’s June decision con- tioned. If a child retracted the “disclo- allowed a slight 19 year-old, of less tains four pages of the most egregious sure,” he or she was not to be believed than 100 pounds, to be thrown away of the interrogations of these three- and because a retraction was just part of the like damaged goods. In 1989, he was four-year olds, who often said, fre- “syndrome.” Summit’s theory influ- transferred to the “Treatment Center” quently under duress by several adults enced many, if not all, of the more than in the Bridgewater Correctional facili- at the same time, that “Bernie didn’t do 100 day-care cases. ty where he had a modicum of safety, anything” and/or named other individ- The McMartin Day-Care case in but there he was tossed into the mael- uals, including teachers and children. Manhattan Beach, California was the strom of mostly truly-guilty sex These segments had been edited out of first to hit the headlines starting in offenders. the final tape seen by the grand jury 1983. Prosecutors from the In 1995, Bee’s case was cited in and the court, a final, neat package on Massachusetts Fells Acres (Amirault) Debbie Nathan’s and Michael a 40-minute tape of several children’s case went to Manhattan Beach to get Snedeker’s book, Satan’s Silence. comments, selectively chosen by the advice from the prosecutors there, Later in the 90s, he was mentioned in a prosecution from the original several returning with questions to ask the par- letter from an FMS parent to the Wall hours of tape which contained contrary ents and children about secret rooms, Street Journal, correcting the colum- exculpatory evidence. magic rooms, and evil clowns. On nist’s statement that Gerald Amirault The person who apparently had September 12, 1984, the police in the was the “the last day-care worker still orchestrated the editing was Assistant Amirault case held a meeting in which in prison.” A full-page column by District Attorney Dan Ford, now a parents were recruited to question their Katha Pollitt followed in February, Superior Court Judge in Berkshire children. 2000 in The Nation magazine, helping County. During the original trial, Ford Exactly one month later, in immeasurably in fund-raising efforts. even had to intercept one little boy who Pittsfield, the Department of Social In 1999, Bostonian Robert hollered out, “Hi, Bernie,” and tried to Services and police held a similar pro-

FMS Foundation Newsletter SUMMER 2009 Vol. 18 No. 3 11 gram at the day-care where Baran was adults who had been allegedly abused to think too unkindly of judges, I will employed. A puppet show and anatom- decades earlier (i.e. Courage to Heal). do my best to remember these. ically-correct dolls specifically target- The beliefs invaded many of our insti- Nevertheless, this hard-won victo- ed Baran. tutions. Lurid books and Hollywood ry proves that there are very serious Fear and paranoia about child sex- movies also influenced the culture. For things wrong with our judicial system. ual abuse had spread throughout the example, Sybil, the book and the Ten years ago, I read the Baran land. Lest we blame it all upon an hys- movie, promoted childhood sexual trial transcript for the first time. It is terical element of true-believer adher- abuse as the cause of Multiple appalling. The injustice was so blatant, ents, we need to remember that even Personality Disorder. Recovered mem- that I naively thought it would not take the FBI helped fuel the spread. In ories were everywhere, on TV talk that long to free him. Boy was I wrong. January, 1984, the FBI devoted the shows and in popular magazines. You can’t fight power without entire edition of its Law Enforcement Scores of celebrities suddenly discov- money. And we had none. So we start- Bulletin to the subject, “Child ered that they, too, had been abused as ed to raise it. To date we’ve raised Pornography and Sex Rings.” It was children. about $320,000. We were lucky to find written by Ann Burgess, a Boston Go to www.freebaran.org for the complete a few big donors. But most of that College Nursing School professor, and story of Bee’s experience. came from concerned citizens of limit- Kenneth Lanning, a Special Agent in Frank Kane is a retired financial manager ed means. This is what it costs when the Behavioral Science Unit of the and during the mid-90s was the manager of ordinary people are forced to do the FBI. Lanning was instrumental in the FMSF office. He has been a frequent job that should be done by the govern- contributor to the newsletter. assuring funding for police officers ment. throughout the nation to be trained in * * * Our expenses, however, thus far the investigation of non-existent Comments on Baran’s Freedom total $589,000. This is just what has Satanic-ritual abuse rings. Burgess Robert Chatelle been actually billed. A great many ser- went on to write several papers on the Bob Chatelle has led the effort to free vices were donated. Our expert wit- effects of ritual abuse on day-care chil- Bernard Baron. From his blog: nesses, for example, were not paid a dren. Almost one decade later, Lanning June 9, 2009: This morning dime. The lawyers donated time. And grew more cautious and in 1992 issued Berkshire County DA David Capeless the lawyers know that most of their a 41-page report commenting: “until finally announced that he would no bills will never be paid. hard evidence is obtained and corrobo- longer pursue the Baran case. When I Should it really take citizens over rated, the public should not be fright- spoke with Bee a little while ago, he ten years and over half a million dol- ened into believing that babies are was shedding some very well-earned lars to right a grievous wrong commit- being bred and eaten.” tears. He and his family have been liv- ted by their own government? The therapist who was responsible ing this nightmare for almost a quarter I would like to think that the Baran for the interviewing of the Fells Acres of a century. Jim D’Entremont and I case might eventually lead to some children, Susan J. Kelley, was an intern are relative newcomers to the case. meaningful judicial reform. But I’m at Boston College Nursing School. As We’ve only been involved for 11 years. not holding my breath. That would further evidence of the spread of One question that pops into mind: require a lot of work from good citi- beliefs into institutions of higher edu- Does this mean that the system zens. Democracy requires more than cation, Kelley was awarded a doctoral worked? My first inclination is to say, voting — and far too few Americans degree in 1988 for a study on the “Hell, no! The system didn’t work. We even do that. Democracy requires that “Responses of Children and Parents to worked. We worked damn hard fight- citizens inform themselves, work for Sexual Abuse and Satanic Ritualistic ing the power of a hearltess machine.” needed reforms, and hold their gov- Abuse in Day Care Centers.” But this wouldn’t give credit to ernment accountable for its actions. By the early 90s, the hysteria had those people in the system who did What comes of this is not up to me. spread to a new generation of thera- work, and who worked very hard. I It’s up to you. As for me, as soon as we pists who saw evil behind every fami- think especially of Judges Fecteau, catch our breath, we are going to savor ly, who “knew” the terrible nature of Lenk, Duffly and Green and their this victory and celebrate it. the incestuous patriarchy, who accept- staffs. There was a tremendous amount Retrieved on June 9, 2009 from http://web- ed Roland Summit’s theory, and who of material. They read it all, they read mail.earthlink.net/wam/msg.jsp?msgid=47030 developed even more lists of symp- it thoughtfully, and they responded &folder=INBOX&isSeen=true&x=- toms of child sexual abuse. These with two beautiful decisions. I am 882235626 symptom lists extended to identifying most grateful. Whenever I’m tempted c

12 FMS Foundation Newsletter SUMMER 2009 Vol. 18 No. 3 suggestive; DID is an iatrogenic condi- through. It’s remarkable that in a class tion; the same techniques he was advo- of only about 30 people, there were cating have been used to “recover” two people who were knowledgeable memories of satanic ritual abuse and enough about false memories and con- It’s Still Going On! alien abduction, so the techniques fident enough about their knowledge Recently, I was taking a themselves have to be fundamentally to proactively contact the coordinator “Foundations of Marriage” class at my unreliable; and it was inappropriate for and object to his false claims. local church with my girlfriend. They him to use a church-sponsored class The following week, he was had a guest speaker one week who was about marriage as a forum for promot- scheduled to give a second presenta- a marriage and family therapist. About ing junk science beliefs about tion. The coordinator opened that 10 minutes into the class, apropos repressed memories. He acknowl- class, with him present, by referring to nothing, he said “Some of the most edged that if he could do the class over his statements of the previous week, personally meaningful work that I’ve again, he wouldn’t have brought this categorizing them as a “comments done is with people who have up. about a personal experience he’d had,” Dissociative Identity Disorder, former- He couldn’t even claim ignorance and giving a lengthy disclaimer that ly known as Multiple Personality as a defense; he commented at one ran on for several minutes noting that Disorder, helping people to recover point that “I’ve been on panels with there had been “a lot of research and memories they have repressed due to people on both sides of this debate.” debate on both sides of this issue” and trauma, to work with the alters, to give Evidently he was only paying attention encouraging class members to contact them a voice, and to bring them out of to one side. her if they wanted more information. trance.” Finally, he said that it was clear he I think it’s safe to say that the vis- Unfortunately for him, a brother wasn’t going to change my mind. I iting presenter will never forget the falsely accused of ritual satanic abuse said that since I was right and he was private dressing-down he received, has based on “recovered memories” was wrong, that was absolutely correct. He learned a painful and memorable les- sitting in the front row! fled the room. son, and will hesitate to bring up his I was so infuriated that I didn’t It is stupefying to me that in 2009, “recovered memory” work in future hear a word he said for the balance of after everything we’ve been through presentations he gives. The war against the session. After it was over, I asked and all the hard lessons the industry junk science never ends, but we are to speak with him privately, took him has learned, there are still therapists making progress. People are learning, into a conference room, asked him to who are so irresponsible that not only remembering, and speaking out against shut the door, channeled Chris Barden, do they continue to practice this junk science and bad therapy. Truth and read him the riot act. I opened by garbage, but they’re foolish enough to wins in the end! saying that “I wanted you to know how talk about it openly in public! A brother much therapists like you and the tech- The next day, I sent the coordina- c niques you use are hurting clients and tor of the class a lengthy email debunk- Unreconciled their families.” He blanched. I told him ing the claims he’d made, saying I my family’s story and the bogus satan- found it unacceptable that a church- Here we are, among the remaining ic ritual abuse memories my sister had sponsored event on marriage was and aging victims of the ghastly dirty supposedly recovered. He started mak- being misused to promote junk science joke, probably one day facing death ing the usual excuses. “Oh, I don’t do beliefs about repressed memories, and unreconciled. I am leaving a note with the satanic ritual abuse stuff ... no fam- demanding that some kind of dis- my other daughter that if her sister ily has ever objected to my work ... I claimer be given to the class. I then does ever come to her senses she bring the family members in ...” I had a lengthy phone call with the coor- should know that I forgive her—for a reviewed the scientific evidence and dinator. They had already talked, and worse guilty fate must await those who pointed out that: there’s no evidence he had claimed that he had only used realize the irreparable and completely that documented trauma survivors these techniques on two clients in his unnecessary harm they've done. repress memories in the first place; entire career. I said that was two clients A dad even if they did, no techniques have too many. Interestingly, I was not the c been shown to be safe and effective for only member of the class who had con- “We cannot change our memo- helping people recall memories that tacted her to object to the statements. ries, but we can change their mean- have been forgotten; the techniques That’s an encouraging indication that ing and the power they have over that have been attempted are highly our educational efforts are getting us.” David Seamands

FMS Foundation Newsletter SUMMER 2009 Vol. 18 No. 3 13 Web Sites of Interest Remembering Our www.seweb.uci.edu/faculty/loftus/ Legal Web Sites of Interest ¥www.caseassist.com Elizabeth Loftus Childhood: ¥ www.findlaw.com How Memory Betrays Us http://www.theisticsatanism.com/asp/ ¥ www.legalengine.com Against Satanic Panics ¥ www.accused.com Karl Sabbagh ¥ www.abuse-excuse.com Oxford University Press (2009) comp.uark.edu/~lampinen/read.html The Lampinen Lab False Memory Reading Group, University of Arkansas The Rutherford Family Speaks to Shows how fragile and unreliable our www.exploratorium.edu/memory/ FMS Families memories are, especially those of The Exploratorium Memory Exhibit The DVD made by the Rutherford childhood. www.tmdArchives.org family is the most popular DVD of The Memory Debate Archives FMSF families. It covers the complete http://www.psyfmfrance.fr story from accusation, to retraction and French False Memory Group reconciliation. Family members describe Making Minds www.psychoheresy- the things they did to cope and to help aware.org/ministry.html reunite. Of particular interest are Beth and Madness: The Bobgans question Christian counseling Rutherford’s comments about what her www.IllinoisFMS.org family did that helped her to retract and From Illinois-Wisconsin FMS Society return. www.ltech.net/OHIOarmhp Available in DVD format only: Hysteria to Depression Ohio Group To order send request to Chapter 3 www.afma.asn.au FMSF -DVD, 1955 Locust St. Australian False Memory Association Philadelphia, PA 19103 “A Black Box Named Sybil” www.bfms.org.uk $10.00 per DVD; Canada add $4.00; Mikkel Borch-Jacobsen British False Memory Society other countries add $10.00 Cambridge University www.religioustolerance.org/sra.htm Make checks payable to FMS Information about Satanic Ritual Abuse Press 2009 Foundation www.angryparents.net Parents Against Cruel Therapy www.geocities.com/newcosanz Hungry for Monsters New Zealand FMS Group Don’t Miss It! A limited supply of the VHS ver- www.peterellis.org.nz sion of the remarkable documentary Site run by Brian Robinson contains information Try to Remember: about Christchurch Creche and other cases. Hungry for Monsters is available Psychiatry’s Clash through the FMSF at the reduced www.werkgroepwfh.nl price of $15.00 (includes postage). Netherlands FMS Group Over Meaning, Memory, (Foreign price is $20.00) www.falseallegation.org and Mind National Child Abuse Hungry for Monsters is the Defense & Resource Center account of one family’s ordeal with Paul McHugh, M.D., Washington, www.nasw.org/users/markp memory-focused psychotherapy, the Excerpts from Victims of Memory DC: Dana Press cultivation of memories, and accusa- www.rickross.com/groups/fsm.html tions of sexual abuse. It is an excel- Ross Institute lent resource for showing others how www.enigma.se/info/FFI.htm Recommended Books someone can come to believe in FMS in Scandanavia - Janet Hagbom Remembering Trauma abuse that never happened and the www.ncrj.org/ Richard McNally National Center for Reason & Justice tragic consequences that inevitably Science and Pseudoscience in Clinical follow. www.traumaversterking.nl English language web site of Dutch retractor. Psychology S. O. Lilienfeld, S.J. Lynn, J.M. Lohr (eds.) DVD version is available at full price on www.quackwatch.org Amazon. This site is run by Stephen Barrett, M.D. Psychology Astray: For full description of the video see: http:// Fallacies in Studies of “Repressed www.zalafilms.com/films/hfmorder2.pdf www.stopbadtherapy.com Contains information about filing complaints. Memory” and Childhood Trauma To order VHS send check for $15. www.FMSFonline.org by Harrison G. Pope, Jr., M.D. Web site of FMS Foundation.

14 FMS Foundation Newsletter SUMMER 2009 Vol. 18 No. 3 KANSAS Pittsburgh Wichita - Meeting as called Rick & Renee 412-563-5509 Pat 785-762-2825 Montrose John 570-278-2040 KENTUCKY Wayne (includes S. NJ) CONTACTS & MEETINGS - Louisville- Last Sun. (MO) @ 2pm Jim & Jo 610-783-0396 UNITED STATES Bob 502-367-1838 TENNESSEE LOUISIANA Nashville ALABAMA Sarah 337-235-7656 Kate 615-665-1160 See Georgia MAINE TEXAS ALASKA Rumford Houston Kathleen 907-333-5248 Carolyn 207-364-8891 Jo or Beverly 713-464-8970 ARIZONA Portland - 4th Sun. (MO) El Paso Phoenix Bobby 207-878-9812 Mary Lou 915-595-2966 Pat 480-396-9420 MARYLAND UTAH ARKANSAS Carol 410-465-6555 Keith 801-467-0669 Little Rock MASSACHUSETTS/NEW ENGLAND WASHINGTON Al & Lela 870-363-4368 Andover - 2nd Sun. (MO) @ 1pm See Oregon CALIFORNIA Frank 978-263-9795 WISCONSIN Sacramento MICHIGAN Katie & Leo 414-476-0285 or Jocelyn 530-570-1862 Greater Detroit Area Susanne & John 608-427-3686 San Francisco & North Bay Nancy 248-642-8077 WYOMING Charles 415-435-9618 Ann Arbor Alan & Lorinda 307-322-4170 San Francisco & South Bay Martha 734-439-4055 Eric 408-738-0469 MINNESOTA CONTACTS & MEETINGS - East Bay Area Terry & Collette 507-642-3630 INTERNATIONAL Judy 925-952-4853 Dan & Joan 651-631-2247 Central Coast MISSOURI BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA Carole 805-967-8058 Kansas City - Meeting as called Vancouver & Mainland Palm Desert Pat 785-738-4840 Lloyd 250-741-8941 Eileen and Jerry 909-659-9636 Springfield - Quarterly (4th Sat. of Apr., Victoria & Vancouver Island Central Orange County Jul., Oct., Jan.) @12:30pm John 250-721-3219 Chris & Alan 949-733-2925 Tom 417-753-4878 MANITOBA CANADA Covina Area Roxie 417-781-2058 Roma 204-275-5723 Floyd & Libby 626-357-2750 MONTANA ONTARIO, CANADA San Diego Area Lee & Avone 406-443-3189 London Dee 760-439-4630 NEW HAMPSHIRE Adriaan 519-471-6338 COLORADO Jean 603-772-2269 Ottawa Colorado Springs Mark 802-872-0847 Eileen 613-836-3294 Doris 719-488-9738 NEW JERSEY Burlington CONNECTICUT Sally 609-927-4147 (Southern) Ken & Marina 905-637-6030 S. New England Nancy 973-729-1433 (Northern) Waubaushene Paul 203-458-9173 NEW MEXICO Paula 705-543-0318 FLORIDA Albuquerque - 2nd Sat. (BI-MO) @1 pm QUEBEC Dade/Broward Southwest Room -Presbyterian Hospital Claudine: [email protected] Madeline 954-966-4FMS Maggie 505-662-7521(after 6:30pm) or 514-620-6397 French and English Central Florida - Please call for mtg. time Sy 505-758-0726 AUSTRALIA John & Nancy 352-750-5446 NEW YORK Evelyn [email protected] Sarasota Westchester, Rockland, etc. BELGIUM Francis & Sally 941-342-8310 Barbara 914-922-1737 [email protected] Tampa Bay Area Upstate/Albany Area FRANCE Bob & Janet 727-856-7091 Elaine 518-399-5749 afsi.fauxsouvenirs@wabadii,fr GEORGIA NORTH CAROLINA ISRAEL Atlanta Susan 704-538-7202 FMS ASSOCIATION fax-972-2-625-9282 Wallie & Jill 770-971-8917 OHIO NEW ZEALAND ILLINOIS Cleveland Colleen 09-416-7443 Chicago & Suburbs - 1st Sun. (MO) Bob & Carole 440-356-4544 SWEDEN Eileen 847-985-7693 or OKLAHOMA Ake Moller FAX 48-431-217-90 Liz & Roger 847-827-1056 Oklahoma City UNITED KINGDOM Peoria Dee 405-942-0531 The British False Memory Society Bryant & Lynn 309-674-2767 OREGON Madeline 44-1225 868-682 INDIANA Portland area Indiana Assn. for Responsible Mental Kathy 503-655-1587 Deadline for the FALL 2009 issue is Health Practices PENNSYLVANIA September 10. Meeting notices MUST Pat 317-865-8913 Harrisburg be in writing and should be sent no later Helen 574-753-2779 Paul & Betty 717-691-7660 than two months before meeting.

FMS Foundation Newsletter SUMMER 2009 Vol. 18 No. 3 15 Copyright © 2009 by the FMS Foundation 1955 Locust Street Do you have access to e-mail? Send a message to Philadelphia, PA 19103-5766 [email protected] Phone: 215-940-1040 Fax: 215-940-1042 if you wish to receive electronic versions of this newsletter [email protected] www.FMSFonline.org and notices of radio and television broadcasts about FMS. All ISSN # 1069-0484 the message need say is “add to the FMS-News”. It would be Pamela Freyd, Ph.D., Executive Director useful, but not necessary, if you add your full name (all addresses and names will remain strictly confidential). FMSF Scientific and Professional Advisory Board July 1, 2009 Aaron T. Beck, M.D., D.M.S., University of Pennsylvania, The False Memory Syndrome Foundation is a qualified 501(c)3 Philadelphia, PA; Terence W. Campbell, Ph.D., Clinical and Forensic corporation with its principal offices in Philadelphia and gov- Psychology, Sterling Heights, MI; Rosalind Cartwright, Ph.D., Rush erned by its Board of Directors. While it encourages participation Presbyterian St. Lukes Medical Center, Chicago, IL; Jean Chapman, by its members in its activities, it must be understood that the Ph.D., University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI; Loren Chapman, Ph.D., Foundation has no affiliates and that no other organization or per- University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI; Frederick C. Crews, Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley, CA; Robyn M. Dawes, Ph.D., son is authorized to speak for the Foundation without the prior Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA; David F. Dinges, Ph.D., written approval of the Executive Director. All membership dues University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA; Henry C. Ellis, Ph.D., and contributions to the Foundation must be forwarded to the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM; Fred H. Frankel, Foundation for its disposition. MBChB, DPM, Harvard University Medical School; George K. ______Ganaway, M.D., Emory University of Medicine, Atlanta, GA; Martin Gardner, Author, Norman, OK; Rochel Gelman, Ph.D., Rutgers The FMSF Newsletter will be published 4 times in 2008 by the University, New Brunswick, NJ; Henry Gleitman, Ph.D., University of False Memory Syndrome Foundation. The newsletter is delivered Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA; Lila Gleitman, Ph.D., University of electronicaly and it is also available on the FMSF website: Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA; Richard Green, M.D., J.D., Charing Cross Hospital, London; John Hochman, M.D., UCLA Medical www.FMSFonline.org Those without access to the Internet School, Los Angeles, CA; David S. Holmes, Ph.D., University of should contact the Foundation. Kansas, Lawrence, KS; MA; Robert A. Karlin, Ph.D. , Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ; Elizabeth Loftus, Ph.D., University of California, Irvine, CA; Susan L. McElroy, M.D., University of Your Contribution Will Help Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH; Paul McHugh, M.D., Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD; Harold Merskey, D.M., University of PLEASE FILL OUT ALL INFORMATION Western Ontario, London, Canada; Spencer Harris Morfit, Author, PLEASE PRINT Westford, MA; Ulric Neisser, Ph.D., Cornell University, Ithaca, NY; Richard Ofshe, Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley, CA; Emily __Visa: Card # & exp. date:______Carota Orne, B.A., University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA; __Discover: Card # & exp. date:______Loren Pankratz, Ph.D., Oregon Health Sciences University, Portland, OR; Michael A. Persinger, Ph.D., Laurentian University, Ontario, __Mastercard: # & exp. date:______Canada; August T. Piper, Jr., M.D., Seattle, WA; Harrison Pope, Jr., (Minimum credit card is $25) M.D., Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA; James Randi, Author and __Check or Money Order: Payable to FMS Foundation in Magician, Plantation, FL; Henry L. Roediger, III, Ph.D. ,Washington U.S. dollars University, St. Louis, MO; Carolyn Saari, Ph.D., Loyola University, Chicago, IL; Michael A. Simpson, M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P., M.R.C, D.O.M., Center for Psychosocial & Traumatic Stress, Pretoria, South Signature: ______Africa; Ralph Slovenko, J.D., Ph.D., Wayne State University Law School, Detroit, MI; Jeffrey Victor, Ph.D., Jamestown Community Name: ______College, Jamestown, NY; Hollida Wakefield, M.A., Institute of Psychological Therapies, Northfield, MN; Charles A. Weaver, III, Address:______Ph.D. Baylor University, Waco, TX. Advisors to whom we are grateful who are now deceased. State, ZIP (+4) ______David A. Halperin, M.D., Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, Country: ______NY; Ernest Hilgard, Ph.D., Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA; Philip S. Holzman, Ph.D., Harvard University, Cambridge; Harold Lief, M.D., University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA; Martin Orne, M.D., Phone: (______)______Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA; Campbell Perry, Ph.D., Concordia University, Montreal, Canada; Theodore Sarbin, Fax: (______)______Ph.D., University of California, Santa Cruz, CA; Thomas A. Sebeok, Ph.D., Indiana University, Bloomington, IN; Margaret Singer, Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley, CA; Donald Spence, Ph.D., Robert Thank you for your generosity. Wood Johnson Medical Center, Piscataway, NJ.

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