FALSE MEMORY SYNDROME FOUNDATION NEWSLETTER

SPRING 2009 Vol. 18 No. 2

Dear Friends, Dr. Kluft made no mention of the skepticism about In recent months, most of the publicity about recovered ’s diagnosis that resulted from the discovery of audio memories and multiple personality disorder has been in tapes of her highly suggestive interviews with Dr. Wilbur. He makes no mention that Herbert Spiegel, M.D., who also connection with the new Showtime television series: The treated Sybil, did not diagnose her as having multiple per- of Tara. For example, CBS, which owns sonality.[2] Showtime, devoted a segment of CBS Sunday Morning to The infomercial is blatantly biased. On page 4 of this issue, Numan Gharaibeh, M.D., analyzes the Kluft “Unraveling the Secret of ‘Alters.’” [1] The program includ- infomercial and discusses the ethical responsibility of all ed an interview with Diablo Cody, the Tara program’s those involved. writer, in which we learned: An FMSF newsletter reader sent us the following “Have viewers recognized themselves in Tara, [have they] thought provoking comment about The United States of said, ‘Maybe I have this disorder’? Have you gotten that reac- Tara: tion?” asked Smith. “It’s ironic that Steven Spielberg is the executive producer “Yeah, it surprises me,” Cody said. “People actually have of United States of Tara. He won an academy award for said that.” directing Schindler’s List, a Holocaust film, and founded the Why was Diablo Cody surprised? Surely she knows that Shoah Foundation to preserve the testimonies of Holocaust people make sense of their own lives by what they read or survivors. One would think that Spielberg would be keenly see around them. Surely she and CBS understand the influ- aware of the response to trauma among Holocaust survivors ence they yield. Surely she and CBS know that the diagno- and especially of the lack of Holocaust survivors who claim sis of multiple personality skyrocketed after the television MPD as their response to the trauma they experienced.” movie, Sybil. Fascinating research about memory, suggestibility, and Cody said that she wanted The United States of Tara to false memories continues to appear in scholarly journals increase discussion about multiple personality. What kind of and the news. A reader sent us a news article about work discussion might that be when the program has presented being done to erase painful memories. (See p. 8). With the such a biased perspective? That bias is seen most clearly in article she commented: the infomercial that is featured on the program’s website. “I thought you might be interested in the article “Should Richard Kluft, M.D., a strong proponent of multiple person- painful memories be erased?” If repression of memories is true ality, now known as dissociative identity disorder, is the why would we need something to ‘erase’ painful memories? We only doctor to discuss the diagnosis on the infomercial. He seem to want things both ways.” tells viewers: In a recent article, researchers Richard McNally and “The most common question people ask me is: Is it real? Elke Geraerts write that they have new data that sheds light And the answer is: ‘It sure is.’” In this issue... Dr. Kluft said the following about Sybil: Gharaibeh ...... 4 “Sybil is a wonderful landmark case. She is someone who Legal Corner...... 10 made a very successful recovery and had a wonderful career From Our Readers ...... 13 but did not go public. Unlike Eve, she opted for a very quiet Bulletin Board ...... 15 and reserved and private life.” The next newsletter will be sent in July 2009.

1955 Locust Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103-5766, 215-940-1040, Fax 215-940-1042, www.FMSFonline.org on the recovered memory arguments. (See p. 3) victed in 2005 based on the recovered memory of Paul For the past decade McNally and colleagues have been Busa.. The critical point of the appeal is whether the recov- studying the cognitive processes of people who have always ered memory evidence should have been admitted in court. remembered their abuse, people who believe they have The Massachusetts law on the admission of repressed repressed memories of abuse but no actual memories, and memory evidence was set in 2001 in Commonwealth v. people who believe they have recovered repressed memo- Frangipane. Although the Supreme Judicial Court in that ries of childhood abuse. This research enables them to case initially acknowledged that there was a significant con- explain the circumstances by which “a genuine recovered troversy in the scientific literature, it then modified its child sexual abuse memory does not require repression, issued opinion to say that scientific controversy was con- trauma, or even complete forgetting.” There are people who fined to the mechanisms of memory and indeed there was were abused but who did not perceive the abuse as traumat- no controversy in the scientific literature about the validity ic at the time. They did not think about the abuse for many of repressed and recovered memory. This modification years, and then they later recalled it. Everyday memory came about after an amicus brief was filed, post-decision, processes can explain the subjective experience of recover- by the Leadership Council [1] that appeared to review the ing a memory. scientific literature but, in our view, was riddled with seri- The researchers note that this explanation of historical- ous errors and omissions. It appears that appellant ly accurate recovered memories is not a middle of the road Frangipane was not permitted to respond to the brief filed position but rather one based in scientific research. The by the Leadership Council. Nor were any other interested legal consequences of this understanding are far-reaching, parties solicited for input. The Supreme Judicial Court’s including a reexamination of statutes that rely on the unsci- decision in the Shanley case will be an important comment entific notion of “repression.” on the legal status of “repressed memories” in the legal sys- People continue to contact the Foundation about new tem at this point in time. law suits based on claims of repressed and recovered mem- With all that has been learned about memory, sug- ories. A few older cases remain in the news. For example the gestibility, and false memories in the past decade, it should Hosanna Church case in Ponchoutola, Louisiana lumbers be only a matter of time until the legal system reflects what along with additional trials planned following two convic- is known. Of, course “a matter of time” can be extensive. tions. (See p.11) It seems a surreal 1990 drama set in 2009. The Shanley case in Boston has reached the Pamela 1. Smith, T. (2009, March 8). Unraveling the secret of “alters”. Doctors Massachusetts Commonwealth’s highest court. (See p. 10) are of two minds about multiple personality disorder. CBS Sunday The charismatic 1960s “street” priest Paul Shanley was con- Morning. Retrieved on March 9, 2009 from http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/03/08/sunday/main4852177.shtml How Many Alters? How Many MPD Patients? 2. See FMSF Newsletter May/June 2006, Volume 15 No. 3 3. Murphy, W.J. (2001, March 30). Brief of the Leadership Council, In 1988 Dr. Richard Kluft described patients who had Submitted to Commonwealth of Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court many alters,[1] one with 4,500 alters and another with more in Commonwealth v. Frangipane, SJC-08359. than 4,000. Kluft currently appears to believe that there are millions of people who have “undiagnosed multiple Try to Remember: Psychiatry’s Clash personality disorder.”[2] Over Meaning, Memory, and Mind “So do you think that there are, what, thousands of peo- Paul McHugh, M.D., Washington, DC: Dana Press ple walking around out there with MPD who don’t even (Excerpts from Wall Street Journal Book Review) know it?” Smith asked. “One of the most extraordinary outbreaks of popular “Oh, easily,” Dr. Kluft said. delusion in recent years was that which attached to the “Tens of thousands?” possibility of ‘recovered memory’ of sexual and satanic “Easily.” childhood abuse, and to an illness it supposedly caused, “Hundreds of thousands?” Multiple Personality Disorder. No medieval peasant pray- “Easily.” ing to a household god for the recovery of his pig could “Millions?” have been more credulous than scores of psychiatrists, “We might be at that level,” said Dr. Kluft. hosts of therapists and thousands of willing victims. The 1. Kluft, R. (1988). The phenomenology and treatment of extremely complex whole episode would have been funny had it not been so multiple personality disorder. Dissociation, 1 (4), 47-58 tragic.” 2. Smith, T. (2009, March 8). Unraveling the secret of “alters”. Doctors are of two minds about multiple personality disorder. CBS Sunday Morning. Theodore Dalrymple. (2008, November 19). Destructive delusions. Wall Street Retrieved on March 9, 2009 from http:// Journal. Retrieved on November 20, 2008 from www.cbsnews.comstories/2009/03/08/sunday/main4852177.shtml. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122714489697843157html.

2 FMS Foundation Newsletter SPRING 2009 Vol. 18 No. 2 Understanding the Subjective involves cases in which people were having thought about something for a Experience of Recovered Memories actually abused but who did not expe- long time is not the same as having McNally, R.J. & Geraerts, E. (2009). A rience the abuse as traumatic at the been unable to remember it. new solution to the recovered memory time that it happened. These people did The researchers have found that debate. Perspectives on Psychological not think about the abuse for a long there are two qualitatively different Science 4 (2), 126-134. time. In some cases, they remembered groups who believe that they have Over the past decade, Harvard pro- the abuse but then later forget that they recovered repressed memories: 1) peo- fessor Richard McNally and his col- had previously remembered it. The ple who come to suspect that their leagues Susan Clancy and Elke authors remind us that: “Recalling emotional problems and life difficul- Geraerts have greatly increased our CSA after many years is not the same ties are the result of blocked memories understanding of recovered memories thing as having recalled a previously of sexual abuse. These people tend to and false memories. McNally was the repressed memory of trauma.” Not recall memories gradually Ð often with first to study the cognitive processes of suggestive techniques; 2) people who people who claimed to have repressed “Factors that increase likelihood that are unexpectedly reminded of events memories and recovered memories of a recovered memory of CSA is gen- that they believe they had not thought child sexual abuse. For example, uine about for many years. These people McNally and colleagues found that 1. The victim experienced the abuse as tend to recall the memories suddenly. people who claimed to have recovered confusing, disgusting, or scary, but not McNally and colleagues have repressed memories did not show a as a terrifying trauma. found that the corroboration rate for superior ability to forget material relat- 2. The abuse occurred only once, or at people who either failed to think about ed to abuse as would be predicted by most a few times. their abuse or forgot their previous rec- ollection and later recalled it sponta- the dissociative amnesia hypothesis. 3. The victim failed to understand the neously after encountering reminders They also found that people reporting experience as sexual or as abusive. recovered child sexual abuse memories outside of psychotherapy is the same exhibit a heightened propensity for 4. The victim successfully avoided rate as that of people who never forgot thinking about experience. forming false memories. The their abuse. researchers failed to find the cognitive 5. There were no reminders so the vic- The authors argue that the “repres- characteristics that the theory of disso- tim forgot about it. sion interpretation does not withstand ciative amnesia predicted. 6. The victim forgot prior recollections empirical scrutiny,” and note that pro- The current paper brings even of abuse producing the illusion that he ponents of dissociative amnesia have greater clarity to the debate. Ordinary or she had forgotten it all along. made significant errors in interpreting memory processes can explain the sub- 7. When person recalls during adult- the studies on which they rely. For jective experience of recovering mem- hood, recollections sudden and accom- example, they note that in some stud- ories in some situations. The authors panied by shock that she had forgotten ies, the memory problems that are note that the memory debate has been it. mentioned actually refer to everyday characterized by two perspectives: 1) 8. When the recollection occurs sponta- forgetfulness—not an inability to “Some people repress their memories neously in response to reminders out- remember the trauma. Other errors of abuse because these experiences side of suggestive psychotherapy. proponents frequently make include confusing a failure to encode an expe- have been so emotionally traumatic, 9. The memories that are spontaneous rience with the inability to recall it and and they become capable of recalling outside of therapy are more likely to be the child sexual abuse only when it is corroborated. mistaking organic amnesia for the psy- psychologically safe to do so many chic repression of trauma. 10. Lab research indicates those who years later.” The other perspective: The repression interpretation lacks recover memories gradually in therapy convincing scientific support. There is “Many reports of recovered memories exhibit heightened propensity to exhibit of sexual abuse are false memories, false memories on Deese-Roediger- plentiful solid evidence that shows that often inadvertently fostered by thera- McDermott wordlist task. Those who some people do recover memories of pists.” In this article, the authors pro- spontaneously recover their memories child sexual abuse that never occurred. vide a third interpretation that applies outside of therapy show a heightened This does not mean all recovered mem- to a subset of people who report recov- “forgot it all along” effect in laboratory ories are false. The current research ering memories of child sexual abuse. studies when compared to those who shows that ordinary memory processes This third interpretation is not a recover memories in psychotherapy.” can explain the subjective experience middle of the road position. Rather it McNally & Geraerts (2009). of recovering memories in some situa-

FMS Foundation Newsletter SPRING 2009 Vol. 18 No. 2 3 tions. “[W]hat’s ailing Tara [DID/MPD] delusions are real to the person experi- Many states have extended their isn’t new…..cases like hers have cap- encing them, but unreal for third par- statutes of limitations in situations in tured the public’s imagination for ties. which there are claims of recovered decades, from the Three Faces of Eve Kluft’s answer “It sure is” is over- repressed memories. The authors state in the 50’s to Sybil in the 70s.” reaching. It is not supported by enough that because of their research, the Ironically, it is the entertainment evidence. DID/MPD prophets may be statute of limitations should not be industry that decides what is offered to “sure,” but many others are not so arro- tolled just because someone makes a the public based on decisions about gantly confident. Indeed, a 1999 study claim that he or she has been unable to what is likely to capture the public’s of board-certified psychiatrists found recall abuse for many years, even when imagination. The public will be capti- “little consensus regarding the diag- the abuse is corroborated. Ordinary vated by the stories and the characters nostic status or scientific validity of memory processes, not repression, presented to them—whether Batman, dissociative amnesia or dissociative explain the subjective experience of Spiderman, Iron Man, or Eve, Sybil or identity disorder.” [2] recovering a memory. “A genuine Tara.[1] It is the dramatization of In the infomercial, Kluft defines recovered child sexual abuse memory DID/MPD that the audience finds of dissociation as: does not require repression, trauma, or interest. The narration continues: “[Ffailure to integrate normal even complete forgetting.” aspects of sense of self, your memory, c “Evidence of personality transfor- your perception, your level of con- Dissociation mation can be traced back to early sciousness in a normal way.” Paleolithic cave paintings.” Prophets and Profiteers: What does normal mean? A Hidden Special-Interest Group The subtleness of gently inserting Dissociation enthusiasts would call my Numan Gharaibeh, M.D. the word “personality” before transfor- daydreaming, or my missing a high- mation is deceptive and insulting to the way exit because I was engrossed in Cable television may be immune viewer’s intelligence. Primitive soci- NPR news a sign of a dissociative from responsibility for its dramatiza- eties were saturated with superstition, diagnosis; my diagnosis: Homo sapi- tions, and it may shrug off criticism magic, myth, and curses. Physical ens. that a particular program is irresponsi- transformation is evident in the super- Moreover, other diagnoses share ble, harmful, misleading, incorrect, stitions of werewolves, vampires, symptoms attributed to DID/MPD. For and even dangerous by claiming the satyres, nymphs, and people cursed example, there is a disturbance of defense of free speech or “in entertain- into frogs, pigs, or monkeys. Using sense of self in borderline personality ment, anything goes.” Paleolithic cave paintings to support a disorder; a lack of integration of mem- It seems likely that Showtime will claim or prove a point is an indication ories in dementia, blackouts, or con- hide behind the “it’s just a dramatiza- of the bankruptcy of logical arguments cussions; there are disturbances in per- tion” and “we did not claim it was edu- for MPD. ception associated with many psychi- cational” defense for its new series Richard Kluft says on the infomer- atric disorders; and there are varying about multiple personality: the United cial: levels of consciousness in those expe- States of Tara. Are those legitimate riencing partial seizures and some- excuses given the fact that Showtime “The most common question people ask me is: Is it real? And the answer is times the effects of prescription med- included explanatory material about ‘It sure is.’” ications. MPD by a psychiatrist in an infomer- Kluft adds: cial? And what about the psychiatrists “Is it real?” is the kind of question who contribute to the program’s that is appealing because of simplicity “Put simply DID is nothing more “informercial?” What is their ethical and its yes/no logic. A busy layperson elaborate than a little child weeping in responsibility? Can (or will) Richard has little time to see through the smoke bed at night wishing they were some- one else, somewhere else…” Kluft, M.D. or Colin Ross, M.D. be screen. “Is it real?” may not be held responsible for misleading the answered until there is an agreement Is there is a human being who has public and for making irresponsible on the meaning of “real.” Otherwise, not at sometime wished she were statements? Following are some state- the only answer to this question would someone else, somewhere else? be: “It depends on whom you ask, of ments from the informercial and my “It’s a way of trying to cope with comments about them. course.” What is real (and what “real” overwhelming circumstances. Often In the infomercial for the United is) to individual X may not be real for that’s abuse.” States of Tara a narrator claims that: individual Y. For example, some phe- This is a hypothesis. Where is the nomena such as hallucinations and

4 FMS Foundation Newsletter SPRING 2009 Vol. 18 No. 2 evidence? An extensive review of the ble had Kluft stated that he thinks or If dissociative experience scales published literature appearing in the believes that MPD/DID is not rare. If similar to the items above were used, I 2004 Canadian Journal of he had answered honestly, he would am surprised that the percentage was Psychiatry[3] found no evidence to have added that MPD was considered so low. support Kluft’s assertion. a very rare disorder until after the Kluft is asked: “How many per- There is an abundance of retro- books and movies The Three Faces of sonalities can a child come up with?” spective interpretation in DID therapy Eve and Sybil appeared. In 1980, there He replies: (as well as therapies for other condi- were only 200 cases in world history. “The number can be astronomical, tions). The historical accuracy and reli- By 1986 there were 6,000 recorded in the hundreds or even higher.” ability of such retrospective interpreta- cases and the number has continued to Kluft could have mentioned that in tions should be taken with informed explode. addition to the enormous growth in the “What is problematic is that most peo- and healthy skepticism. number of MPD/DID cases, there has ple aren’t taught how to systematically To therapists such as Kluft, also been inflation of the number of repression (inherited from psychoana- screen for it.” This seems contradictory. If the alters. Twenty years ago, the mean lytic therapy) is accepted as fact. number of alters per case was perhaps Speculating on children’s “defense disease is common, then why is it not diagnosed more often? Kluft would ten. Now it is up to sixteen to twenty. mechanisms” or coping skills (i.e. In a 1988 article, Richard Kluft wrote repression) is a retrospective distortion have us believe that it is because “most people aren’t taught how to sys- that he had a patient with more than and carries little weight when com- 4,500 alters and another with more pared to the detailed observational tematically screen for it.” There are tests readily available on than 4,000. [4] studies of children. In fact prospective Can children under twelve actually studies (which carry much less bias) the Web that claim to screen for MPD/DID. For example at: articulate highly abstract slippery con- have shown how unreliable retrospec- cepts such as personalities? Most of tive recollections may be. http://counsellingresource.com/quizze s/des/index.html there can be found: the information comes from adults in There are many other problems therapy who believe they have recov- with this hypothesis. Kluft comments: Dissociative Experiences Scale, A Screening Test for Dissociative ered memories of their childhoods. “Certainly there are places in the Identity Disorder. It is a 28-question Kluft: world where awful things of abuse are self-test. (See box page 6/7) The first “.. it’s not at all unusual for children happening—where you’re watching with a religious backgrounds to form genocide, you’re watching people two questions are indicative of all: personalities based on even angels or starve to death, overwhelming experi- 1. Some people have the experience saints or even Jesus...” ences that you just can’t bear. It often of driving or riding in a car or bus or helps to be able to separate those subway and suddenly realizing that “It’s not all that unusual for people kinds of behaviors. When that occurs they don't remember what has hap- with a Native American background in connection with trauma, you often pened during all or part of the trip. to form alters that are based on certain get such extreme separation that you tribal totemic animals...” (Never)ooooooooooo(Always) get something like DID. “ “One patient was brought up by par- 2. Some people find that sometimes If overwhelming circumstances ents who were movie fans and hoped they are listening to someone talk and are cited as “causation” factors, then that their daughter would somehow they suddenly realize that they did not where are all the African, Afghan, become an actress. You can bet that hear part or all of what was said. South Asian, South American, and she came up with an amazing stable of Eastern European women (and men) (Never)ooooooooooo (Always) different alters, many of them based who have been through much more Perhaps MPD/DID is not diag- on famous Hollywood celebrities. “overwhelming circumstances” than nosed as often as Kluft would like That is what is in her environment and that is what she learned to use in order their North American White counter- because others see the screening tests to cope.” parts? And why wasn’t there an epi- as a description of normal human In the MPD literature there are demic of MPD/DID among the men experience. descriptions of alters of people of the and women who were Holocaust sur- Kluft comments: vivors? opposite sex, of the treating therapist, “If you look at 100 consecutive psy- Kluft declares: of infants, television characters, and chiatric patients probably somewhere demons. There have been descriptions “DID isn’t rare at all.” between 1 and 5 percent will have pre- of dog, cat, duck, and lobster alters. viously unknown DID.” It would have been more responsi- There have been alters of people thou-

FMS Foundation Newsletter SPRING 2009 Vol. 18 No. 2 5 sands of years old or from another this manner actually be a hidden spe- Dissociative Experiences Scale, A Screening dimension.[5] cial-interest group perpetrating an illu- Test for Dissociative Identity Disorder. According to Kluft: sion through the entertainment media? http://counsellingresource.com/quizzes/des/in Numan Gharaibeh, M.D.: Principal dex.html “There are two superstar cases in Psychiatrist, Western Connecticut Mental Please note: This test will only be scored cor- the history of DID. One of those is Health Network, Danbury, CT. General rectly if you answer each one of the questions. Eve, The Three Faces of Eve. … has Psychiatry at New York Medical College, 1. Some people have the experience of driving gone public. … She’s written a num- Forensic Psychiatry at Massachusetts or riding in a car or bus or subway and sud- ber of books about her treatment and Mental Health Center, Boston. denly realizing that they don't remember what about her life after treatment. She is has happened during all or part of the trip. really a wonderful example of how a (Never)ooooooooooo(Always) person can come together from this 1. Why is it that Jeckyl and Hyde are not spo- 2. Some people find that sometimes they are ken about often when DID/MPD is men- listening to someone talk and they suddenly disorder and have a productive life tioned? Is it because Dr. Jeckyl does not fit the and make a very solid contribution.” realize that they did not hear part or all of current theories of DID enthusiasts (a male, no what was said. I always wondered why MPD/DID indication of sexual abuse, no memories to (Never)ooooooooooo(Always) patients are so attached to their diagno- recover from repression, no savior therapist, a 3. Some people have the experience of finding sis and so territorial about it when most villain not a victim). themselves in a place and having no idea how 2. Pope, H.G., et al. (1999). Attitudes toward psychiatric patients don’t want to be they got there. (Never)ooooooooooo(Always) DSM-IV dissociative disorders diagnoses 4. Some people have the experience of finding “labeled.” among board-certified American psychiatrists. themselves dressed in clothes that they don't American Journal of Psychiatry, 156, 321-323. remember putting on. “Sybil is a wonderful landmark 3. Piper, A. & Merskey, H. (2004). The persis- case. She is someone who made a very (Never)ooooooooooo(Always) tence of folly: A critical examination of 5. Some people have the experience of finding successful recovery and had a wonder- Dissociative Identity Disorder, Part 1: The new things among their belongings that they ful career but did not go public. Unlike excesses of an improbable disorder and Part 2: do not remember buying. Eve, she opted for a very quiet and The defence and decline of Multiple (Never)ooooooooooo(Always) reserved and private life.” Personality or Dissociative Identity Disorder. 6. Some people sometimes find that they are Canadian Journal of Psychiatry Vol 49(9), approached by people that they do not know It is less than honest for Kluft to 592-600and Vol 49(10),678-683. omit mention of the fact that tapes of who call them by another name or insist that 4. Kluft, R. (1988). The phenomenology and they have met them before. sessions of Sybil with her psychiatrist treatment of extremely complex multiple per- (Never)ooooooooooo(Always) Cornelia Wilbur, M.D., have shown sonality disorder. Dissociation, 1 (4), 47-58 7. Some people sometimes have the experi- that at least some of Sybil’s alters were 5. Piper, A. (1998). Multiple personality disor- ence of feeling as though they are standing der: Witchcraft survives in the twentieth the consequence of highly suggestive next to themselves or watching themselves do Century. Skeptical Inquirer, May/June, 44-50. something and they actually see themselves as therapy that used and drugs. 6. See FMSF Newsletter May/June 2006, if they were looking at another person. It is less than honest to omit the infor- Volume 15 No. 3 ... (Never)ooooooooooo(Always) 8. Some people are told that they sometimes mation that another psychiatrist who c worked with Sybil did not agree that do not recognize friends or family members. she had MPD. [6] (Never)ooooooooooo(Always) 9. Some people find that they have no memo- In the end, one has to ask if board Excerpt from interview with ry for some important events in their lives (for certified psychiatrists find “little con- Diablo Cody, the writer of example, a wedding or graduation). sensus regarding the diagnostic status “United States of Tara” (Never)ooooooooooo(Always) of DID,” should Kluft be regarded as a 10. Some people have the experience of being “Have viewers recognized them- accused of lying when they do not think that prophet or profiteer? Usually selves in Tara, said, ‘Maybe I have they have lied. (Never)ooooooooooo(Always) MPD/DID treatment of the kind Kluft this disorder’? Have you gotten that 11. Some people have the experience of look- describes is a lengthy process. At a reaction?” asked Smith ing in a mirror and not recognizing them- time when psychiatry and medicine selves. (Never) ooooooooooo(Always) seek the most efficient way in which to “Yeah, it surprises me,” Cody said. 12. Some people have the experience of feel- “People actually have said that.” ing that other people, objects, and the world help a patient back to productive sta- around them are not real. tus, drawing out many “alters” and Smith, T. (2009, March 8). Unraveling (Never)ooooooooooo(Always) excavating decades-old “memories” the secret of “alters”. Doctors are of two 13. Some people have the experience of feel- and then taking years of treatment to minds about multiple personality disor- ing that their body does not seem to belong to der. CBS Sunday Morning. them. (Never)ooooooooooo(Always) integrate them back to one functioning 14. Some people have the experience of Retrieved on March 9, 2009 from productive self seems self-serving sometimes remembering a past event so vivid- from the perspective of therapist fees. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories ly that they feel as if they were reliving that Might those who treat MPD/DID in /2009/03/08/sunday/main4852177.shtml event.

6 FMS Foundation Newsletter SPRING 2009 Vol. 18 No. 2 (Never)ooooooooooo (Always) Therapy in Perth, Misinterpreting Psychogenic 15. Some people have the experience of not Western Australia being sure whether things that they remember Amnesia as Traumatic Amnesia Matthew Meinck is a self-styled happening really did happen or whether they “Psychogenic amnesia is a rare just dreamed them. New Age “healer” near Perth, Western syndrome whose hallmark is sudden, (Never)ooooooooooo(Always) Australia who believes that people 16. Some people have the experience of being massive retrograde memory loss, retain body memories of past abuse. in a familiar place but finding it strange and including some loss of personal iden- Meinck, a former monk, also believes unfamiliar. (Never)ooooooooooo(Always) tity, which cannot be attributed to a 17. Some people find that when they are that he can release those memories direct physical insult to the brain watching television or a movie they become during two-week-long retreats that he (Kihlstrom & Schacter, 2000). so absorbed in the story that they are unaware organizes. He uses regressive therapy, of other events happening around them. Neurologists assessing these cases intensive meditation, and deep-tissue (Never)ooooooooooo(Always) can sometimes identify antecedent massages. FMSF Newsletter readers 18. Some people find that they become so stressors, but these are seldom trau- involved in a fantasy or daydream that it feels will surely not be surprised to learn matic (e.g., difficulties at work). as though it were really happening to them. that most of his patients recover (Never)ooooooooooo(Always) Moreover, it is unclear whether the “memories” of being sexually abused 19. Some people find that they sometimes are stressor precipitated the syndrome or by their parents. Now, at least eight able to ignore pain. coincidentally preceded it (McNally, (Never)ooooooooooo(Always) irate former patients have gone to the 2003, pp 186-189). The term psy- 20. Some people find that that they some- police and the media in an effort to chogenic implies the absence of an times sit staring off into space, thinking of expose what they claim has become a nothing, and are not aware of the passage of obvious organic cause rather than an cult. Their aim is to have Meinck’s time. identified psychological etiology. counseling business shut down. (Never)ooooooooooo(Always) Most cases of psychogenic amnesia 21. Some people sometimes find that when The Sunday Times of Perth investi- remit within hours, days, or weeks, they are alone they talk out loud to them- gated the allegations. The paper had selves. and often without therapeutic inter- the complainants sign oaths that their (Never)ooooooooooo(Always) vention. stories were true. Among the former 22. Some people find that in one situation “The striking differences they may act so differently compared with patients was one woman who said that between the syndrome of psy- another situation that they feel almost as if Meinck talked her into telling her par- chogenic amnesia and reports of they were two different people. ents that she needed space from them (Never)ooooooooooo(Always) traumatic dissociative amnesia mean because they were harming her. She 23. Some people sometimes find that in cer- that they are dissimilar clinical con- said that she has not seen her parents tain situations they are able to do things with structs. With traumatic dissociative amazing ease and spontaneity that would usu- for several years even though she no amnesia, a person is (allegedly) ally be difficult for them (for example, sports, longer believes they ever hurt her. work, social situations, etc.). unable to recall a specific traumatic Another person told about the thou- (Never)ooooooooooo(Always) event rather than being entirely sands and thousands of dollars she 24. Some people sometimes find that they unable to recall his or her past. cannot remember whether they have done spent. One man said he had even con- Persons alleged to have repressed something or have just thought about doing it fessed to “raping” his children and a memories of trauma do not entirely (for example, not knowing whether they have babysitter. Fortunately, he realized that just mailed a letter or have just thought about forget their personalities.” p 276 his memories were false after treat- mailing it). (Never)ooooooooooo(Always) Geraerts, E. & McNally, R.J. (2008). 25. Some people find evidence that they have Assessment of recovered and false memo- ment at a local hospital. done things that they do not remember doing. ries. In R. Rogers (Ed.) Clinical Assessment Michael Meinck refused to com- (Never)ooooooooooo(Always) of Malingering and Deception (3rd ed). 274- ment on the article and was not avail- 26. Some people sometimes find writings, 284. New York: Guilford. drawings, or notes among their belongings able for an interview. Michael Meinck, that they must have done but cannot remem- a charismatic leader, is an example of ber doing. (Never)ooooooooooo (Always) “More important than learning the problems that can arise when coun- 27. Some people sometimes find that they how to recall things is finding ways selors are not regulated. hear voices inside their head that tell them to to forget things.” do things or comment on things that they are Eagan, C. (2009, January 17). Bizarre secret Eric Butterworth doing. (Never)ooooooooooo (Always) cult ripping families apart. PerthNow. 28. Some people sometimes feel as if they are Retrieved on March 12, 1009 from looking at the world through a fog so that “I have a photographic memory, http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,215 people and objects appear far away or but I don’t have same-day service.” 98,24926123-948,00.html unclear. Peggy D. Joseph (Never)ooooooooooo(Always) c

FMS Foundation Newsletter SPRING 2009 Vol. 18 No. 2 7 A Big Step Closer to Erasing day be able to remove the terror from about his thoughts at a meeting of the Frightening Memories terrifying memories. For example, the British False Memory Society: Han, J., Kushner, S.A., Yiu, A.P, Hsiang, sights and sounds of a car accident “When I raised the accusation, often H., Buck, T, Waisman, A., Bontempi, B., would remain, but the memory of the put forward by those who believe in Neve, R.L., Frankland, P.W., Josselyn, fear could be removed. the repression of memory, that the S.A. (2009, March 13). Selective erasure 1. Hall, J. (2009, March 13). Should painful BFMS was full of child abusers, the of a fear memory. memories be erased? Toronto Star. Retrieved engineer said: ‘Look, if you were real- Science, 323, 1492-1496. on March 15, 2009 from ly a child abuser, it’s not the sort of The inspiration for the 2004 sci- http://www.thestar.com/article/601600. thing you would want to tell anyone ence fiction film Eternal Sunshine of See else about. Even when you’re falsely http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/32 the Spotless Mind was the work of accused you think twice about telling 3/5920/1507b/DC1 for a transcript of a pod- someone. But the outrage at the injus- researchers headed by Sheena Josselyn cast interview with researcher Sheena tice of a false accusation is greater at Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Josselyn. than that reluctance and it’s that that Children.[1] In the movie, two ex-lovers c drives you to seek the help and emo- decided to erase their memories of I Remember—or Do I? tional support of a society like this.’ each other. Later, in spite of the treat- This rang true with me. After all, if sex Sabbagh, K. (2009). Remembering Our ment, they reunited. abusers all band together and pretend Childhood: How Memory Betrays Us. Although the idea of altering our to be innocent, why aren’t their estab- New York: Oxford University Press. memories has been the stuff of fiction, lished societies of murderers, burglars, such as George Orwell’s 1984, recent- Karl Sabbagh is a British profes- and embezzlers doing the same ly researchers have been working to try sional writer and television documen- thing?” (p. 174) to find ways to help people cope with tary producer. He is skilled at explain- FMSF Newsletter readers will like- the aftermath of horrible events. They ing complicated matters in a way in ly find new information in this book. are experimenting with altering memo- which non-experts can understand, and They may also view it as a book that ry for therapeutic purposes so that con- he is also able to do it in an entertain- would be good to give to friends or ditions such as post-traumatic stress ing manner. family members who do not fully disorder might be avoided. Remembering Our Childhood is a understand the memory wars. In what has been described as “an wonderfully written book about mem- ingenious set of experiments,” ory. Sabbagh begins with stories of c Josselyn and colleagues have been able people telling what they remember Canadian Scientists Find That to identify the fear-storing neurons in from their childhoods and then uses Child Abuse Causes Brain Changes the amygdala region of mice. (It is con- these stories to bring scientific Patrick O McGowan, Aya Sasaki, Ana C sidered almost certain that human fear- research to life to show how easily our D’Alessio, Sergiy Dymov, Benoit Labonté, storing neurons would be located in the memories may be reshaped or even Moshe Szyf, Gustavo Turecki, Michael J same region of the amygdala.) The false memories planted. His interviews Meaney (2009) Epigenetic regulation of researchers were then able to inject a with memory researchers are colorful the glucocorticoid receptor in human brain virus that killed the neurons where the and interesting, in part because he associates with childhood abuse. Nature Neuroscience, 12 (3), 342-348. fearful memory was stored. freely expresses his own perspectives. Karim Nader, a professor of neuro- Using the research that demon- For many years, psychiatrists have science at McGill University stated: strates how unreliable our early child- claimed that abused or neglected chil- “The elegance of this one, which goes hood memories may be, Sabbagh dren have a greater probability of suf- orders of magnitude beyond other argues passionately against ‘recovered fering from mental problems such as studies, is that now they didn’t do memory therapies.’ He leads readers anxiety or depression later in life. Yet, something that was global to all neu- into the memory wars through the con- other abused children are resilient. rons in the lateral nucleus. They can sequences of some legal cases, noting They somehow manage in spite of hav- kill only the neurons that they think that courts have not yet fully accepted ing horrible childhoods. Scientists express the memory.” the implications of the new memory would like to know why some people The experiment did not destroy the research. Sabbagh insists that objective are resilient and others are not and they brain’s entire capacity to remember scientific inquiry must be the basis for have been working to understand how fear, just the specific recollection in the making sound legal judgments. abuse or neglect might affect the brain. experiment. The researchers suggest Sabbagh is truly sympathetic to A team of scientists from McGill that there is hope that they will some- falsely accused families. He writes University in Montreal has taken a big

8 FMS Foundation Newsletter SPRING 2009 Vol. 18 No. 2 step forward. Led by Michael Meaney, investigators did not specify what tion that had been converted to a more the team in the past has shown how types of abuse occurred in the 12 vic- relaxing environment with items such affectionate maternal care can change tims; they mention that it was only as a recliner, a sofa and soft lights. In a the expression of genes in animals such “severe.” Thus there are many ques- cognitive interview, subjects are first that they show less physiological tions still unanswered. “The bottom asked open-ended questions and they response to stress. These changes (bio- line is that this is a terrific line of work, respond in a narrative fashion. logical buffers) are passed on to the but there is a very long way to go either The purpose of the interview was next generation. to understand the effect of early expe- to help Lenora Parker remember the The changes they have observed rience or the causes of mental disor- details of her alleged vision of her are referred to as “epigenetic.” An epi- ders,” explained Dr. Steven Hyman,[1] father strangling her mother. The inter- genetic change is something that professor of neurobiology at Harvard. view was not tape recorded. Instead, changes the activation of genes without 1. Quoted in Carey, B. (2009, February 24). one officer took notes as he sat in changing the DNA structure. After abuse, changes in the brain. New York another room and observed. During the Times. Retrieved on March 20, 2009 from In the current study, the team http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/24/health/res interview, the group left to visit the examined the brains of 24 people who earch/24abuse.html. grave of Parker's mother. had committed suicide. Twelve of the In a 2007 hearing, Daniel Wilson, c people had been abused or neglected as chair of the Creighton University psy- Nebraska Murder Case Based on children and 12 had not. The chiatry department, testified that there 30-Hour Cognitive Interview is researchers obtained the childhood his- is no scientific evidence to show that a Dismissed[1] tory of each person through extensive cognitive interview is a reliable way to interviews with family members and In October 2008, the murder extract a traumatic memory from an by examining medical records. They charge against Donald J. Sykora was adult who had witnessed an event 33 even accounted for whether victims dismissed. In 2005, prosecutors had years earlier when she was 4. Wilson suffered mood disorders, alcoholism or accused Sykora of the 1971 murder of was concerned about the great duration drug addictions. his wife based primarily on the testi- of the interview and the impact of the The results showed that the people mony of his step-daughter Lenora Kay visit to the mother's grave. who had been abused or neglected as Parker who had recovered memories in In that same hearing, Ronald children showed epigenetic changes a 30-hour highly suggestive cognitive Fisher, a Florida International that most likely made them more bio- interview in 2004. Parker had been University professor of experimental logically sensitive to stress. This sug- four-years-old at the time of her moth- psychology, testified that cognitive gests that the trauma of child abuse or er’s death, and no charges were filed at interviews are as reliable or more reli- neglect might be associated with an the time. (See FMSF Newsletter, Vol 16 able than standard police interviews. alteration in the way in which a per- No. 4) He said people usually provide more son’s genes express themselves. These The case was dismissed because information in a cognitive interview. results appear to translate the research Sarpy County District Judge William In a 2007 decision, Judge Zastera done with laboratory animals to Zastera concluded that there was no noted that the Parker interview did not humans. way to determine what Parker really follow recommendations for standard Does this research show that child- remembered and what memories could cognitive interviews and that the ques- abuse causes mental disorders? Not have been suggested by other influ- tions of a federal agent were so sugges- yet. First, the direction of causality is ences. Judge Zastera disallowed tive that Parker's testimony would not not certain; the observed effects might Parker's testimony because her memo- be reliable. be caused by the abuse itself, or they ry had been enhanced by a 30-hour 1.State of Nebraska v. Donald J. Sykora, CR might be caused by some other con- cognitive interview, a technique he said 05-148,District Court of Sarpy County. was not scientific and could produce (January, 2007). founding variable that is associated Baez, L (2008, October 28). Sarpy prosecutors with the abuse. For example, children false memories. Without the testimony lose hope in 1971 homicide case. Omaha who are abused or neglected are prob- of Lenora Parker, prosecutors did not World Herald. Retrieved on February 15, 2009 ably more likely than non-abused chil- have enough evidence to proceed. from http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_ dren to have suffered other harms, such According to media reports, two page=2798&u_sid=10471578&u_rss=1& See Whitehouse, W.G., Orne, E.C., Dinges, as poor nutrition, infectious diseases, federal agents and a police officer D.F., Bates, B.L., Nadon, R., Orne, M.T. and other problems. interviewed Lenora Parker for four (2005, Summer). The cognitive interview: Thus it is not clear what the specif- days in a row. The interview was con- Does it successfully avoid the dangers of ic causal factor might be. Also, the ducted in a meeting room in a fire sta- forensic hypnosis? American Journal of Psychology 118(2). 213-234.

FMS Foundation Newsletter SPRING 2009 Vol. 18 No. 2 9 Background of Shanley Case—Reprinted from FMSF 2005 March/April Newsletter 14 (2). On February 7, 2005, a Boston jury found defrocked Roman Catholic priest Paul Shanley guilty of sexually abus- Update: Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court to hear ing now 27-year-old Boston fireman Paul Busa when he appeal of former priest Paul R. Shanley was a young child. Shanley, age 74, was sentenced to 12-15 Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. Paul Shanley, years in prison. Supreme Judicial Court, Middlesex County, No. SJC-10382 The evidence in the case consisted entirely of Busa’s In May, 2009, the highest court in Massachusetts will recovered memories. Busa testified that his girlfriend called hear an appeal from the defrocked priest Paul R. Shanley him on January 31 to tell him about a Boston Globe article who was convicted in 2005 of raping and fondling Paul about Shanley.[1] Busa said he was surprised because every- Busa. Last November, Paul Shanley’s motion for a new one had liked Shanley. His girlfriend called again on trial had been denied by the trial judge. In agreeing to hear February 11 to tell him that his friend Gregory Ford was Shanley’s appeal, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial accusing Shanley. Busa then called Ford. He testified that Court (SJC) has indicated the issues in the case are impor- his own memories then started coming back. “I felt like my tant enough to bypass the Appeals Court. world was coming to an end.”[2] At the time, Busa was a mil- Shanley was convicted on the basis of Busa’s 2002 itary police officer in Colorado. recovery of a repressed memory. A critical point of the On February 12, Busa visited a military therapist and appeal is that Shanley’s trial attorney, Frank Mondano, then flew to Boston. According to investigative reporter Jo failed to effectively challenge the admissibility of Ann Wypijewski.[3] the ticket was paid for by attorney Rod “repressed memory” evidence. Robert F. Shaw, Jr. of MacLeish who was representing Ford. Busa also met with Cambridge, Massachusetts is representing Shanley in the the same mental health professionals as Ford appeal. and he also retained MacLeish. After Busa returned to The Massachusetts law on the admission of repressed Colorado and entered counseling, he was told to start a jour- memory evidence was set in 2001 in Commonwealth v. nal of his memories. He backdated the journal to February Frangipane. Although the Supreme Judicial Court in that 1. Busa was discharged from the military in April. case initially acknowledged that there was a significant con- In the 1970s, Father Shanley was known as a charismat- troversy in the scientific literature, it then modified its ic “street priest” who worked with troubled adolescents and issued opinion to say that scientific controversy was con- supported gay rights. Until the criminal trial, no one had fined to the mechanisms of memory and indeed there was ever accused Shanley of being sexually involved with no controversy in the scientific literature about the validity young children. There were, however, claims of his involve- of repressed and recovered memory. This modification ment with adolescents or young adults in the 60s and 70s. came about after an amicus brief was filed, post-decision, After the publication of the Pulitzer Prize-winning by the Leadership Council [1] that appeared to review the Boston Globe series and a later press conference by attorney scientific literature but, in our view, was riddled with seri- MacLeish, Shanley became one of, if not the, most high- ous errors and omissions. It appears that appellant profile figures in the church abuse scandals. Shanley is one Frangipane was not permitted to respond to the brief filed of the few priests to be criminally charged in Massachusetts. by the Leadership Council. Nor were any other interested Because he had moved to California in 1990, the clock parties solicited for input. stopped on the 15 year statute of limitations. The Supreme Judicial Court’s decision in this case will There were two young men, besides Ford and Busa who be an important comment on the legal status of “repressed made claims against Shanley. They all attended the same memories” in the legal system at this point in time. Catholic religious classes at St. Jean L’Evangeliste in 1. Murphy, W.J. (2001, March 30). Brief of the Leadership Council, Newton, Mass. They all said that Shanley would take them Submitted to Commonwealth of Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court out of class and rape them in the rectory, confessional and in Commonwealth v. Frangipane, SJC-08359. restroom from the time they were six until they were 11 or See (See http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090316/wypijewski for an 12. They all claimed that they immediately forgot being update of this case. raped or abused and that they recovered the memories after the Globe article. They all had the same lawyer. There is no record of any person during those years who noticed any- “The past is really almost as much a work of the thing unusual involving the boys and Shanley. imagination as the future.” In April 2004, all four received settlements from the Jessamyn West Church in civil cases. Ford is said to have received more

10 . FMS Foundation Newsletter SPRING 2009 Vol. 18 No. 2 than $1.4 million and Busa received repressed memories and that false 8). Shanley guilty; verdict delivers ‘victory,’ $500,000. memories can be implanted. vindication. Boston Herald, p. 7. In July 2004, prosecutors said that Elizabeth Loftus, Ph.D., the only Kukjian, S., & Cullen, K. (2002, June 21). Grand jury indicts Shanley, charges rape of “in order to make this the most man- witness for the defense, testified that four boys. Boston Globe, p. A22. ageable case for a jury to hear,” it her research shows that people can Lavoie, D. (2005, January 31). State wraps up would drop Ford and another person come to sincerely believe implanted case against defrocked priest. Associated from the case. A great deal had been memories. On cross-examination, Press. learned about Gregory Ford and his prosecutor Rooney asked Loftus about Lavoie, D. (2005, February 7). Defrocked life that caused many questions about statements she had made about priest convicted in notorious clergy sex abuse the reliability of his memories. The repressed memories in the past that case. , Monday, BC cycle. other accuser was dropped on the day were at odds with her current state- c jury selection began because no one ments. Loftus was unable to complete Update: Louisiana— could find him. her answers, and defense attorney Ponchatoula Sexual-abuse Case The trial began in mid-January Mondano did not follow up on redi- Mitchell, D.J. (2009, February 16). Prison and was shown on CourtTV. Busa rect. time could be avoided with plea. sobbed during some of his highly emo- In closing arguments, Prosecutor Advocate. Retrieved on March 12, 2009 tional testimony, and his wife Rooney said that the emotion Busa from http://www.2theadvocate.com/news /39743437.html described his awful pain and suffering showed when he testified was evi- after he recovered memories. dence that he was not fabricating his Robbin Lamonica, the estranged Classmates and two former teachers claims. “The emotions were raw. They wife of convicted former Hosanna from the school took the stand. None were real. They were reflective of the Church pastor Louis D. Lamonica, of the classmates testified that they pain he experienced,” she said. In his pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice ever saw Shanley remove anyone from closing, defense attorney Frank in an agreement with prosecutors. The class, although students were sent out Mondano argued that Busa’s story was terms of her “best interests of justice” of the class. One student testified that not reliable and that he made up the plea may allow Robbin Lamonica to he had once been sent to Shanley who story to get the money from a civil avoid prison. She did not admit to a had told him to stop giving the teacher trial. Prosecutor Rooney argued that specific act, but agreed that prosecu- a hard time and sent him right back to Busa already had the money from the tors have enough evidence to get a class. Under cross-examination, teach- civil trial so that would not explain his conviction. As part of the plea agree- ers could not recall Shanley taking willingness to endure the pain of the ment, prosecutors dismissed the children out of class. One stated that criminal trial. counts of rape and aggravated oral Busa would not even have been in the The jury deliberated 13 hours sexual battery against her, and Robbin religious class at the age he claimed. before reaching its decision. Jury Lamonica will testify at future trials in James Chu, M.D., an associate member Victoria Blier remarked that the Hosanna case. professor at Harvard Medical School, the jury agreed after discussion that (The following is reprinted from the was an expert for the prosecution. He you can experience something up to a Fall 2008 Newsletter.) testified that repressed memory is point, and then not think about it and Louis Lamonica, who was con- more common among people who suf- have plenty of other things in your life victed in September 2008, was the sec- fered repeated trauma as children than that are more important. ond of the seven members of the Hosanna Church in Ponchatoula who in those who suffered a single traumat- 1. Pfeiffer, S. (2002, January 31). Famed ic event. “It really is more this repeat- ‘street priest’ preyed upon boys. Boston were indicted in 2005 of child abuse ed trauma that tends to be forgotten by Globe, p. A21. that allegedly took place, sometimes some mechanism.” He noted that 2. Lavoi, D. (2005, January 26). Shanley’s with satanic rituals, at the church. The accuser testifies at child rape trial. Associated memories can return in a flood of first co-defendant, a youth minister at Press State & Local Wire, 4:56 Wednesday, the church, Austin "Trey" Bernard, III images and physical symptoms such as BC cycle. anxiety and sleeplessness, all of which 3. Wypijewski, J. (2004, September-October). was convicted in December 2007 and Busa said he experienced. Dr. Chu The passion of Father Paul Shanley. is serving a life sentence.[1] LegalAffairs. Retrieved February 9, 2005, used the term “dissociative barrier” to Ponchatoula is a small, rural town from http://www.legalaffairs.org/issues/ halfway between New Orleans and describe the mechanism that keeps September-October-2004/features_wypijews- traumatic memories locked up. Under ki_sepoct04.html. Baton Rouge situated on the northwest cross-examination, Chu acknowledged See also: rim of Lake Pontchartrain. The the intense debate about the validity of Ballou,. B., & Lawrence, J. (2005, February Assemblies of God Hosanna Church

FMS Foundation Newsletter SPRING 2009 Vol. 18 No. 2 11 was started in 1975. It thrived, grow- had to work for $10. a day at an elec- of the church. They apparently hired ing to a congregation of almost 1,000, trical company that Mowbray and Dawn Perlmutter, Ph.D. to help them until the 1984 death of the founder, some other church members owned, in their search for evidence of satanic Louis Lamonica's father (also named and he also had to clean the church. cult activity, but no evidence was ever Louis Lamonica). After a series of Other church members humiliated and found. After the expansive publicity interim pastors, the church passed on beat him. about satanic activity, those charges to Lamonica in 1993. Parishioners, One detective actually referred to were dropped. Authorities did find however, left the church in droves and Mowbray as the leader of the church hundred of pages of diaries written by at some point the church lost its and suggested that there was much both Lamonica and the boys that Assemblies of God affiliation. There infighting among the congregation of described abuse. was no oversight. 15.[5] Under the leadership of In addition to the confession that The history of the Hosanna Church Lamonica and then Mowbray, the con- Lamonica made to authorities, the is relevant because Lamonica's defense gregation dwindled to 10 or 15 people. prosecution also presented testimony argued that he had confessed to crimes Worship consisted of prophetically from four mental-health professionals he had not committed because he was inspired public confessions and vomit- to whom his sons, now 18 and 22, had under the sway of Lois Mowbray.[2] ing in order to cast out demons of sin. spoken of the abuse in spring of 2005. According to trial testimony, a parish- One witness stated: “The worship team In late 2005, however, both boys ioner named Lois Mowbray became would crowd around them and pray retracted their abuse stories. They told Hosanna's associate pastor soon after over them. This would make them start the jury that they had never been Lamonica took over the church. to throw up.”[4] By the time the church abused and said that their confessions Mowbray seems to have been respon- closed in 2003, it had become a cult. were the result of Lois Mowbray's con- sible for the fact that Sunday worship One person testified that toward the trol. Mowbray had directed their moth- sermons were replaced by many hours end, strangers who might come to ser- er to make the boys write down inci- of praising God and altar calls in which vice were turned away at the door. The dents of abuse. Mowbray and the Mowbray told one of the congregants church members had virtually no con- mother would suggest topics to the that he or she had to confess to a sin tact with anyone outside the church. boys and they were supposed to fill in (about which Mowbray had learned Authorities first learned about the the details. The prosecution's experts from God). Mowbray kept a 586-page Hosanna church abuse accusations in discounted the retractions. journal in which other parishioners April 2005 when Nicole Bernard, wife One of the children's therapists were supposed to write out confessions of the youth minister at the church, said that his symptoms of Tourette's to sex acts. [3] According to trial testi- telephoned the Ponchatoula Sheriff's Syndrome [7] got worse after he con- mony, Mowbray taught the “concept of Office to say that her daughter had fessed. The doctor who treated the spiritual thought, where lusting after a been abused from infancy until she Tourette's said that even though the person was the same as physically hav- was three by Louis Lamonica. The boys had been threatened which ing sex.”[4] Mowbray taught that if a very next day, Lamonica walked into prompted their original confessions person thought about a sin, it was the the sheriff's office and described sexu- “The story was being told in a consis- same as if the person had done it and al offenses at the church which includ- tent way in words that were consistent the person had to confess it. ed his abusing children for the past five with their own development level.” A Mowbray insisted that Lamonica's or six years. The detective with whom doctor who had found no physical evi- sons write about abuse in her book. he spoke said that Lamonica was not dence of any abuse said that both false When one son refused, Mowbray had confessing but trying to be helpful. and true recantations are not unusual in his mother lock him in his room and “He didn't come to turn himself in, he child abuse cases. A child might recant destroy all his belongings. He finally came to talk with us.”[6] Lamonica, because he or she did not want the par- broke down and said he had been however, was immediately arrested. ent to be arrested.[8] abused. Lamonica testified that Mowbray told The defense had planned to have According to his attorney, him that she had made a deal with the an expert testify about how to judge Lamonica refused to respond to the Sheriff's Office that he would not be the veracity of abuse allegations made altar call to confess. This caused arrested if he told about the abuse and by children. The judge did not allow Mowbray to make a concerted effort to satanic child-sex ring. this testimony saying that such testi- get him to change. She persuaded After the revelations by Lamonica, mony was inadmissible under Lamonica's wife to force him to leave investigators used digging equipment Louisiana state Supreme Court prece- his home and to live in the church. He and cadaver dogs to search the grounds dent because it is the jury and not the

12 FMS Foundation Newsletter SPRING 2009 Vol. 18 No. 2 expert who determines the truth of wit- low and behold, their children return. ness testimony. I have been patient with my daugh- The prosecution asked Lamonica ter. I too have attempted to reach out to why he suffered the humiliation and her and at the same time giving her made the confession. They wondered Christmas Dinner time to “grow up.” But I finally said: why he did not leave the cult. Our daughter “came back” in the “Enough, already!” When my daughter Lamonica said that he confessed year 2000, after being gone for 10 wants something, she gets close. When because he had come to believe that it years. She has had one or two relapses she doesn’t, she ignores me. She is 35 was the only way in which he could since then, but, in our opinion, she is and has had ample time to grow up. I hold his family together. There now 99.9999 percent back to her for- am moving on. I am no longer waiting appeared to be no explanation for why mer self. She and her husband and their for this twisted child to return with Lamonica did not leave the church. dog spent a week with us. On love. Assistant District Attorney Don Christmas Day, my son also came and These wayward children are dam- Wall prosecuted the Lamonica case. we all had dinner together for the first aged, broken in one manner or another. The defense attorney was Michael time in 18 years. Many thanks to If they someday see the light of their Thiel who also defended Austin FMSF for your work and encourage- waywardness, wonderful. But it is the Bernard, III. State District Judge Zoey ment. child who must have the epiphany. Waguespack presided. It appears that A mom and dad A dad the next person to be tried will be Paul c c Fontenot, a member of the Hosanna Some Things Never Change My Daughter’s Needs Never Met Church. 1. See FMS Foundation Newsletter, 2008 Vol Some things never change—some It is now approaching 16 years 17 No. 1) do. There has been a slight change in since my daughter first accused me. 2. Lemoine, D. (2008, August 30). Ex- my situation in that my daughter’s The church that facilitated and encour- Hosanna pastor: Confession forced. Retrieved three children have become very lov- aged her allegations because of their on 9/9/08 from http://www.2theadvocate.com/ news/27687024.html?showAll=y&c=y. ing, as they were years ago. They no negligent and criminal counseling 3. Grinberg, E. (2005, August 3). Claims of longer live close by, but when they remains contented in its original judg- , child abuse and a cult-like sex visit they come to see me and show me ment. My daughter’s true needs were ring to be aired in court. CourtTVNews. much affection. I am thankful for these never addressed even though they were Retrieved on 9/8/08 from http://www.courttv.com/trials/news/0705/29_be small mercies along with the happy known to the counselor. rnard_ctv.html memories of times past.” I find encouragement from the 4. Lemoine, D. (2008, September 1). Pastor’s My grandson and his fiancé were FMSF Newsletter records of retrac- trial may resume this week. 2theadvocate.com. having so much trouble planning their tions and reconciliations. Perhaps there Retrieved on 9/9/08 from http://www.2thead- vocate.com/news/27748934.html wedding because of the alienation in is still hope for me. 5. Lemoine, D. (2008, August 29). Hosanna the family that they decided to elope. A dad church rites described as cultlike. 2Thead They sent me pictures and look so c vocate.com. Retrieved on 9/9/08 from http:/ happy. An Isolated Instance? /www.2theadvocate.com/news/27646729.html A mom 6. Lyman, R. (2005, May 25). Sex charges fol- I have had two calls in the last few c low a church’s collapse. New York Times. weeks. Both pertained to adult children Retrieved on 12/5/07 from Enough Already! http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/25/nation- who had returned after years of accusa- al/25church.html?. What struck me most in the last tions and all seemed to be going well 7. Tourette’s syndrome (TS) is a neurological newsletter were the letters from read- when they suddenly began the old disorder characterized by repetitive, stereo- ers. It is an old subject, but one that accusations. I don’t know if this is a typed, involuntary movements and vocaliza- tions called tics. Tics are often worse with bothers me. I feel that some parents are new thing happening or just isolated excitement or anxiety and better during calm, stuck in the past, waiting for something instances but wanted you to be aware focused activities. to change that will bring their truant of them. 8. Lemoine, D. (2008, August 27). Experts tes- children back to them. In my opinion, An FMSF contact tify on abuse. 2the advocate.com. Retrieved on 9/9/08 from http://www.2theadvocate.com some of these parents unnecessarily c punish themselves. They can not, nor /news/27516669.html “Do not trust your memory; it is should not, feel responsible for the “Memory is the thing you forget a net full of holes; the most beautiful behavior of their children. Nor should with.” prizes slip through it.” they wait for the miraculous day when Alexander Chase Georges Duhamel

FMS Foundation Newsletter SPRING 2009 Vol. 18 No. 2 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 “Recovered reconciliation. Family members describe www.psychoheresy- the things they did to cope and to help Memories: aware.org/ministry.html reunite. Of particular interest are Beth The Bobgans question Christian counseling Rutherford’s comments about what her Are They Reliable?” www.IllinoisFMS.org family did that helped her to retract and FREE. Illinois-Wisconsin FMS Society return. www.ltech.net/OHIOarmhp Available in DVD format only: Call or write the FMS Ohio Group To order send request to Foundation for pamphlets. www.afma.asn.au FMSF -DVD, 1955 Locust St. Australian False Memory Association Philadelphia, PA 19103 Be sure to include your www.bfms.org.uk $10.00 per DVD; Canada add $4.00; address and the number of British False Memory Society other countries add $10.00 pamphlets you need. www.religioustolerance.org/sra.htm Make checks payable to FMS Information about 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 SPRING 2009 Vol. 18 No. 2 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 SUMMER 2009 issue is Health Practices PENNSYLVANIA May 10. Meeting notices MUST be in Pat 317-865-8913 Harrisburg writing and should be sent no later than Helen 574-753-2779 Paul & Betty 717-691-7660 two months before meeting.

FMS Foundation Newsletter SPRING 2009 Vol. 18 No. 2 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 April 1, 2009 Aaron T. Beck, M.D., D.M.S., University of Pennsylvania, The 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., , 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; , 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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