Nominated the "best book of the year" award by The National Association for the Advancement of Psychoanalysis
Short description:
Accusations of child abuse based on memories apparently
recovered in psychotherapy, support groups, and similar settings have
spurred a national debate. The question most frequently asked is,
do these recovered memories refer to real events? This is the wrong question
to ask, says Lawrence Hedges, the author. What is important is to understand
the psychodynamic roots of remembered abuse. Drawing on a century of psychoanalytic
study of memory and the way it operates in therapy, Hedges clarifies the
misunderstandings and misinformation which currently exist in the media
and popular press regarding memory and the nature of the psychotherapeutic
process by advocating taking recovered memories seriously. This
means looking beyond the immediate text of the memory into its psychic
origins in early childhood trauma
Reviews and comments from reviewers:
"Lawrence Hedges makes a powerful and compelling
argument for why traumatic memories recovered during psychotherapy need
to be taken seriously. He shows us how and why these memories whether
true or false or metaphor must be dealt with in thoughtful and responsible
ways, and not simply uncritically believed and used as tools for destruction."
—Elizabeth F. Loftus, Ph.D.
"This is a ground-breaking book, essential reading for all therapists
who deal with memories of early trauma. Using his previous psychoanalytic
work on the earliest developmental levels of personality as a background,
Hedges now takes us into the timely issue of therapy hours in which recovered
memories become the focus of attention. He moves into the current controversies
raging over the truth or falsehood of various charges against parents
and others in trust relationships, redefining "truth" in early
experience and in the context of transference and countertransference
relationships. By making clear the dangers to therapists and their clients
of simplistic notions in dealing with memories, he performs a valuable
service. How fine it would be if his concepts could be brought into public
discourse to modify the rigid and legalistic ideas that now prevail."
—Jacquelyn Gillespie, Ph.D.