Confusion surrounding the subject of remembering sexual abuse that occurred as a child is very understandable, since the subject matter is complicated, not to mention controversial.

Before the feminist movement in the 1970s, reports of child sexual abuse were generally downplayed or dismissed.  Women who reported abuse were often made to feel as if there were crazy or that is was somehow their fault.  As a result, most abuse was never reported or talked about.

More recently, there has been a lot of publicity on the subject in media headlines.  Many people are now familiar with a victim (either a woman or a man) reporting that they had forgotten about the abuse for many years and are now remembering it, often with the help of a therapist.

When they accuse the alleged abuser, that person’s response is often one of shock, followed by denial.  The alleged abuser may say that these memories are figments of the imagination of the victim.  This controversy has led to an important debate on “false memories” vs. “recovered memories.”

Arguments over this issue can become quite heated.  Some clarification of the terms “false memories” and “recovered memories” might be helpful. A repressed memory is a memory of a traumatic situation that is buried in the subconscious. The person is not aware of its existence.  A recovered memory is a repressed memory that is brought to consciousness so that an individual becomes aware of it.  Recovered memories are assumed to be from an actual even that had been repressed.  A false memory is fictitious – “memory” of an event that never occurred.

The advocates of the “recovered memory” process explain that repressed memories may be brought to the conscious mind through hypnosis, relaxation techniques or dream interpretation.  Some therapists think that if a client has certain symptoms such as low sexual desire, anxiety or difficulty maintaining relationships, it might indicate childhood sexual abuse that the client has repressed memories about.

The therapist may then use one of the above methods to elicit the memories.  Remembering these memories and learning ways to cope with them is believed to free the client of unwanted symptoms.

Those on the other side of the controversy say that people sometimes combine, confuse or invent memories to help define who they are as an individual.  They say that there are no controlled research studies supporting the theory that people repress memories of traumatic events.  In fact, some research supports that false memories can be created by repeatedly asking people the same questions until they “remember” events that never happened.  And of course, there are some therapists who may unintentionally suggest that the patient was abused. 

Since there is no conclusive scientific evidence to firmly support one side and completely disprove the other, the debate continues to this day. 

Therapists who are experienced and up-to-date on current literature will take all this information into account in the treatment of patients.