ABSTRACT
After discussing false childhood memories in an undergraduate class, one of us (IH) was approached by a young woman (whom we’ll call Sarah) who said, “I think that may have happened to me.” In further conversation, Sarah explained that she entered therapy for an eating disorder and had been told, early in the course of treatment, that she most likely had been sexually abused as a child. She was also told that she could not expect her eating disorder to improve until she recovered her repressed memories. After 4 months of repeated questioning, group therapy focused on abuse stories, and hypnosis-like relaxation to aid in memory recovery, she eventually recovered an instance of childhood sexual abuse. Because this did not cure her eating disorder, she was told that there must be more repressed memories, possibly involving other perpetrators. She ended treatment at that center and received help from a different therapist who did not focus on child abuse. When she described her experience, she expressed concern about her memory. Was the memory a true memory that had been forgotten and recovered? Was the memory a false memory created in response to the intense demands and suggestions she experienced?
