Suggestibility and repressed memories of abuse: a survey of psychotherapists' beliefs

Abstract

The mental health field is deeply divided in its views regarding the possibility of creating false memories of sexual abuse through suggestive procedures. Psychotherapists in clinical practice were surveyed regarding their views on memory and hypnosis in order to assess how their perspectives might influence their clinical methods. Survey data regarding hypnosis and suggestibility indicate that while psychotherapists largely view hypnosis favorably, they often do so on the basis of misinformation. A significant number of psychotherapists erroneously believe, for example, that memories obtained through hypnosis are more likely to be accurate than those simply recalled, and that hypnosis can be used to recover accurate memories even from as far back as birth. Such misinformed views can lead to misapplications of hypnosis when attempting to actively recover memories of presumably repressed episodes of abuse, possibly resulting in the recovery of suggested rather than actual memories.