Call for Church to Renounce Book Aimed at Victims of Child Sexual Abuse Scientists Specialising in False Memory Syndrome Have Written to the Archbishop of Canterbury Criticising the Courage to Heal Which They Describe As Misleading and Potentially Harmful, by Ian Sample, Guardian, March 1, 2010

Call for Church to Renounce Book Aimed at Victims of Child Sexual Abuse
Scientists Specialising in False Memory Syndrome Have Written to the Archbishop of Canterbury Criticising the Courage to Heal, Which They Describe As 'Misleading' and 'Potentially Harmful'

By Ian Sample
Guardian
March 1, 2010

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2010/mar/01/church-book-child-sexual-abuse

UNITED KINGDOM -- Psychiatrists and psychologists have asked the archbishop of Canterbury to withdraw Church of England support for a self-help book aimed at victims of child sexual abuse, claiming it contains "misleading" and "potentially harmful" information.

The book, which is promoted in the church's child protection policy, could lead readers to suspect they were sexually abused as children when they were not, the scientists warn.

An open letter to the archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, urges the church to withdraw its support for a book that endorses the idea of repressed memories of sexual abuse.
Photo by Gareth Fuller

They put their concerns in an open letter to Rowan Williams in which they criticise scientific inaccuracies and "baseless claims" in versions of the book that are recommended by the church.

The letter was organised by a group of scientists who specialise in "false memory syndrome", where people having counselling can develop memories of events that never happened.

The syndrome was named in the 1990s following a surge of cases in which people became convinced during psychotherapy that they had been abused as children. Hundreds of patients later retracted their recollections and sued their therapists for malpractice on the grounds they had implanted false memories of abuse and destroyed family relationships.

The latest edition of the Church of England's child protection policy, Protecting All God's Children, recommends a 1988 version of a book The Courage to Heal by two US writers, Ellen Bass and Laura Davis.

In the book, the authors claim: "If you are unable to remember any specific instances ... but still have a feeling that something abusive happened to you, it probably did." They go on to say: "Many women don't have memories, and some never get memories. This doesn't mean they weren't abused." The phrases have been removed from more recent versions of the book.

The letter from the British False Memory Society urges Williams to withdraw the church's recommendation of the book, adding: "The Church of England continues to recommend versions … which contain baseless claims about how memory works and potentially harmful information."

Last year, scientists with the US False Memory Syndrome Foundation wrote of The Courage to Heal in the organisation's newsletter: "No book did more to spread false memory syndrome. Within a few years The Courage to Heal became the book most recommended by therapists."

The letter also takes issue with the Rev Pearl Luxon, the child protection adviser to the Church of England and the Methodist Church of Great Britain. Luxon was contacted by one of the letter's signatories to raise concerns about the book. In an emailed reply, Luxon wrote: "According to specialists ... there is no such thing as 'false memory'. It is either a memory or it is not."

The letter describes Luxon's view as "completely at odds with the scientific literature" and urges Williams to order the church's safeguarding committee to review the evidence.

"Saying there is no such thing as a false memory is an extremely dangerous idea to be put around," said Christopher French, a professor of psychology and scientific adviser to the British False Memory Society, and a signatory to the letter. "Some therapists suggest half of us were abused in childhood but that we suppress the memory. These are wild, gross generalisations that do not add up."

He added: "There are still families living with the consequences of the first wave of this problem and there are still new cases coming to light. A lot of those families will never be put back together again and that is a tragedy."

The letter was copied to the Rev Martyn Atkins, general secretary of the Methodist Church, and the Bishop of Hereford, Anthony Priddis, chairman of the Church of England safeguarding liaison group.