Characteristics, context and consequences of memory recovery among adults in therapy

Background There are concerns that memories recovered during therapy are likely to be the result of inappropriate therapeutic techniques. Aims To investigate systematically these concerns. Method One-hundred and eight therapists provided information on all clients with recovered memories seen in the past three years, and were interviewed in detail on up to three such clients. Results Of a total of 690 clients, therapists reported that 65% recalled child sexual abuse and 35% recalled other traumas, 32% started recovering memories before entering therapy. According to therapists' accounts, among the 236 detailed client cases very few appeared improbable and corroboration was reported in 41%. Techniques to aid recall were used in 42%, but only in 22% were they used before memory recovery started. Conclusions Some of the data are consistent with memories being of iatrogenic origin, but other data clearly point to the need for additional explanations. Declaration of interest The study was supported by a grant from the Economic and Social Research Council (ROO0236111).