Claudette Wassil-Grimm

A number of psychotherapists believe that adults who have repressed memories of being abused as children can recover these memories through therapy. In the following viewpoint, Claudette Wassil-Grimm criticizes repressed-memory therapy, asserting that therapists who use this technique often unwittingly implant false memories of childhood incest and abuse in their patients. According to the author, the widespread use of this therapy has led to exaggerated claims of child sexual abuse. Wassil-Grimm is the author of Diagnosis for Disaster: The Devastating Truth About False Memory Syndrome and Its Impact on Accusers and Families, from which the following viewpoint is excerpted.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. According to Wassil-Grimm, what symptoms do Ellen Bass and Laura Davis claim are the results of child sexual abuse?
2. How do patients come to believe...