Information on Ellen Lacter and Her Research

copied with permission

Ellen Lacter  

Information on Ellen Lacter and Her Research

Common Forms of Misinformation and Tactics of Disinformation about Psychotherapy for Trauma Originating in Ritual Abuse and Mind Control By Ellen Lacter, Ph.D. December 18, 2012. This page on my website seeks to expose a number of common forms of misinformation and tactics of disinformation about psychotherapy for trauma originating in ritual abuse and mind control.  http://endritualabuse.org/activism/misinfo/  http://childabusedata.blogspot.com/2016/02/common-forms-of-misinformation-and.html

Brief Synopsis of the Literature on the Existence of Ritualistic Abuse By Ellen P. Lacter, Ph.D., Psychological and legal evidence of the existence of ritual abuse is substantial and rapidly growing. http://endritualabuse.org/evidence/brief-synopsis-of-the-literature-on-the-existence-of-ritualistic-abuse/

Publications on Ritual Abuse and Mind Control in 2008
from End Ritual Abuse – The Website of Ellen P. Lacter, Ph.D http://endritualabuse.org/evidence/publications-on-ritual-abuse-and-mind-control-in-2008/

Data on Survivors of Ritual Abuse, Mind Control, and Healing Methods   Results of 2007 “International Survey for Adult Survivors of Extreme Abuse” http://endritualabuse.org/about/eas-data-on-survivors-of-ritual-abuse-mind-control-and-healing-methods/

Ritual Abuse Evidence with information on the McMartin Case http://endritualabuse.org/evidence/ritual-abuse-evidence-with-information-on-the-mcmartin-case/

Mind Control: Simple to Complex  Ellen P. Lacter, Ph.D.    Organizations with a wide range of political and criminal agendas have historically relied on coercive interrogation and brainwashing of various types to force submission and information from enemies and victims, and to indoctrinate and increase cooperation in members and captors.  http://endritualabuse.org/about/mind-control-simple-to-complex/

Ritual abuse diagnosis research – excerpt from a chapter in: Lacter, E. & Lehman, K. (2008). Guidelines to Differential Diagnosis between Schizophrenia and Ritual Abuse/Mind Control Traumatic Stress. In J.R. Noblitt & P. Perskin(Eds.), Ritual Abuse in the Twenty-first Century: Psychological, Forensic, Social and Political Considerations, pp. 85-154. Bandon, Oregon: Robert D. Reed Publishers. quotes: A second study revealed that these results were unrelated to patients’ degree of media and hospital milieu exposure to the subject of Satanic ritual abuse. “In fact, less media exposure was associated with production of more Satanic content in patients reporting ritual abuse, evidence that reports of ritual abuse are not primarily the product of exposure contagion.” Responses are consistent with the devastating and pervasive abuse these victims have experienced, so often including immediate family members. http://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/studies/ritual-abuse-diagnosis-research-2/

Lacter, E.; Lehman, K. (2008). “Guidelines to Diagnosis of Ritual Abuse/Mind Control Traumatic Stress“. Karnac Books Ltd. Issue Volume 2, Number 2 / July 2008 Pages 159‑181
A Coloring Book of Healing Images: For Adult Survivors of Child Abuse  Ellen Lacter, Robin Baird Lewis, Jen Callow https://books.google.com/books?id=1rDTrQEACAAJ&dq=A+Coloring+Book+of+Healing+Images:+For+Adult+Survivors+of+Child+Abuse&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiUtPabx4rMAhWCQSYKHV4fC0gQ6AEIHTAA

Wikipedia Blacklisted Four Important Websites on Ritual Abuse on July 18, 2009
By Ellen P. Lacter, Ph.D.  http://endritualabuse.org/activism/wikipedia-blacklisted-four-important-websites/

(Date of this article is July 27, 2009)
On July 18, 2009, at about 9:30pm Pacific time, Wikipedia blacklisted the following important websites on ritual abuse: http://abusearticles.wordpress.com http://extreme-abuse-survey.net http://ritualabuse.us http://endritualabuse.org
My website is endritualabuse.org

I have attempted to get information from Wikipedia on why my website was blacklisted and to get it de-blacklisted. I have been stonewalled on both counts.

Since February, 2008, on Wikipedia’s page on “Satanic Ritual Abuse,” Wikipedia’s staff has been suppressing and deleting credible posts from credible sources (including my posts- I am a licensed California psychologist) that have documented substantial criminal and psychological evidence of criminal ritual abuse, and instead has completely discounted the existence of ritual abuse. As of July 27, 2009, Wikipedia’s page on “Satanic ritual abuse” begins as follows: “Satanic ritual abuse (SRA, sometimes known as ritual abuse, ritualistic abuse, organised abuse, sadistic abuse and other variants) refers to a moral panic that originated in the United States in the 1980s, spreading throughout the country and eventually to many parts of the world, before subsiding in the late 1990s.”
Wikipedia has now escalated its censorship of all information supporting the existence of ritual abuse by blacklisting four important websites about ritual abuse on July 18, 2009.     https://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/articles/ritualabuse-us-blacklisted-by-wikipedia/

It is clear that Wikipedia refuses to consider any documentation about the existence of ritual abuse.

Alleged child predators caught in undercover April Fools sex sting, Texas man who killed a 12-year-old boy in 1998 after a satanic calling, Common Forms of Misinformation and Tactics of Disinformation about Psychotherapy for Trauma Originating in Ritual Abuse and Mind Control

- Alleged child predators caught in undercover April Fools sex sting
- Texas man who killed boy executed
- Common Forms of Misinformation and Tactics of Disinformation about Psychotherapy for Trauma Originating in Ritual Abuse and Mind Control By Ellen Lacter, Ph.D.
- Psychological and legal evidence of the existence of ritual abuse is substantial and rapidly growing
- Scientific Evidence that Dissociative Identity Disorder (Multiple Personality Disorder or MPD) is caused by Childhood Trauma


Alleged child predators caught in undercover April Fools sex sting
Apr 6th 2016

While millions across the country were using social media to harmlessly prank their friends and family last week, police in Florida took to the dark corners of the Internet to uncover and stop alleged would-be child sex offenders.

The undercover child sex sting caught 18 men arranging sexual encounters with children.

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd released the results of "Operation April's Fools" on Tuesday.

"These freaks and these deviants are looking for our children every day online," Judd said at a news conference. "They worked in all different lines of business, and they had one thing in common: they're child predators."

Investigators said the men had arranged to have sex with children from 10 to 14-years-old.

Undercover detectives nabbed the men by luring them with fictitious ads or profiles on social media, websites and phone applications, pretending to be either children or their custodians.

Despite prior coverage of past events, multiple men responded to and engaged with the undercover detectives, and officials divulged some of the most shocking details of those alleged encounters....
http://www.aol.com/article/2016/04/06/alleged-child-predators-caught-in-undercover-april-fools-sex-sti/21339298/


describes graphic crimes






Texas man who killed boy, drank his blood executed
Vasquez has appealed his execution
By Holly Yan CNN  04/06 2016

Pablo Vasquez, a Texas man who killed a 12-year-old boy in 1998 and reportedly drank his blood after a satanic calling, was executed Wednesday, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice announced....

Vasquez, 38, had appealed his execution, but a stay was denied and he was put to death at 6:35 p.m.
Vasquez was convicted of killing 12-year-old David Cardenas in Donna, Texas, 18 years ago. Authorities said Vasquez and his cousin met the boy at a party.

On the night of April 18, 1998, "Vasquez struck the victim in the head with a piece of pipe and a shovel," the Department of Criminal Justice said. "The victim's body was buried behind a residence. ... Vasquez took a ring and a necklace from the victim."....

Vasquez told police in a videotaped interview that he drank the boy's blood, according to The Monitor newspaper in South Texas.
"The blood was dripping, and (I) got it all over my face, so I don't know. I mean, something just told me drink," Vasquez said, according to a transcript of the statement.

Vasquez said he tried to cut off the boy's head, according to The Monitor. A detective asked Vasquez why.
"The devil was telling me to take it away from, to keep it, keep it, couldn't come off," Vasquez said. "I was just freaking out cause I was hearing that."....
http://www.mypanhandle.com/news/texas-to-execute-12yearold-boys-killer 


Common Forms of Misinformation and Tactics of Disinformation about Psychotherapy for Trauma Originating in Ritual Abuse and Mind Control By Ellen Lacter, Ph.D., December 18, 2012.
from http://endritualabuse.org/activism/misinfo/ 

This page on my website seeks to expose a number of common forms of misinformation and tactics of disinformation about psychotherapy for trauma originating in ritual abuse and mind control. Disinformation is distinguished from misinformation in that it is intentionally fraudulent.

Misinformation and disinformation about ritual abuse and mind control trauma and psychotherapy to treat such trauma appear in both paper and electronic media, but are particularly abundant on the Internet on websites of individuals and organizations, bookseller reviews, blogs, newsletters, online encyclopedias, social networking sites, and e-group listservs.
http://childabusedata.blogspot.com/2016/02/common-forms-of-misinformation-and.html

Brief Synopsis of the Literature on the Existence of Ritualistic Abuse  By Ellen P. Lacter, Ph.D.
Psychological and legal evidence of the existence of ritual abuse is substantial and rapidly growing.
http://endritualabuse.org/evidence/brief-synopsis-of-the-literature-on-the-existence-of-ritualistic-abuse/

Publications on Ritual Abuse and Mind Control in 2008
from End Ritual Abuse - The Website of Ellen P. Lacter, Ph.D
http://endritualabuse.org/evidence/publications-on-ritual-abuse-and-mind-control-in-2008/

Data on Survivors of Ritual Abuse, Mind Control, and Healing Methods
Results of 2007 “International Survey for Adult Survivors of Extreme Abuse”
http://endritualabuse.org/about/eas-data-on-survivors-of-ritual-abuse-mind-control-and-healing-methods/

Ritual Abuse Evidence with information on the McMartin Case
http://endritualabuse.org/evidence/ritual-abuse-evidence-with-information-on-the-mcmartin-case/

Mind Control: Simple to Complex  Ellen P. Lacter, Ph.D.  (Revised 9-9-2007)
Organizations with a wide range of political and criminal agendas have historically relied on coercive interrogation and brainwashing of various types to force submission and information from enemies and victims, and to indoctrinate and increase cooperation in members and captors.    http://endritualabuse.org/about/mind-control-simple-to-complex/

Scientific Evidence that Dissociative Identity Disorder (Multiple Personality Disorder or MPD) is caused by Childhood Trauma
https://eassurvey.wordpress.com/2014/11/07/evidence-that-dissociative-identity-disorder-multiple-personality-disorder-or-mpd-is-caused-by-childhood-trauma/

Bleach Attack on Advocate for Jewish Victims of Sexual Abuse, Common Forms of Misinformation and Tactics of Disinformation about Psychotherapy for Trauma Originating in Ritual Abuse and Mind Control

Bleach Attack on Advocate for Jewish Victims of Sexual Abuse
A fishmonger hurled bleach at an advocate for victims of sexual abuse. Both are members of Brooklyn's Orthodox Jewish community. By Chana Ya'ar 12/14/2012 

A Williamsburg fishmonger hurled a cup of bleach Tuesday at a rabbi who advocates for victims of sexual abuse. Both are members of Brooklyn's Orthodox Jewish community.

Police have charged 36-year-old Williamsburg resident Meilech Schnitzler, for allegedly throwing the chemical at Rabbi Nuchem Rosenberg as he walked near Schnitzler's fish store on Tuesday. For years, Rosenberg has been blogging about sexual abuse in the hareidi-religious Jewish community.

The rabbi's face and eyes were burned by the bleach, and his clothes were ruined as well, according to a police report....

Rosenberg, 62, has told media that in the past, efforts to intimidate him have not been taken seriously by the office of Brooklyn District Attorney Charles J. Hynes. He also accused Hynes of turning a blind eye to crime in the Brooklyn hareidi-religious community for financial and political gain. The position of district attorney in New York is an elective office.

Tensions are high this week, due to the conviction on Monday of Rabbi Nehemia Weberman, a prominent self-styled “counselor” in New York's hareidi-religious Jewish community. Weberman was convicted on 59 counts of sexual abuse.

However, police said there appeared to be no connection between the attack on Rosenberg and the conviction of Weberman, who had the backing of the community's rabbinical leaders as well as much of the Jewish community both in the United States and abroad.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/163119#.UNFBMax1tPg


Common Forms of Misinformation and Tactics of Disinformation about Psychotherapy for Trauma Originating in Ritual Abuse and Mind Control
By Ellen Lacter, Ph.D., December 18, 2012.

This page on my website seeks to expose a number of common forms of misinformation and tactics of disinformation about psychotherapy for trauma originating in ritual abuse and mind control. Disinformation is distinguished from misinformation in that it is intentionally fraudulent.

Misinformation and disinformation about ritual abuse and mind control trauma and psychotherapy to treat such trauma appear in both paper and electronic media, but are particularly abundant on the Internet on websites of individuals and organizations, bookseller reviews, blogs, newsletters, online encyclopedias, social networking sites, and e-group listservs....

Therefore, the Internet serves as something of an unregulated court of public opinion, where, to a large degree, allegedly falsely accused perpetrators of child abuse and their advocates and alleged victims of child abuse and their therapists and advocates, argue about:

(a) whether child abuse is in itself traumatic
(b) the existence of ritual abuse and mind control
(c) the validity of recovered memories of abuse
(d) the validity of dissociative disorders, especially DID
(e) the practice of psychotherapy in relation to all of the above

All of this occurs with no rules of order, no penalties for perjury, and an uneven playing field that causes psychotherapists and psychology researchers to have to pull their punches.

I believe that this fight is being waged, in great part, to prevent child abuse survivors, especially survivors of ritual abuse and mind control, from receiving the help and support that they need to heal from their abuse, from receiving any sense of validation about their abuse, from recalling any dissociated parts of their abuse, from reporting their abusers to the authorities, from suing their abusers, from activism against child abuse, ritual abuse, and mind control, and in some cases, from even breaking away from their abusers.
http://endritualabuse.org/activism/common-forms-of-misinformation-and-tactics-of-disinformation-about-psychotherapy-for-trauma-originating-in-ritual-abuse-and-mind-control/

Questions and Answers Regarding Dissociative Amnesia

" Scientific evidence shows that it is not rare for traumatized people to experience amnesia or delayed recall for the trauma.

Amnesia has been reported in combat, for crimes, and for concentration camp experiences and torture. The more severe the trauma, the more likely it is to be forgotten.

Overall, a recovered memory is just as likely to be accurate as a continuously remembered one."

The sociocognitive model of dissociative identity disorder: a reexamination of the evidence.
" No reason exists to doubt the connection between DID and childhood trauma."


Questions and Answers Regarding Dissociative Amnesia
by Stephanie Dallam RN, MS, FNP

....there is near-universal scientific acceptance of the fact that the mind is capable of avoiding conscious recall of traumatic experiences.

....Is dissociation a rare phenomenon?
No. Scientific evidence shows that it is not rare for traumatized people to experience amnesia or delayed recall for the trauma. Amnesia has been reported in combat, for crimes, and for concentration camp experiences and torture. Evidence of this process can be found in the early literature on World War I and World War II.

....Carlson, E., & Rosser-Hogan, R. (April, 1993). Mental health status of Cambodian refugees ten years after leaving their homes. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 63 (2), 223-231.

Dissociation is also a frequent finding in survivors extreme terror. Between 1975 and 1979, an estimated one to three million of a population of seven million Cambodians were killed or died of starvation. Carlson, E., & Rosser-Hogan selected 50 subjects at random from a list of all refugees (~500) resettled by nonprofit organization between 1983 and 1985. None had any formal education and had lived in the US for a mean of 5 years. 86% met the criteria for PTSD. The mean number of traumatic experiences the refugees endorsed was 14 and "90% reported amnesia for upsetting events."

....Krell, R. (1993). Child survivors of the Holocaust: Strategies of adaptation. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 38 , 384-389.

Krell reported on 22 Holocaust survivors who, as children, hid from the Nazis.
"As children they were encouraged not to tell, but to lead normal lives and forget the past . . ."
"The most pervasive preoccupation of child survivors is the continuing struggle with memory, whether there is too much or too little . . ."
"For a child survivor today, an even more vexing problem is the intrusion of fragments of memory - most are emotionally powerful and painful but make no sense. They seem to become more frequent with time and are triggered by thousands of subtle or not so subtle events . . ."

Marks, J. (1995). The hidden children: The secret survivors of the Holocaust. Toronto : Bantam Books.

One holocaust survivor, Ava Landy, describes her amnesia:
"So much of my childhood between the ages of four and nine is blank....It's almost as if my life was smashed into little pieces . . .
The trouble is, when I try to remember, I come up with so little. This ability to forget was probably my way of surviving emotionally as a child. Even now, whenever anything unpleasant happens to me, I have a mental garbage can in which I can put all the bad stuff and forget it . . . .
I'm still afraid of being hungry. . . . I never leave my house without some food....Again, I don't remember being hungry. I asked my sister and she said that we were hungry. So I must have been! I just don't remember." (p. 188).

What types of traumas result in dissociative amnesia?
A review of 50 studies revealed that amnesia rates tend to increase with severity of trauma and is particularly high in victims of sex crimes....

What is the relation of memory recovery to psychotherapy?
Albach et al. studied 97 adult victims of extreme sexual abuse and a control group of 65 women, matched for age and education who reported on their memories of "ordinary unpleasant childhood experiences." The abuse survivors were broken into two groups. One group had participated in psychotherapy while the other group had not. There was no significant differences in amnesia, memory recovery, or other memory phenomena between the survivors who participated in psychotherapy and those who did not.

...How accurate are recovered memories?
Dalenberg, C. J. (1996). Accuracy, timing and circumstances of disclosure in therapy of recovered and continuous memories of abuse. Journal of Psychiatry & Law,24 (2), 229-75.

Accuracy for Continuous Versus Recovered Memories
Percent with evidence supporting memory
Continuous 75%
Recovered 75%

Conclusion
Scientific evidence shows that it is not rare for traumatized people to experience amnesia or delayed recall for the trauma. Amnesia has been reported in combat, for crimes, and for concentration camp experiences and torture.
The more severe the trauma, the more likely it is to be forgotten.
Overall, a recovered memory is just as likely to be accurate as a continuously remembered one. However, recovered memories have a prominence of emotional and sensory-perceptual elements vs. declarative (verbal) elements. They are often fragmentary and incomplete and thus hard to make into coherent story.
http://www.leadershipcouncil.org/1/tm/amnesia.html


The sociocognitive model of dissociative identity disorder: a reexamination of the evidence.
Gleaves DH.

According to the sociocognitive model of dissociative identity disorder (DID; formerly, multiple personality disorder), DID is not a valid psychiatric disorder of posttraumatic origin; rather, it is a creation of psychotherapy and the media. Support for the model was recently presented by N.P. Spanos (1994).

In this article, the author reexamines the evidence for the model and concludes that it is based on numerous false assumptions about the psychopathology, assessment, and treatment of DID. Most recent research on the dissociative disorders does not support (and in fact disconfirms) the sociocognitive model, and many inferences drawn from previous research appear unwarranted.

No reason exists to doubt the connection between DID and childhood trauma. Treatment recommendations that follow from the sociocognitive model may be harmful because they involve ignoring the posttraumatic symptomatology of persons with DID.

Psychol Bull. 1994 Jul;116(1):143-65.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8711016

Ritual Abuse and Torture-based Mind Control

Ritual Abuse and Torture-based Mind Control: Reducing and Preventing Re-contact with Abusers

....Survivors in therapy should read this webpage only after their therapists have first read it and assessed that the survivor would benefit from reading it. If a survivor does not have a therapist, I strongly recommend that she/he obtain a therapist and only read this webpage with the therapist’s approval. Information on this website and webpage should not be construed as a substitute for therapy....

This page represents my current opinions on mind-sets and measures that help survivors of ritual abuse and torture-based mind control to reduce and prevent re-contact with their abusers.

Most definitions of the term “ritual abuse” refer to ceremonial practices that involve physical and sexual abuse of children and adults, and human sacrifice, to appease, win favor with, or empower deities whom the abusers believe demand abuse and sacrifice, such as Satan and other polytheistic gods and goddesses.

Torture-based mind control programming can be defined as systematic torture that blocks the victim’s capacity for conscious processing (through pain, terror, drugs, illusion, sensory deprivation, sensory over-stimulation, oxygen deprivation, cold, heat, spinning, brain stimulation, and often, near-death), and then employs suggestion and/or conditioning to implant thoughts, directives, and perceptions in the unconscious mind, often in newly-formed trauma-induced dissociated identities, that force the victim to do, feel, think, or perceive things for the purposes of the programmer. The objective is for the victim to follow directives with no conscious awareness, including execution of acts in clear violation of the victim’s volition, moral principles, and spiritual convictions.

Torture-based mind control is practiced by individuals and groups who seek to maximally control and exploit others, usually beginning in childhood. Included are practitioners of abusive religious rituals (e.g., Satanism and abusive witchcraft), organized crimes against children (child pornography, prostitution, and trafficking), and groups with political, military, and espionage agendas.

My opinions are based on a synthesis of 17 years of experience in providing psychotherapy to victims and survivors of ritual abuse and mind control and extensive interviews of other survivors, including many survivor-therapists, and my ongoing communication with therapist and clergy colleagues working with survivors....
http://endritualabuse.org/healing/ritual-abuse-and-torture-based-mind-control-reducing-and-preventing-re-contact-with-abusers/


DVD: Healing from Ritual Abuse and Mind Control, Survivor Trish Fotheringham Speaks Out - Interviewed by Ellen Lacter, Ph.D.
This is a three-disc DVD set interview of Trish Fotheringham, survivor of ritual abuse and mind control.

In an interview of almost three hours with Dr. Ellen Lacter, Trish Fotheringham inspires hope and courage for extreme abuse survivors. She gives direction and guidance for the healing journey, not only to survivors but also to the people who help them, including psychotherapists, clergy, and loved ones.

Trish Fotheringham’s years of ritual abuse and mind control remained secret, even from herself, until she was 30 years old, reaching conscious awareness during college social work classes about child abuse. The decade-spanning healing journey that followed led Trish to discover truths that have culminated in her life purpose of sharing her experiences to spread understanding, hope and inspiration.
http://endritualabuse.org/healing/dvd-healing-from-ritual-abuse-and-mind-control-survivor-trish-fotheringham-speaks-out/

Elizabeth Loftus - critiques of her research

The accuracy of Elizabeth Loftus' research and its ethics have been critiqued by several people over the last two decades. Below is a brief synopsis of some of this research.

"Lost in a Shopping Mall" A Breach of Professional Ethics
Lynn S. Crook, Martha Dean ETHICS & BEHAVIOR, vol. 9, #1, pp. 39-50
The "lost in a shopping mall" study has been cited to support claims that psychotherapists can implant memories of false autobiographical information of childhood trauma in their patients. The mall study originated in 1991 as 5 pilot experiments involving 3 children and 2 adult participants. The University of Washington Human Subjects Committee granted approval for the mall study on August 10, 1992. The preliminary results with the 5 pilot subjects were announced 4 days later. An analysis of the mall study shows that beyond the external misrepresentations, internal scientific methodological errors cast doubt on the validity of the claims that have been attributed to the mall study within scholarly and legal arenas. The minimal involvement or, in some cases, negative impact of collegial consultation, academic supervision, and peer review throughout the evolution of the mall study are reviewed.
http://users.owt.com/crook/memory/

Elizabeth Loftus (from jimhopper.com)
Unfortunately, thus far reporters and journalists have almost completely failed to critically evaluate her claims. Nor have they addressed three crucial facts about her work:

1) Loftus herself conducted and published a study in which nearly one in five women who reported childhood sexual abuse also reported completely forgetting the abuse for some period of time and recovering the memory of it later.
....

3) Loftus is aware that those who study traumatic memory have for several years, based on a great deal of research and clinical experience, used the construct of dissociation to account for the majority of recovered memories. However, she continues to focus on and attack "repression" and "repressed memories," which has the effect of confusing and misleading many people.
http://www.jimhopper.com/memory/#el



Consider the Evidence for Elizabeth Loftus'
Scholarship and Accuracy. "Remembering Dangerously" & Hoult v. Hoult: The Myth of Repressed Memory that Elizabeth Loftus Created
by Jennifer Hoult, Esq.
http://www.rememberingdangerously.com/


Elizabeth Loftus herself has published studies showing evidence of recovered memory. The 4 January 1996 issue of Accuracy About Abuse notes: Elizabeth Loftus, high profile FMSF advocate, published a paper with colleagues on Remembering and Repressing in 1994. In a study of 105 women outpatients in a substance abuse clinic 54 % reported a history of childhood sexual abuse. 81% remembered all or part of the abuse. 19% reported they forgot the abuse for a period of time and later the memory returned. Women who remembered the abuse their whole lives reported a clearer memory, with a more detailed picture. Women who remembered the abuse their whole lives did not differ from others in terms of the violence of the abuse or whether the violence was incestuous. [Psychology of Women Quarterly, 18 (1994) 67-84.]

Loftus has also discussed "motivated forgetting", and has presented the documented study of a college professor who became unable to remember a series of traumas, but after some time was able to recover those memories. Loftus remarked "after such an enormously stressful experience, many individuals wish to forget... And often their wish is granted." (Loftus, 1980/1988, p. 73)" http://web.archive.org/web/20030608221633/http://www.feminista.com/v1n9/false-memory.html

"The hypothesis that false memories can easily be implanted in psychotherapy (Lindsay & Read, 1994; Loftus 1993; Loftus & Ketcham, 1994; Ofshe and Watters, 1993, 1994; Yapko, 1994a) seriously overstates the available data. Since no studies have been conducted on suggested effects in psychotherapy per se, the idea of iatrogenic suggestion of false memories remains an untested hypothesis. (Memory, Trauma Treatment, And the Law Brown, Scheflin and Hammond (D. Corydon) 1998, W. W. Norton 0-393-70254-5)


Memory, Abuse, and Science: Questioning Claims About the False Memory Syndrome Epidemic Pope, K. (1996)
American Psychologist 51: 957. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.51.9.957

Does the trauma specified in the lost-in-the-mall experiment seem comparable to the trauma forming the basis of false memory syndrome? Loftus (1993) described the implanted traumatic event in the shopping-mall experiment as follows: "Chris was convinced by his older brother Jim, that he had been lost in a shopping mall when he was five years old" (p. 532). Does this seem, for example, a reasonable analogy for a five-year-old girl being repeatedly raped by her father? Pezdek (1995; see also Pezdek, Finger, & Hodge, 1996) has suggested that this may not be the case. In attempting to arrive at a more analogous situation-that of a suggested false memory of a rectal enema-her experimental attempts at implantation of a suggestion had a 0% success rate.

What is the impact of the potentially confounding variables in claiming the shopping-mall experiment to be a convincing analogue of therapy (Loftus, 1993; Loftus & Ketcham, 1994)? Is it possible that the findings are an artifact of this particular design, for example, that the older family member claims to have been present when the event occurred and to have witnessed it, a claim the therapist can never make? To date, replications and extensions of this study have tended to use a similar methodology; that is, either the older family member makes the suggestions in his or her role as the experimenter's confederate, or the experimenter presents the suggestion as being the report of an older family member, thus creating a surrogate confederate.

Has this line of research assumed that verbal reports provided to researchers are the equivalent of actual memories? Spanos (1994) suggested that changes in report in suggestibility research may represent compliance with social demand conditions of the research design rather than actual changes in what is recalled. In what ways were the measures to demonstrate actual changes or creations of memory representations validated and confounding variables (e.g., demand characteristics) excluded? Given that being lost while out shopping is apparently a common childhood experience, how is the determination made that the lost-in-the-mall memory is not substantially correct? What supports the claim that "Chris had remembered a traumatic episode that never occurred" (Garry & Loftus, 1994, p. 83). That is, is there any possibility that Chris's family had forgotten an actual event of this type?

If the experiment is assumed for heuristic reasons to demonstrate that an older family member can extensively rewrite a younger relative's memory in regard to a trauma at which the older relative was present, why have false memory syndrome proponents presented this research as applying to the dynamics of therapy (e.g., Loftus, 1993; Loftus & Ketcham, 1994) but not to the dynamics of families, particularly those in which parents or other relatives may be exerting pressure on an adult to retract reports of delayed recall? Is it possible that older family members can rewrite younger relatives' memories in regard to traumatic events at which they were present? Might this occur in the context of sexual abuse when the repeated suggestion is made by a perpetrator that "nothing happened" and that any subsequent awareness of the abuse constitutes a false memory?
http://www.kspope.com/memory/memory.php


Quotes: Elizabeth Loftus, Ph.D.
http://bit.ly/hxkUbT

A Brief History of the False Memory Research of Elizabeth Loftus
"The lost- in- a-shopping-mall study (Loftus and Pickrell, 1995) provided initial scientific support for the claim that child sexual abuse accusations are false memories planted by therapists. However, the mall study researchers faced a problem early on—the participants could tell the difference between the true and false memories." http://bit.ly/dH9uST


The Alleged Ethical Violations of Elizabeth Loftus in the Case of Jane Doe "In conclusion, I believe Loftus made several ethical breaches during her research and when publishing her study. The right to freedom of speech and academic debate does not allow for the kind of ethical breaches that were made. The violating of Jane Doe’s confidentiality without her written consent around such a sensitive issue appears to have been unnecessary and inappropriate."
http://bit.ly/6bbAW6

movie of a woman suffering from Dissociative Identity Disorder - MPD

When the Devil Knocks is - the intimate story of a woman suffering from Dissociative Identity Disorder, formerly known as Multiple Personality. The film premieres at the 2010 Vancouver International Film Festival. http://whenthedevilknocks.com/

When the Devil Knocks is the intimate story of a woman suffering from Dissociative Identity Disorder, formerly known as Multiple Personality. Hilary Stanton gave the filmmakers unlimited access to more than 40 hours of videotapes of her psychotherapy, filmed over 10 years. The therapy tapes reveal a cast of supporting characters, “alters”, who kept Hilary alive by taking over from her during times of crisis. As Hilary says, “For years, my alters went to therapy and I wasn’t there for more than five minutes.”

Until her mid-40s, Hilary Stanton lived with big gaps in her memory that she thought were normal. Then Hilary had a breakdown, started therapy, and gradually discovered that – during those gaps in memory that she thought were so normal – other personalities (“alters”) were taking over from her. http://whenthedevilknocks.com/when-the-devil-knocks-documentary/

Innocence Revisited a tale in parts healing from child abuse

Innocence Revisited – a tale in parts by Cathy Kezelman ISBN: 978– 0–9806193-3-1 JoJo Publishing 2010 This book....is an intensely personal story...We journey with Cathy as she goes in search of ten lost years of her childhood, feeling her suffering acutely but also celebrating her triumphs. It is also a vivid portrayal both of the intricate psychological contortions of a child towards psychic survival and of the mental processes of the adult towards a full life. This book...is a landmark book – a roadmap to health for those who feel isolated, lost and terrified and a reflective guide for the health professionals who work with them. In telling her story Cathy displays how an analytical psychotherapeutic process can guide a trauma survivor from confusion through chaos to stability and understanding. The story ends with a quiet sense of hope as Cathy, having integrated those ten forgotten childhood years, enjoys enriched relationships with her family and friends, and an untapped enthusiasm for the next phase of her life. To order your copy of Innocence Revisited – a tale in parts go to www.jojopublishing.com
http://cathykezelman.com/books/innocence-revisisted-a-tale-in-parts/

ISSTD Ritual Abuse/Mind Control Interest Group

ISSTD Ritual Abuse/Mind Control Interest Group


On September 7, 2008, the ISSTD Executive Council approved the proposal by 17 ISSTD members to create a Ritual Abuse/Mind Control Interest Group.
The Council has approved our interim chair, Ellen P. Lacter, Ph.D. We
will hold elections for officers once we have a larger membership.
Our Mission Statement is:
To further dialogue, knowledge, research, and training on the etiology, evaluation, and effective treatment of trauma and dissociation in clients reporting histories of ritual abuse or mind control.
Our Scope is:
To further these goals within the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation (ISSTD) and to work with ISSTD to disseminate this knowledge worldwide among professionals and the public.
Our bylaws can be obtained from Wanda Karriker at: sandime@twave.net
To join the interest group, please send the following information to Wanda Karriker at: sandime@twave.net
Name Address Telephone E-mail Address ISSTD Membership Status [Student, (full) Member, Fellow, Charter, or Retired]
We look forward to the participation of a large number of ISSTD members and the development of plans to achieve our mission. Please feel free to circulate this announcement widely.



Common Forms of Misinformation and Tactics of Disinformation about Psychotherapy for Trauma Originating in Ritual Abuse and Mind Control By Ellen Lacter, Ph.D  http://endritualabuse.org/activism/misinfo/

End Ritual Abuse - The Website of Ellen Lacter http://endritualabuse.org/

Brief Synopsis of the Literature on the Existence of Ritualistic Abuse By Ellen P. Lacter, Ph.D.
http://endritualabuse.org/evidence/brief-synopsis-of-the-literature-on-the-existence-of-ritualistic-abuse/

Publications on Ritual Abuse and Mind Control in 2008 from the Website of Ellen P. Lacter, Ph.D.
http://endritualabuse.org/evidence/publications-on-ritual-abuse-and-mind-control-in-2008/