Remembering Trauma: a Psychotherapist's Guide to Memory and Illusion. Phil Mollon. Wiley (1998) pp. 220 PB ISBN 0-471-98214-8
✍ Scribed by Sydney Brandon
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1999
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 29 KB
- Volume
- 7
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 1072-4133
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
Phil Mollon has produced a scholarly work which draws upon his experience and prejudices as a clinical psychologist and analytical psychotherapist. His writing is compassionate and richly illustrated with clinical examples.
The latter however leave this reviewer extremely uneasy. Was `Paula', p. 183, helped by being encouraged or at least allowed to dwell upon vague, frightening memories or phantasies which hint at black magic and abuse?
Many of the case histories arise from therapy with borderline or dissociative identify disorder patients and make strange reading to those of us who employ a more problem orientated or cognitive approach.
Since hysteria became unfashionable we seem to have lost what little understanding we used to have of these complex processes. I was taught to be cautious of embarking upon exploratory psychotherapy with hysteria or borderline patients and to avoid encouraging or facilitating the development of altered or multiple personalities.
Dr Mollon writes as if within a general mental health setting' such patients were common and usually treated with dynamic psychotherapy. This is not my experience and may be the explanation for why none of my patients develop enduring Dissocative Identity Disorder. With regard to memory I certainly endorse Mollon's view that memory is uncertain and prone to error' and there is `no reliable method of enhancing memoryÐmost attempts to do so will run the risk of producing confabulated memory'.
Even after reading this and other extensive reviews I remain uncertain of the nature of repression and some of the basic tenets of Freudian psychopathology.
Dr Mollon and I agree that false or recovered memories form a very small part of the spectrum of child sexual abuse. We also agree that good practice can reduce if not eliminate the risk of creating false memories. On the whole I prefer the Royal College of Psychiatrists' Guidelines for Good Practice (Psych. Bull. Nov 1997) to those offered by Dr Mollon.