"Foremost in the field, The Courage to Heal (Bass & Davis, 1988) encourages the irresponsible views that: 'Many women who were abused don't have memories, and some never get any. This doesn't mean that they weren't abused', and 'if you think you were abused, and your life shows the symptoms, then you were'." -- "Recovered memories of childhood sexual abuse: Implications for clinical practice", p. 300

Not all cases of false memory arise from therapeutic practice. Increasingly the request for 'memory recovery therapy' is initiated by a client who has read one of a number of self-help books. The Courage to Heal (Bass & Davis, 1988) promulgates the view that forgotton sexual abuse lies at the root of almost all adult psychiatric problems and that unless it is brought fully into consciousness treatment will prove ineffective. The very inability to recall abuse is taken as a sign that abuse has occurred but is being 'denied' through the process of repression. The therapist and patient embark together upon the process of recovering hidden memories. This approach is supported by the existence of check-lists of symptoms that these therapists believe to be indicative of represses sexual abuse." -- "Recovered memories of childhood sexual abuse: Implications for clinical practice", p. 298

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