In this story, "Sue" tells how she read The Courage to Heal at the urging of an irresponsible therapist, and of the devastating results that followed.

This story is a StopBadTherapy.com exclusive, never before published elsewhere!

The Courage to Heal has to be one of the most dangerous, damaging books I have ever come across! I had gone into therapy in 1991 to discuss my depression with an illness and the recent birth of a baby along with some marital difficulty. I was asked about abuse ... yes, there were two times that I was abused. This was not good enough. I was advised to get the book and once I did, my trip to hell started. Within 6 months, I was convinced I was abused by almost everyone in my family, memories of satanic abuse kept flooding my mind and my therapist was asking me to give names to my feelings, to "name" my dark side. Had therapy not ended--she moved and I chose not to continue there--I am sure I was on my way to being diagnosed as a multiple personality.

With this book, I began to have doubts about my sexuality... maybe not doubting my sexuality but wondering why I was not lesbian. I began to get the idea I was wrong for being heterosexual! Not only that, but wrong for trusting a "patriarchic" God. What did I lose? Well, let's see ... I shut out my family for several years (because they were in "denial" and refused to validate my "memories"). My marriage ended (I was repeatedly told my husband was sexually abusive if he made advances to me and that he was emotionally abusive) ... I spent YEARS believing all these people molested me. I thank God my parents were not around to see this. It would have killed them.

It has only been since 1999 that I began to really question what went on in therapy, to question this god-awful book. I spoke with a therapist when we were seeing someone for step family problems (I had since remarried) and told her of my "repressed memories." She immediately steered me away and told me to stay in the present ... not to focus on the past. I have since come to find out she is not a RMT proponent and does not believe in the widespread MPD/DID diagnoses that have been given. Finally, somebody sane!

Another thing that cinched it for me is that my husband's ex-wife (who was a Courage to Heal believer) was diagnosed as MPD, satanic abuse survivor, etc. She has not seen her parents since 1988, has accused everyone of abusing her (including my husband) ... much of what I went through (verified by the journals I have kept) was almost verbatim what happened to his ex. My husband was very supportive of her ... their marriage ended with her leaving not only him but also heterosexuality and Christianity. To this day, she still claims he abuses her--and she lives at the opposite end of the state!! I have been married to this man for four years and have never ever seen him abusive to me or anyone else. My husband, seeing my experience through psych reports and journals, no longer believes the MPD diagnosis of his ex. He is very angry that he went through so much hell for four years...and believed it until I found the truth! It was like a day of eye opening for both of us.

StopBadTherapy.com has withheld Sue's real name name in order to preserve her her family's privacy. StopBadTherapy.com congratulates Sue and all other retractors who have the courage and strength to stand up and warn others about the harmful therapy and misinformation in books that has needlessly ruined so many innocent people's lives.

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