However, in talking with families of people who believe they have 'recovered repressed memories' of abuse, and in reading the stories of retractors who later realized their mistake, there are some common patterns in the accusers' behavior in the period of time before they made the accusations or cut off all contact. There are certain things which you read or hear over again which seem to be possible warning signs that a person may be developing a belief in recovering repressed memories and/or participating in dangerous therapy, and that the person therefore is at risk for falsely accusing innocent people (generally family members) and cutting off all contact from family and (often) former friends.

Note: This list has not been scientifically tested, and it does not prove anything. It will no doubt generate many false positives (people who have these characteristics, but are not in fact joining this particular cult or any other) and false negatives (people who do not have these characteristics, but are in fact joining this cult or some other one). If a person has the characteristics on this list, it does not prove they are joining the Memory Recovery Cult. If they do not have these characteristics, it doesn't prove that they aren't joining this or some other cult.

Unlike bad therapists, www.StopBadTherapy.com believes in gaining informed consent and warning people about the risks, benefits, and alternatives to any therapy or course of action. This list is not 'therapy,' but in the spirit of full disclosure and educating the public, here is www.StopBadTherapy.com's disclosure statement about the risks, benefits, and alternatives to reading this list of common characteristics of people who later made false accusations of abuse:

The authors of www.StopBadTherapy.com and of this checklist are not trained or licensed therapists of any kind and are not qualified to diagnose anything. (Unlike many therapists and book authors, we are honest and open about this!) No information on this site be considered a diagnostic tool or test of any kind for the presence or absence of any physical or mental disorder. Althought checklists and tests which have been scientifically tested are sometimes used together with other tools by trained mental health providers, even a scientifically validated checklist on its own cannot be used to diagnose anything, particularly when used by an amateur or layman, and you should keep in mind that the list of characteristics on the next page has never been scientifically tested.

Statement of the risks, benefits, and alternatives to reading this list:

possible risks of reading this list include (but are not limited to):

• false positive: you might come to believe that a person is about to develop false memories, make accusations, or cut off contact when in fact this is not true; based on such concerns, you might have a conversation that offends them and even causes them to cut off contact with you, or you might experience stress due to a groundless concern
• false negative: you might decide that a person is not about to develop false memories, make accusations, or cut off contact when in fact they are
• false confidence: you might come to believe that by using this list you can reliably determine whether or not a person is about to develop false memories, make accusations, or cut off contact; in fact, there is no known reliable way to make such a determination, and scientific research is needed

• you might notice similarities between the characteristics on this list and a friend or family member's behavior in time to talk with them, explore your concerns, educate them if necessary about the characteristics of bad therapy and the dangers of the Memory Recovery Cult, and (in some cases) arrange a non-coercive exit counseling intervention as described by Steve Hassan in his book Combatting Cult Mind Control (see this site's review)
• you might be able to make friends aware of this site and the problems of bad therapy and False Memory Syndrome if their children or loved ones appear to be falling under this or another cult's influence

• doing nothing and hoping things work out for the best
• talking about your concerns with friends and family members and seeing what they think
• talking about your concerns with a trained, licensed, responsible doctor or mental health provider and seeing what they think
• talking about your concerns with a pastor or rabbi and seeing what they think
• reading the stories of retractors and families on this site or in books and articles and developing your own list of warning signs that way
• reading Combatting Cult Mind Control (see this site's review)

I have read and understood the statement of risks, benfits, and alternatives to reading www.StopBadTherapy.com's list of common characteristics of people about to develop false memories of abuse. I understand that this test has not been scientifically tested and does not prove anything, and I give my informed consent to be shown the page.

Common Characteristics Of People About To Develop False Memories Of Abuse

• Is the person in therapy? (Due to the large number of therapists who base their work on pop psychology and fads instead of scientific research, participating in therapy is definitely a risk factor for developing false memories of abuse.) If so:
• Is the therapist unlicensed? (Never take therapy from someone without a license!)
• Does the therapist claim to specialize in treating incest survivors, victims of abuse, or people with eating disorders? (Incest, abuse, and eating disorders are real problems, and there are many therapists who responsibly attempt to treat people with these problems, and there are undoubtely reponsible ones who specialize in these areas, but many therapists who have catalyzed false memories in clients claim to specialize in these areas, so such therapist with these specialties should probably be treated with caution because of the apparently higher percentage of bad therapists in this area.)
• Does the therapist claim to specialize in treating victims of satanic ritual abuse? (SRA is a myth. Any therapist who believes in it should be avoided like the plague.)
• Does the therapist claim to have psychic powers? (There is no scientific evidence for the existence of psychic powers, so any such therapist is a self-deluded fraud to be avoided.)
• Has the person read The Courage to Heal? (This book has been implicated in over half the cases of False Memory Syndrome reported to the False Memory Syndrome Foundation.)
• Is the person experiencing psychological stress or unhappiness due to a death, divorce, illness, or some other cause? (Many retractors--people who developed false memories and later realized their mistake--originally entered therapy to deal with other, real problems and were convinced by a therapist that their very real unhappiness must be caused by repressed memories of abuse.)
• Is the person suffering from an acute disorder (such as depression or manic depresion/bipolar disorder) or a personality disorder (such as borderline personality disorder)? (People who have a mental illness are often understandably in great pain and desperate for a solution to their suffering; this makes them easy prey for a therapist who claims to have a guaranteed quick fix for their problems.)
• Has the person read Secret Survivors, books by John Bradshaw, or other suggestive works of the memory recovery movement?
• Has the person been distant lately and/or vague about their activities? (This often happens when a person is joining a cult.)
• Have you had less contact (in person, by phone, or by letter) with the person than usual? (Again, this often happens when a person is joining a cult.)
• Has the person cut off contact with friends and/or family? (Cults teach their members to cut off contact with nonmembers and nonbelievers.)
• Has the person shown an unusual interest in childhood photos or spent an usually large amount of time perusing old photo albums?

top of page