Building upon our foundations

It is easy to become demoralized in the face of repeated assaults on the credibility and legitimacy of our patients, our patients' given histories and allegations of mistreatment, and the very conditions that they suffer. As clinicians and scientific investigators working with trauma victims and dissociative disorder patients, we have found it difficult to withstand withering and venomous attacks upon our professions, our motivations, and ourselves as individuals. Although there have been some notable exceptions, the last several months have been remarkable for the video and print media' s love affair with those who protest the veracity of allegations of childhood mistreatment, and their willingness to promulgate polarized negative representations of those who allege childhood mistreatment and those who treat them. Since the New Year, I have been interviewed by a large number of reporters and journalists. Only two diverged from a rather stereotyped and weary script in which the legitimacy of the perspective of the False Memory Syndrome Foundation was assumed, and this assumption colored the majority of the dialog that transpired. I strongly suspect that matters will get worse before they improve.

Journal

English

Richard N. Khift

Khift, R. N. (1994). Building upon our foundations. Dissociation, 7(2), 79-80