The Dilemma of Ritual Abuse: Cautions & Guides for Therapists Hardcover - 1997 - 1st Edition

First line

Listening to an archival recording of Edward R. Murrow's first broadcast from Buchenwald, I was struck by the power of his words and the intensity of his voice.

From the jacket flap

Since the mid-1980s, when stories of ritualized satanic or sadistic abuse drastically increased, ritual abuse has become entangled in the controversy surrounding false memory syndrome and recovered memory. Because this debate has not been conclusively resolved, therapists require methods and guidelines for treating patients who present a history that may involve abusive satanic or sadistic rituals.

In The Dilemma of Ritual Abuse, experts in the field offer balanced, carefully considered advice on approaches therapists can use when patients report they have experienced ritual abuse. These qualified clinicians explain and demonstrate their techniques and offer caveats against accepting a patient's recollections at face value. Additional chapters deal with psychological and pharmacological treatment programs that have helped patients whether the reports of abuse were accurate, symbolic, or false. Several illustrations vividly depict the types of abuse that therapists will hear from these patients. For further guidance, an appendix containing the American Psychiatric Association Board of Trustees' "Statement on Memories of Sexual Abuse" is also included.