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Hoe authentiek zijn ‘recovered memories’?

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Dth

Samenvatting

‘Recovered memories’ zijn herinneringen aan traumatische jeugdervaringen die pas tijdens een behandeling toegankelijk worden. In dit artikel wordt de vraag opgeworpen hoe authentiek dergelijke herinneringen zijn. De gedachte dat recovered memories authentiek zijn veronderstelt (a) dat totale amnesie voor jeugdtrauma's een courant verschijnsel is, (b) dat verdringing of dissociatie de motor achter totale amnesie is, (c) dat bepaalde psychopathologische klachten indicatief zijn voor verdrongen of gedissocieerde traumatische herinneringen en (d) dat technieken als hypnose deze herinneringen weer toegankelijk kunnen maken. Beargumenteerd wordt dat elk van deze veronderstellingen twijfelachtig is. Bijgevolg is terughoudendheid op haar plaats als het gaat om het realiteitsgehalte van recovered memories. Het artikel besluit met een tentatieve beschouwing over de herkomst van recovered memories. Voorzover recovered memories niet teruggaan op trauma's, spelen wellicht de volgende factoren een rol: ‘causaliteitsbehoefte’, conformistische neigingen of een ‘reality monitoring’–stoornis bij de cliënt en misvattingen over het geheugen en/of het geloof dat het reactiveren van vergeten trauma's een voorwaarde voor behandelsucces is bij de therapeut.

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    Harald Merckelbach

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  1. Harald Merckelbach
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  2. Ineke Wessel
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Abstract

The present article critically reviews the phenomenon of recovered memories, i.e. memories about abuse that become accessible during psychotherapy. Acceptance of recovered memories as recollections that refer to real traumatic experiences rests on the assumptions that (1) total amnesia for abuse is a common phenomenon among children, (2) repression or dissociation is the mechanism behind total amnesia, (3) certain psychopathological symptoms reliably indicate a (forgotten) history of abuse and (4) certain treatment techniques (e.g., hypnosis) can be employed to reactivate forgotten memories of abuse. In this article, it is argued that these assumptions are questionable. Consequently, one should adopt a critical attitude towards recovered memories. To the extent that this class of memories does not refer to traumatic incidents, an alternative hypothesis about the origins of these memories is required. Five mechanisms that may play a role in the occurrence of recovered memories are discussed: clients' attributions, clients' sensitivity to suggestions, clients' confused source monitoring, therapists' misconceptions about memory, and therapists' belief that uncovering forgotten trauma's is a prerequisite for treatment.

Harald Merckelbach en Ineke Wessel zijn verbonden aan de Vakgroep Differentiële en Experimentele Psychologie van de Rijksuniversiteit Limburg te Maastricht. Correspondentieadres: Postbus 616, 6200 MD Maastricht.

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Merckelbach, H., Wessel, I. Hoe authentiek zijn ‘recovered memories’?. DITH 15, 76–85 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03060111

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