The Dilemma of Ritual Abuse

Since the mid-1980s when sensational 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 requrie methods and guidelines for treating patients who present a history that may involve abusive satanic or sadistic rituals. In this text, experts in the field offer balanced, carefully considered advice on approaches therapists can use when patients or clients report they have experienced ritual abuse. These 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 programmes that have helped patients whether the reports of abuse were accurate, symbolic or false. Several illustrations depict the types of abuse that therapists will hear from these patients. For further guidance, an appendix containing the American Psychiatric Association Board of Trustee's "Statement on Memories of Sexual Abuse" is also included.