Falsememorysyndrome(修改版).doc

False memory syndrome As women bring lawsuits, therapists are having to pay for their mistakes. - - - - - - - - - - - -By Kevin Giordano Dec. 22, 1999 | Valerie Jenks grew up in Rigby, Idaho. Her father owned a roofing company and her mother worked for an accountant. She describes her family life as happy, filled with camping trips, outings and annual vacations. But when Jenks was 14, she was raped by a 19-year-old. She never reported it to authorities and the man went free. Jenks didnt appear to suffer from the trauma. She graduated from high school in the top 10 percent of her class, worked on the newspaper and played on the bowling team. She finished high school with dreams of being a journalist. But at 17 she became pregnant. I had a misconception of what love and marriage and sex were supposed to be like, she says now. I had no other sexual experiences besides being raped. She married and had a baby boy. Her husband, seven years her senior, worked construction and was often out of town. Jenks worked part-time as a waitress but money was tight. That was when things got bad. Right after I had the baby I had a hard time, she says. All my friends went off to college, I had no support, I was 19 and I had weight problems. Around this time, Valerie decided to enter therapy. Before she did, she sought advice from other women. They recommended Dr. Mark Stephenson, then affiliated with the Eastern Idaho Medical Treatment Center. Jenks, 20 at the time, went to her first session with her first husband. Her original reasons for going were a weight problem and alcohol abuse. He asked if I knew anything about hypnosis and gave a brief description of what it would entail, Jenks says. I never went under hypnosis before, but my husband was there and, after all, this was a doctor who was supposed to be helping me. By the end of the first hypnotherapy session, Jenks came to believe that shed been sexually abused not only by her family but also by friends and strangers. Jenks sa