In episode 51 of the Counselling Tutor Podcast, Ken and Rory provide tips on how best to organise your class-notes. ‘Theory with Rory’ discusses false memory syndrome, which Rory illustrates with a live experiment on Ken! Finally, the presenters list the many ethical bodies relating to counselling and psychotherapy in the UK, examining the similarities and differences.
As a counselling student, you may often feel bombarded with new information. While your tutor may give you handouts, it is often useful to take your own notes too, as a way of helping you to remember your learning. Ken and Rory offer insights from their own experience of writing class-notes, and of using them in writing assignments:
On-demand access to a rich lecture library covering theory, skills, and professional development for counselling students—Mapped to the UK awarding body criteria
“The Student Library has been BRILLIANT, I can’t recommend it enough!
It has been a lifeline in helping me prepare for practice and my first clients. If you’re considering it, go-for-it, it’s absolutely worth it!”
Kelly – Graduated and now in practice.
While some people believe that false memory syndrome is based on Sigmund Freud‘s concept of repression (a mechanism to place uncomfortable thoughts into our subconscious memory in the hope that they will go away), Phil Mollon – in his book Freud and False Memory Syndrome (Icon Books, 2000) – refutes this.
Related to false memory syndrome, recovered memory therapy started in the USA in the early 1990s; therapists used techniques such as guided imagery, visualisation, interpretation of bodily sensations and dream analysis. But whether the ‘memories’ recovered were real was debatable. For example, US sitcom star Roseanne Barr shared 30-year-old memories of both her parents molesting her, yet they vehemently denied this.
Much research into false memory syndrome has been carried out by US psychologist Elizabeth Loftus, who came to prominence in the 1980s, having served as an expert witness in the case of Steve Titus, a restaurant manager falsely accused of rape. Loftus has carried out many experiments demonstrating false memory syndrome. Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget has also illustrated false memory syndrome through his own experience, in which his childhood nanny described an attempted kidnapping (which Piaget remembers clearly) yet later came forward to admit that she had fabricated the whole story.
However, some people feel aggrieved at such work exposing false memory syndrome, claiming that their real memories have been dismissed as a result of this. The lesson for therapists is that recovered memory therapy is generally now considered to be an unethical practice. Key to effective and ethical therapy is not to interpret what has happened to clients but instead to enter their frame of reference; this has the added bonus of encouraging client autonomy as opposed to dependence.
You can read more about false memory syndrome in Rory’s handout, which is free to download here. This will also be available in the Digital Handout Vault.
False Memory Syndrome
We tend to refer often to the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, but there are many other professional bodies that are relevant to the profession of counselling and psychotherapy. These include the:
The presenters discuss the differences and similarities between the different bodies and their members. This provides really useful information for an assignment comparing the ethical frameworks of different professions.
Get on-demand Certified CPD that is implementable in your practice