Memory Recovery in Therapy: Recommendations to Clinical Psychologists and Counselors The literature on false memories and recovered memories is marked by controversy. Examines the phenomenon exhibited by a variety of patients: supposedly “losing” memories of the trauma, only to regain them later in life (Gavlick, 2001). In these cases, temporary memory loss is attributed to psychological causes (i.e., a traumatic event) rather than known brain damage (Gavlick, 2001). While some argue that the creation of false memories through therapeutic practice is a serious concern and have founded associations such as the False Memory Syndrome Foundation (FMSF) in the United States and the British False Memory Society (BFMS) to advocate against psychological neglect, other researchers argue that the evidence for “false memory syndrome,” or the recovery of false memories, is weak (Brewin & Andrews, 1998; Pope, 1996). The debate largely arose in the 1990s, although no consensus has yet been reached in the literature. Clearly, the debate is of considerable interest to both clients and therapists. Psychologists and counselors must understand memory research to best serve their clients and better represent themselves professionally without inappropriately using memory retrieval techniques (Farrants, 1998; Gavlick, 2001). The Psychotherapy Council of the United Kingdom suggested, in its publication “Notes for practitioners: recovered memories of abuse”, that therapists need to be “aware of research and knowledge in relevant areas such as memory and repression” and that they have a “duty to inform themselves about current theory.” and knowledge” (1997, p. 1; Burman, 2002). This article seeks to update professionals working in the clinic rather than in research...... half of the article ......nan, & MacCauley, 2002; Baddeley, Eysecnk, & Anderson, 2009) o Use context reinstatement: Encourage the client to process all the relevant details about what they saw, how they felt at that moment, or any other sensory information. These cues can encourage reporting more details and activate more related nodes (diffuse activation model) or Refrain from asking many questions during recall. The client can only devote attention to a certain number of ideas at one time, so repeated suggestions from the clinician may confuse retrieval and even interfere with previous memories due to retroactive interference o Consider encouraging the client to remember events from different points of sight or in different orders. This can lead to improved recall because memory traces are complex and contain various types of information, so altering perspective can provide different insights