Remembering Abuse

Question
My shrinks have told me that I was probably molested as a child. If so, I don't remember it. Could hypnotherapy help me to remember whether or not this happened.

Answer
Your question hits upon a most controversial area - "recovered" memories. From my point of view, it's hard to imagine that, if you were told you were molested, that you wouldn't then remember it. So don't believe everything your "shrinks" say. Sometimes a person can be traumatized to the point that they can't remember an incident, but it really is rare, and is usually one very traumatic incident of great intensity. In such a case, then a child might find it easier not to remember. If you want to be sure, find a good hypnotherapist and counselor. A good hypnotherapist, who is extremely careful to ask only non-leading questions, could help your subconscious mind release any memories that have anything to do with this. Sometimes those memories can be "misunderstandings" rather than actual events. That's why some call these "false memories." For instance, I had a client who thought that her stepfather might have sexually abused her. When we went back into her past, we discovered that the incident had to do with her falling asleep near her parents' bedroom. Her stepfather came out, a bit later, and put a blanket over her. The combination of hearing her parents next door and her stepfather's kind gesture made her, unconsciously, make an erroneous judgment. Her memory, therefore, was a misconception of what had really happened. I had her go through this experience two more times, at later sessions, to make sure this was the correct interpretation.