On the “True-False” Memory Syndrome: The Problem of Clinical Evidence

Faced with a lack of external confirmatory data and basing their judgments on sometimes dubious evidence, psychoanalytic clinicians are faced with a need to establish criteria on which to base decisions regarding historic truth, however lacking in certainty. This report, not a characteristic case history, endeavors to establish some standards that may enable analysts to decide between historic and psychic reality. Data from a case of “true-false” memory syndrome will be presented to illustrate both the problem and tentative attempts at solution.