Guidelines for the Treatment of Adults Abused or Possibly Abused as Children (with Attention to Issues of Delayed/Recovered Memory)

These guidelines provide practicing clinicians with information regarding psychotherapy with adults who (1) disclose an abuse history (physical, sexual, emotional) at the beginning of therapy; (2) do not disclose abuse despite having knowledge and memory about such events in their past; (3) report new (delayed or recovered) memories of abuse during the course of therapy; and/or (4) suspect past abuse but have no clear memories of having been abused. The more common clinical scenario involves an individual who has retained memory for past abuse but recalls additional events or details during therapy. The less common scenario is for an individual to have totally absent memory of abuse and to later develop highly detailed memory. Practitioners should expect a range of memory presentations and must work to neither suggest nor suppress abuse-related issues that arise in the course of therapy.