"Recovered memory" therapy for eating disorders: implications of the Ramona verdict

"Recovered memory therapy" for eating disorders and other psychiatric conditions seeks to help the patient recover repressed memories of childhood sexual abuse and other traumatic experiences. Through this technique, it is hoped that the patient can work through these experiences to achieve relief from shame, body dissatisfaction, and symptoms of depression and eating disorders. However, this method was questioned in the recent Ramona case, where a father successfully sued two therapists and a hospital for allegedly implanting false memories of childhood sexual abuse in his bulimic daughter. The testimony and verdict in this case recall the principle of primum non nocere: Although it is clearly reasonable to consider an unproven therapeutic technique in an attempt to relieve human suffering, the potential risk of the technique--in this case the possible induction of false incest memories--must be weighed carefully against the technique's expected benefits.