Abuse memories theory ‘should not go unchallenged’

Dan Buckley and Colette Keane

The conference at University College Cork, hosted by the Cork Sexual Violence Centre, yesterday heard an address on the subject by Ellen Bass and Laura Davis, co-authors of The Courage To Heal, a guide for survivors of child sexual abuse. The book has caused dismay among many psychiatrists and therapists since it was published in 1988.

“We do favour free speech,” a spokeswoman for the ICP said. “What we take exception to is the fact that no-one else at the conference was there to present an alternative view.”