Mental health practitioners who work with trauma and complex trauma, and want to upskill in assisting clients who recover memories in their recovery journey to heal.  The focus is on adult therapy clients.

Research on recovered memories shows that both amnesia and spontaneous recovery of memories are common in complex trauma treatment, especially where abuses of power have occurred (Brand et al, 2016; Freyd, 1996; ISSTD, 2011; Ross et al, 2022; van der Hart & Nijenhuis, 1999). Nonetheless, working with recovered memories remains controversial today (eg Brewin, 2021; McNally, 2023; Ross, 2023). The controversy creates challenges for clinicians, including: fear of working with recovered memories, unreflective belief in clients’ memories, and unreflective suspicion of clients’ memories, all of which can be obstacles to the recoveries of complex trauma survivors.

This workshop draws on research on the prevalence of recovered memories, and neurobiological and psychological models of memory to teach participants how to formulate and work with memories that are recovered by clients during their recovery. Catherine draws from experience in her clinical work, including observations of how recovered memories emerge during therapy for complex trauma, and makes recommendations for addressing the memories therapeutically, by combining trauma therapy, parts work, and best practice recommendations for working with recovered memory. This workshop aims to:

1. build clinicians’ confidence in understanding and responding to memory recovery during therapy
2. provide a foundation for healing recovered memories within therapy