Here is my experience with "supressed memories". They were real and verified as much as they could be.

I trusted most of them because of the verfication process. However, I trusted them too due to the "feeling" of the time..."Oh, yes! There it is!" It was like finding that old picture that you'd put away and forgotten about then you find it and it's vivid and "real". All of that happening, though, with the sense they previously (and sometimes currently) they weren't "mine".

There were then some that felt dream-like, and I questioned those myself and put them back away until I could verify or they didn't feel dream-like. Several came back as full-fledged memories...like the picture that was put away.

When I solidified my trust in the supressed memories was when it came back to me about a doctor abusing me 8 yrs. prior. It was completely put away and held from me. When I remembered, I journaled what was remembered and realized there was a police report...EVERYTHING was in the report and more that I hadn't remembered. I then learned to trust everything that had come back to me; my therapist did as well. In fact, he pointed that out to me.

My therapist once said something early on...before the verifications..."the facts don't matter as much as what the person believes to be true. it's their truth that is effecting them and that needs to be addressed, whether it's completely factual or not." I agree with him. Unless there's plans for prosecution, the facts don't matter so much as dealing with what's perceived to be true. With me, there's truth mixed with the child's horrendous fears and perceptions. For instance, did it matter that the brother never did k*ll me? No. He'd convinced me he would and it was just a matter of "when". That needed to be dealt with...

KD