The International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation (ISSTD) is a nonprofit professional organization of health professionals and individuals who are interested in advancing the scientific and societal understandings of trauma-based disorders, including posttraumatic stress disorder, complex posttraumatic stress disorder, and the dissociative disorders. [1] [2]
While serving as a platform for discussion and understanding of these topics, the ISSTD has also attracted attention and criticism [3] [4] [5] regarding its promotion of controversial treatments and conspiracy theories, such as discredited [6] theories of government mind control related to hypnosis and unsubstantiated [7] [8] [9] claims of satanic ritual abuse.
In the 1980s, the ISSMP&D, the International Society for the Study of Multiple Personality and Dissociation, grouped clinicians and researchers primarily interested in Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD). [3] The focus of the organization has broadened over the years to include trauma and dissociative disorders.
The ISSTD hosts annual conferences as well as regional conferences. It also offers different webinars, workshops, special interest groups (SIGs), training programs and online communities specific to subtopics related to the field of trauma and dissociation. Editors of the book Dissociation and the dissociative disorders: DSM-V and beyond describe the ISSTD as "the principle professional organization devoted to dissociation". [10]
Over the years, the ISSTD has published guidelines for the treatment of dissociative identity disorder in both adults and children [11] [12] [13] through its peer-reviewed Journal of Trauma & Dissociation (formerly Dissociation: Progress in the Dissociative Disorders), [14] [15] published five times per year. [16] [17] These guidelines are often referenced in the field as a basic starting point for psychotherapy with highly dissociative clients, [11] [18] [19] [20] [21] though they have also elicited concern as potentially harmful due to their noted ability to induce belief in alter personalities and create false memories. [22] [23] [24] [25]
The ISSMP&D's official journal, Dissociation: Progress in the Dissociative Disorders ceased operation after 39 issues (March 1988-December 1997), though its full-text contents have since been made available online. [26]
Starting in the 1980s, controversies involving the ISSTD and surrounding repressed memory and the possible connections between child abuse, traumatic events, memory and dissociation arose. [2]
Some mental health professionals who used hypnosis and other memory recovery techniques now known to contribute to the creation of false memories [27] found their patients lodging bizarre accusations - including of satanic ritual abuse, [28] sacrificial murder, [29] and cannibalism [30] - against their parents, family members and prominent community members. This era is now considered a moral panic, colloquially referred to as the "Satanic Panic."
The ISSTD has promoted multiple different discredited conspiracy theories including satanic ritual abuse and government mind control programming.
From 1984 to 1987, conferences included fringe topics such as cult-created alter personalities, [31] an alleged case of stigmata in an MPD patient, and discussions of alleged occult practices. [32]
In 1988, one of the ISSMP&D founders Bennett Braun presented a workshop in Chicago at an ISSMP&D conference linking the diagnosis of multiple personality disorder (now dissociative identity disorder) to abuse at the hands of devil-worshiping cults. Claims have been made that his presentation included notions of widespread Satanic cults, internally organized with a structure similar to communist cells, with local regional, distinct, national and international councils. These claims also included details that the cults were transgenerational family traditions that had been conducted in secret for at least 2000 years. [33] Braun has challenged these claims, alleging that they rely on remarks which misrepresent his actual statements made at the conference. [34] Another presentation at the 1988 conference aimed to verify alleged historical accounts of Satanic cults engaging in cannibalism and human sacrifice. [35]
In 1989, ISSMPD's annual conference included presentations on Manchurian candidates, a discredited conspiracy [6] concerning alleged trained assassins trained to perform via hypnotic cue, multiple personality in toddlers, and performing exorcisms. [36]
From 1993 onward, [37] conferences featured topics [38] [39] concerned with increasing forensic and legal scrutiny into the field's practice concerning the creation of false memories and use of clinical hypnosis. Despite growing skepticism and a lengthy investigative report published by the FBI in 1992 refuting claims of widespread, organized Satanic cults, presentations on fringe topics such as satanic ritual abuse continued into the late 2000s including topics such as demonic alter personalities. [40] Conference presentations included science denial in the form of a presentation addressing false memory as a "myth". [41]
In 2008, the ISSTD developed a special interest group, the Ritual Abuse and Mind Control Special Interest Group (RAMCOA SIG). [42] The group would become the largest and most active special interest group of the ISSTD. [43] ISSTD cofounder, Richard Kluft, wrote in 2014, "Satanic elements remain problematic realities in many situations. I remain troubled about the matter of transgenerational satanic cults." [44]
Approaching the 2020s, presentations included topics such as "key dates" and "occult holidays" (including Halloween and Christmas) specific to Satanic abuse. Presentations also included [45] the promotion of the debunked conspiracy theory that there were tunnels found under McMartin Preschool in reference to the McMartin preschool trial. [46]
In 1994, past ISSTD president George Greaves' license was revoked by the state of Georgia for engaging in sexual intercourse with patients, sexual contact with his patients while they were under hypnosis, and numerous other ethical violations. [47]
In 1995, ISSTD's founder and former president, Bennett Braun, was sued by a former patient who claimed that Braun had falsely convinced her that she'd engaged in Satanic rituals, cannibalism, and infanticide. The patient received a $10.6 million settlement. Braun's medical license was temporarily suspended by Illinois state officials in 1999 [48] and he was expelled from the American Psychiatric Association in March 2000. [49]
In 2004, another former patient of Braun's, Elizabeth Gale, filed a lawsuit against Braun and Roberta Sachs, another ISSTD founder, alleging that they and their colleagues convinced Gale "that her family indoctrinated her as a child so she would make babies for sacrifice in a satanic cult." The settlement in the malpractice suit amounted to $7.5 million. [50]
Former ISSTD president Colin Ross has also been accused by former patients of implanting false memories, including of satanic ritual abuse. Roma Hart accused Ross of convincing her, among other things, that she was forcibly impregnated by aliens and later gave birth to a half-alien, half-human hybrid. [51] [52] Another former patient, Martha Ann Tyo, sued Ross and others in 1998, alleging that the defendants' methods led her to believe her family was part of an "extended, transgenerational satanic cult." [52] [53]
In January 2021, former ISSTD president and cofounder Bennett Braun's license was revoked [54] an additional time by the state of Montana in addition to the previous revocation from the state of Illinois. The decision of the state of Montana to license Braun elicited legal action [55] and criticism. [56]
In April 2023, the ISSTD issued a statement addressing the removal of a member of the Board of Directors. [57] The statement alleged a "serious and undeclared conflict of interest" which presented a "direct risk". The statement referenced social media posts authored by the removed Board member and addresses them as allegedly false. In response, claims made on social media by the member accuse the ISSTD of alleged bullying, ostracization within the organization, and making accusations of an alleged "psyop" run by the removed member of the Board. [58]
In 1990, the ISSTD annual conference featured a panel on the topic of skepticism of satanic ritual abuse. Panelists who presented skeptical viewpoints claimed that they were accused of being secret Satanists by ISSTD members. [44] One panelist, a founding ISSTD member alleged there was a "shouting match" and that he was physically intimidated. [59] Around 1992, a task force was set up within the organization to "negotiate peace between cult-believers and cult-skeptics". However, despite the formation of this task force, scheduled meetings aimed at fostering peace talks failed to materialize. [60]
After years of controversy, between 1993 and 1998, the ISSTD entered what 1999 president Peter Barach called a "crisis". Between 1993 and 1998 approximately half of the membership population ceased affiliation with the organization. In 1998, the society's journal, Dissociation, ceased publication. By 1999 staff were laid off. [3]
In October 2020, the ISSTD Board of Directors issued a letter to membership informing them that the special interest group formerly known as RAMCOA SIG (Ritual Abuse, Mind Control and Organized Abuse Special Interest Group) had been renamed due to "stricter rules for the provision of Continuing Education (CE) and Continuing Medical Education (CME) credits", largely due to growing concerns about the organization's presentations which included sensationalized and controversial statements regarding "mind control." The new name for this group is "Organized and Extreme Abuse SIG". [61]
In December 2020, internal documents and forum posts from the ISSTD were posted online by The Satanic Temple (TST) which has publicly criticized the organization. [4] [58] TST spokesperson and cofounder Lucien Greaves commented on TST's motivations behind the release, stating the ISSTD represented a "clear and present threat to mental health consumers". [61]
In 1982, the steering committee for the founding of the ISSTD, at time of founding called the International Society for the Study of Multiple Personality (ISSMP), was organized by George Greaves. [62] The organization gained traction from Myron Boor, Bennett Braun, David Caul, Jane Dubrow, George Greaves, Richard Kluft, Frank Putnam and Roberta Sachs, a group of physicians and psychologists present at the 1983 American Psychiatric Association conference.
In 1984, the ISSMP's first annual conference was held. Conferences were originally co-sponsored by The American Society of Clinical Hypnosis. Conferences were originally co-sponsored by The American Society of Clinical Hypnosis. The US-based ISSTD was officially formed in 1984 under the name of the International Society for the Study of Multiple Personality and Dissociation but changed to the International Society for the Study of Dissociation in 1994 and then to its current name in November 2006. [2] [10] [63] [64]
George B. Greaves (1983–1984)
Bennett Braun (1984–1985)
Richard Kluft (1985–1986)
George B. Greaves (1986–1987)
David Caul (1987–1988)
Philip Coons (1988–1989)
Walter C. Young (1989–1990)
Catherine Fine (1990–1991)
Richard Loewenstein (1991–1992)
Moshe S. Torem (1992–1993)
Colin A. Ross (1993–1994)
Nancy L. Hornstein (1994–1995)
Elizabeth S. Bowman (1995–1996)
James A. Chu (1996–1997)
Marlene E. Hunter (1997–1998)
Peter M. Barach (1998–1999)
John Curtis (1999–2000)
Joy Silberg (2000–2001)
Steven Frankel (2001–2002)
Richard A. Chefetz (2002–2003)
Steven Gold (2003–2004)
Frances S. Waters (2004–2005)
Eli Somer (2005–2006)
Catherine Classen (2006–2007)
Vedat Şar (2007–2008)
Kathy Steele (2008–2009)
Paul F. Dell (2010–2011)
Thomas G. Carlton (2011–2012)
Joan Turkus (2012–2013)
Philip J. Kinsler (2013–2014)
Lynette S. Danylchuk (2015)
Warwick Middleton (2016)
Martin Dorahy (2017)
Kevin Connors (2018)
Christine Forner (2019)
Christa Krüger (2020)
Rosita Cortizo (2021)
Lisa Danylchuk (2022)
Michael Salter (2023)
Peter Maves (2024)
Dissociative identity disorder (DID), also known as multiple personality disorder, split personality disorder, or dissociative personality disorder, is a member of the family of dissociative disorders classified by the DSM-5, DSM-5-TR, ICD-10, ICD-11, and Merck Manual for diagnosis. It remains a controversial diagnosis.
The Satanic panic is a moral panic consisting of over 12,000 unsubstantiated cases of Satanic ritual abuse starting in the United States in the 1980s, spreading throughout many parts of the world by the late 1990s, and persisting today. The panic originated in 1980 with the publication of Michelle Remembers, a book co-written by Canadian psychiatrist Lawrence Pazder and his patient, Michelle Smith, which used the controversial and now discredited practice of recovered-memory therapy to make claims about satanic ritual abuse involving Smith. The allegations, which arose afterward throughout much of the United States, involved reports of physical and sexual abuse of people in the context of occult or Satanic rituals. Some allegations involve a conspiracy of a global Satanic cult that includes the wealthy and elite in which children are abducted or bred for human sacrifices, pornography, and prostitution.
In psychology, false memory syndrome (FMS) was a proposed "pattern of beliefs and behaviors" in which a person's identity and relationships are affected by false memories of psychological trauma, recollections which are strongly believed by the individual, but contested by the accused. False memory syndrome was proposed to be the result of recovered memory therapy, a scientifically discredited form of therapy intended to recover memories. Originally conceptualized by the False Memory Syndrome Foundation, the organization sought to understand what they understood as a general pattern of behaviors that followed after a patient underwent recovered memory therapy and to come up with a term to explain the pattern. The principle that individuals can hold false memories and the role that outside influence can play in their formation is widely accepted by scientists, but there is debate over whether this effect can lead to the kinds of detailed memories of repeated sexual abuse and significant personality changes typical of cases that FMS has historically been applied to. FMS is not listed as a psychiatric illness in any medical manuals including the ICD-11, or the DSM-5. The most influential figure in the genesis of the theory is psychologist Elizabeth Loftus.
Lawrence Pazder was a Canadian psychiatrist and author. Pazder wrote the discredited biography, Michelle Remembers, published in 1980, with his patient Michelle Smith, which claimed to detail satanic ritual abuse.
Repressed memory is a controversial, and largely scientifically discredited, psychiatric phenomenon which involves an inability to recall autobiographical information, usually of a traumatic or stressful nature. The concept originated in psychoanalytic theory where repression is understood as a defense mechanism that excludes painful experiences and unacceptable impulses from consciousness. Repressed memory is presently considered largely unsupported by research. Sigmund Freud initially claimed the memories of historical childhood trauma could be repressed, while unconsciously influencing present behavior and emotional responding; he later revised this belief.
Dissociation is a concept that has been developed over time and which concerns a wide array of experiences, ranging from a mild emotional detachment from the immediate surroundings, to a more severe disconnection from physical and emotional experiences. The major characteristic of all dissociative phenomena involves a detachment from reality, rather than a false perception of reality as in psychosis.
Sybil is a 1973 book by Flora Rheta Schreiber about the treatment of Sybil Dorsett for dissociative identity disorder by her psychoanalyst, Cornelia B. Wilbur.
Depersonalization-derealization disorder is a mental disorder in which the person has persistent or recurrent feelings of depersonalization and/or derealization. Depersonalization is described as feeling disconnected or detached from one's self. Individuals may report feeling as if they are an outside observer of their own thoughts or body, and often report feeling a loss of control over their thoughts or actions. Derealization is described as detachment from one's surroundings. Individuals experiencing derealization may report perceiving the world around them as foggy, dreamlike, surreal, and/or visually distorted.
Dissociative disorders (DDs) are a range of conditions characterized by significant disruptions or fragmentation "in the normal integration of consciousness, memory, identity, emotion, perception, body representation, motor control, and behavior." Dissociative disorders involve involuntary dissociation as an unconscious defense mechanism, wherein the individual with a dissociative disorder experiences separation in these areas as a means to protect against traumatic stress. Some dissociative disorders are caused by major psychological trauma, though the onset of depersonalization-derealization disorder may be preceded by less severe stress, by the influence of psychoactive substances, or occur without any discernible trigger.
Michelle Remembers is a discredited 1980 book co-written by Canadian psychiatrist Lawrence Pazder and his psychiatric patient Michelle Smith. A best-seller, Michelle Remembers relied on the discredited practice of recovered-memory therapy to make sweeping, lurid claims about Satanic ritual abuse involving Smith, which contributed to the rise of the Satanic panic in the 1980s. While the book presents its claims as fact, and was extensively marketed on that basis at the time, no evidence was provided; all investigations into the book failed to corroborate any of its claims, with investigators describing its content as being primarily based on elements of popular culture and fiction that were popular at the time when it was written.
The Courage to Heal: A Guide for Women Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse is a self-help book by poet Ellen Bass and Laura Davis that focuses on recovery from child sexual abuse and has been called "controversial and polarizing".
Dissociative amnesia or psychogenic amnesia is a dissociative disorder "characterized by retrospectively reported memory gaps. These gaps involve an inability to recall personal information, usually of a traumatic or stressful nature." In a change from the DSM-IV to the DSM-5, dissociative fugue is now subsumed under dissociative amnesia.
Richard Noll is an American clinical psychologist and historian of medicine. He has published on the history of psychiatry, including two critical volumes on the life and work of Carl Gustav Jung, books and articles on the history of dementia praecox and schizophrenia, and on anthropology on shamanism. His books and articles have been translated into fifteen foreign languages and he has delivered invited presentations in nineteen countries on six continents.
Cornelia Burwell Wilbur was an American psychiatrist. She is best known for a book, written by Flora Rheta Schreiber, and a television film, both titled Sybil, which were presented as non-fiction accounts of the psychiatric treatment she rendered to a person diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder.
The False Memory Syndrome Foundation (FMSF) was a nonprofit organization founded in 1992 and dissolved in late 2019.
The trauma model of mental disorders, or trauma model of psychopathology, emphasises the effects of physical, sexual and psychological trauma as key causal factors in the development of psychiatric disorders, including depression and anxiety as well as psychosis, whether the trauma is experienced in childhood or adulthood. It conceptualises people as having understandable reactions to traumatic events rather than suffering from mental illness.
Nicholas Peter Spanos, was professor of psychology and director of the Laboratory for Experimental Hypnosis at Carleton University from 1975 to his death in a single engine plane crash on June 6, 1994. Spanos conducted multiple studies that challenged common beliefs. He tried to distinguish the difference between common beliefs about hypnosis and what was actually occurring. These studies conducted by Spanos led to the modern understanding that hypnosis is not an altered state and is actually suggested behaviors that the participant chooses to go along with or not. Along with this, Spanos conducted studies regarding dissociative identity disorder in which he stated that multiple personalities are not a product of trauma but are based on social norms.
Valerie Sinason is a British poet, writer, psychoanalyst and psychotherapist who is known for promoting the idea that people with a developmental disability can benefit from psychoanalysis and also that satanic ritual abuse is widely practiced in the UK. She ran the workshop dealing with intellectual disability at the Tavistock Clinic for twenty years and also worked for 16 years as a consultant research psychotherapist at St George's Hospital Medical School. She is a Trustee of the Institute for Psychotherapy and Disability.
Colin A. Ross is a Canadian psychiatrist and former president of the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation from 1993 to 1994. There is controversy about his methods and claims, which include recovering memories through hypnosis of Satanic ritual abuse.
Bennett G. Braun was an American psychiatrist known for his promotion of the concept of multiple personality disorder and involvement in promoting the "Satanic Panic", a moral panic around a conspiracy theory that led to thousands of people being wrongfully medically treated or investigated for nonexistent crimes.
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