Interesting discussions on memory recently at the Hypnosis Technique Exchange as there was a query about erasing memories through hypnosis:

An online friend said that its possible to use hyponosis for erasing traumatic memories. I would never try it on my own, id go see someone just wondering if its possible… it sounds kinda wacky.

It isn’t just wacky, it’s a bad idea. Keep in mind that Lacuna, Inc. is a fiction.

While I believe it is possible at some levels . . . it is not in the real meaning of erasing . . . memories can be repressed but that’s not the same as erasing. The only thing that’s going to erase those memories is brain damage and that’s a BAD idea with a capital B-A-D.

When memories are repressed, either involuntarily due to stress or trauma or voluntarily due to wishful thinking type hypnosis, the memories gain energy which can be expressed in a very negative way.

Memories in and of themselves carry emotional charges. It’s not simply about the data or the information, it’s about the emotional associations they have. The idea of removing the information isn’t the key to dealing with traumatic or even unpleasant memories, it’s about diluting or expressing or just plain catharsis of the emotions connected to the memories,

those are the drivers. For an excellent discusson of memory, emotion, and the films most often recently cited when it comes to memory and memory constructon, Memento and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, see Steven Johnson’s piece on The Science of Eternal Sunshine. Other films I’ve discussed in this context here at Life of Brian include Fifty First Dates, The Butterfly Effect, The Cell, and The Kid.

A more successful approach to changing identity or at least dealing with unpleasant memories other than artificial represson or so-called erasure would be to change how we relate to our memories. After all, the past is the past and really doesn’t need to be charged with so much negative energy or negative emotions that it upsets or bothers us today . . . IMO.

One member of the hypnosis technique exchange noted that he knows a hypnotist who erased the memory of a rape from a woman’s mind through artificial repression.

In my opinion, this fellow is acting irresponsibly. I know there are folks who advocate this sort of "therapy" . . . there are those who would suggest it for rape and for transgendered issues . . . however, in my very considered opinion, these folks are attempting something that is impossible in terms of permanence and irresponsible in terms of long term effect upon the psyche of the subject . . . hypnotic memory erasure is NOT like erasing a tape, it is more of an artifical repression and it does a LOT more damage than it does good.

Sure, it may "seem" to be working in the short term and have the benefit of temporarily interrupting the negative flow to the concsious mind, but it is NOT worth the very damaging long term risks, particularly as there are very worthwhile and very effective techniques that help one get to the I.S.E. (initial sensitizing event in therapeutic parlance) and to deal with it in such a way as to release all of that negative energy in very positive and healthy ways that go so much further than artifical repression could ever hope to go.

The "erasure" is not the same as simple forgetting or losing energy over time. It is a suggested repression and as such will eventually cause the energy to build itself within the subconscious until it is expressed in a way that may not be particularly good and in all likelihood will be far more damaging to the persona of the victim than some of the simpler up front processes that allow a person to deal with traumatic or negative memories through facing them in a safe way that expends the energy.

The woman in the example above who had her rape experience so-called erased was raped again two years later in the same section of the same dark parking lot. That just sucks. Obviously, the folks in charge of that particular parking lot need to have better lighting at all times and to have a more open posture to make certain wouldbe assailants aren’t lurking in the shadows. If a woman has been raped twice in that locatio, this is an usafe environment.

Since she had no conscious memory of the event she was unable to move forward or to learn from the experience. Notice, I would NOT say she had no memory, however, that memory had been artificially repressed from concious memory. The memory and the energy is still there and in all likelihood affected her relationships with others and with herself.

Many believe that the intensity we apply to a memory that matters. Yes. The emotional energy. This is why folks exposed to the same event will often have very different reactions to it, based upon how it was framed and psychologically experienced at the time.

For many intentisty may indeed lighten with time and through trancework we may indeed be able to help it decrease sooner rather than later. Perhaps, but most folks who have naturally repressed traumatic incidents will have that energy trapped within their subconsious where it cannot be appropriately expressed. The acts of uncovering and catharsis help the healing process. Artificial repression is in and of itself both irresponsible and possibly very damaging.

In my very strong opinion . . . of course, folks are free to disagree with me on this . . . but, they’ll be wrong.

Another participant in the discussion at the hypnosis technique exchange stated that he believed anyone who removes memories through suggestion in this way is not helping the victim but is in fact more of a "mind rapist" than a therapist. He also noted that in his opinion transgendered folks should be able to have the option of choosing this as some may wish it.

I can’t say for others, but I have not been speaking to nonconsensual memory erasure. Nonconsensual memory repression is very much a bad idea at so many levels. Consensual seems to be okay to some folks but also has severe negative consequences to many folks. Consent does not make it okay. Safe, Sane, and Consensual applies here as while the process may be consensual, it is neither safe nor sane.

Some transgendered individuals do indeed "want" to forget their past lives in their birth genders. I’ve received requests to this effect on a number of occassions, requests I routinely deny.

The folks I mentioned who advocate Gender Identity Memory Relacement Therapy do so with consent. Unfortunately, the problems associated with memory erasure are still there, albeit these folks "try" to replace the removed memories with false memories of the person as the target gender.

In the long run, this is created phantasy rather than appropriately helping the client come to terms with their past and move on with their present as the new gender (I don’t advocate positive transgender therapy unless it is certain that this is a case of transgendered identity rather than simple fetish, fantasy, or escapist denial).

I know there are a number of transgendered folks on this list, many of whom use hypnosis to help them come to terms with their transgendered nature in a very positive and helpful way. I also know there are a number of folks lurking out there who use memory replacement/erasure as part of their process with transgendereds who would disagree with me regarding this. I know it’s difficult to have much of a discussion when the polarity is so powerful, but I’ll be sticking to my guns as I’ve never seen a compelling argument in favor other than "but that’s how the client wants it" and I’ve not seen any strong refutation to the position that the longterm risks are significant for many individuals.

Here are some previous posts on the subject:

• Memory Replacement Therapy
• Memory Replacement Therapy . . . sidebar
• Memory Replacement Therapy and Transgenderism . . . sidebar on responsibility
• Memory Replacement Therapy and Transgenderism . . . sidebar on which is worse?

A rape victim could very well choose to have the memory artificially repressed . . . however, this is a short term solution that doesn’t actually solve the problems those memories are bringing the person. It is healthier to actually DO THE THERAPEUTIC WORK. The short term gains are not worth the possible longterm consequences.

Transgendered folks can’t really change their past experiences. They can change their relationship to their past and the energy it expresses over them, but the actual memories are still there. To repress them in favor of a fantasy past is neither realistic nor wise in terms of the individual’s healthy longterm development. Just as the folks who ask me to hypnotically grow a womb for them are being unrealistic, so too are those who believe everything will be okay if they could just somehow repress their past experiences . . . better to look the past square in the face and acknowledge it as having once had an importance but dissolving that energy and moving on past the past and resolutely into a future. Our past experiences make up a great deal of who we are, to consciously attempt to erase them . . . in a hypnotic dream approaching our own little Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind . . . is to ignore that importance and to repress significant and important parts of ourselves that will eventually demand expression, expression that will invariably have negative consequences for the persona in the long run . . . it didn’t work well in the movie and it won’t work in real life.

In my very stubborn opinion.

All the best,
Brian