It was interesting to note that if psychiatric professionals were present at Hopkins' sessions as a precaution against ethical slip-ups, coming to his defense should have been an easy ethical exercise. Given Hopkins' renown, why didn't the psychologists assisting him come to his aide when his methods were questioned?
A.I. responded:
"That’s a piercing question, Gary—and one that opens a window into the uneasy intersection of credibility, risk, and professional boundaries in anomalous research."
"While Budd Hopkins did collaborate with psychologists like Aphrodite Clamar and Elizabeth Slater, their roles were often limited to specific cases or observational support. When his methods—especially the use of hypnosis—came under fire in the 1990s, particularly during the rise of false memory syndrome concerns, most of these professionals did not publicly defend him. Why?"
"1. Professional Risk and Institutional Pressure
- Psychologists working with Hopkins were often clinically licensed or affiliated with academic institutions. Publicly defending a non-clinician using hypnosis to explore alien abductions could have jeopardized their reputations or careers.
- The climate of the time was increasingly skeptical, especially after the Satanic Panic and the emergence of the False Memory Syndrome Foundation, which cast a long shadow over regression-based memory retrieval."
"2. Philosophical Divergence
- Some clinicians may have supported Hopkins’ intentions but not his methods. They might have seen value in listening to experiencers but disagreed with the literal framing of abduction narratives or the epistemological certainty hypnosis seemed to confer.
- Others may have viewed their involvement as clinical observation, not endorsement—thus feeling no obligation to defend him when controversy arose."
"3. The Silence of Ambiguity
- The abduction phenomenon itself sits in a liminal space—too symbolic for science, too visceral for metaphor. Many professionals may have felt unequipped to speak publicly about something that defied their training, even if they found it compelling in private."
"4. Hopkins’ Own Framing
- Hopkins often emphasized consistency across cases and physical evidence (like scoop marks) to validate his work. But this approach may have alienated clinicians who preferred a more trauma-informed or symbolic lens—especially as figures like John Mack began to reframe abduction as a transformational experience rather than a forensic event."
"In short, the silence of Hopkins’ psychological collaborators may reflect not betrayal, but the fragile ecology of belief, risk, and professional identity. They stood at the edge of a paradigm shift—and most chose not to leap."
"Would you like to explore how this tension mirrors the broader cultural split between symbolic healing and institutional authority? It feels like a perfect place to map rupture and repair."
There was a storm of lawsuits against clinicians in that era.
"Yes—and that storm reshaped the entire landscape of therapeutic practice in the 1990s. The rise of lawsuits against clinicians, particularly those involved in recovered memory therapy, was both a legal and cultural reckoning."
"The Legal Backlash
- As the Satanic Panic and recovered memory movement peaked, many therapists faced civil lawsuits from individuals who later recanted their memories of abuse—often saying those memories were implanted or distorted during therapy.
- These lawsuits alleged malpractice, negligence, and emotional harm, and some resulted in multi-million dollar settlements or verdicts.
- The legal climate became so intense that malpractice insurers began warning therapists against using hypnosis or suggestive techniques without rigorous training and documentation."
"The Chilling Effect
- Clinicians became increasingly cautious, especially around trauma work involving childhood abuse or dissociation.
- Some therapists abandoned regression techniques altogether, fearing litigation.
- Academic institutions and licensing boards began tightening ethical guidelines, emphasizing evidence-based practices and informed consent."
"Cultural Reverberations
- The lawsuits didn’t just affect individual clinicians—they reshaped public trust in therapy, memory, and the boundaries of belief.
- They also fueled the rise of organizations like the False Memory Syndrome Foundation, which, as we discussed, had its own controversial affiliations and agendas."
"So yes, the 1990s were a crucible. The legal storm didn’t just challenge therapeutic methods—it exposed the fragile epistemology of memory itself, especially when it intersects with trauma, suggestion, and cultural myth."
"Would you like to explore how this legal climate may have influenced Peter Robbins’ caution—or silence—around somatic and trauma-informed modalities? It might explain some of the absences we’ve been tracing."
What do you know of the careers of Richard Kluft and Colin Ross?
"Certainly, Gary. Richard Kluft and Colin Ross are two of the most prominent—and controversial—figures in the study of dissociation, trauma, and recovered memory. Their careers intersected with the rise of Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID, formerly MPD), the use of hypnosis in therapy, and the cultural turbulence of the 1980s and ’90s."
"Dr. Richard Kluft
- Background: Harvard-trained psychiatrist; PhD from Columbia Pacific University (now defunct); certified in psychoanalysis.
- Specialization: One of the earliest and most prolific proponents of Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD), later reclassified as DID.
- Key Roles:
- Co-founder of the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation (ISSTD) in 1983.
- Editor-in-Chief of Dissociation journal (1988–1997).
- Director of the Dissociative Disorders Program at the Institute of Pennsylvania Hospital.
- Clinical Style:
- Advocated for long, uninterrupted hypnosis sessions, sometimes lasting 6–8 hours.
- Diagnosed extreme cases of DID—reportedly up to 4,500 alters in one patient.
- Argued that patients often had “amnesia for their amnesia,” justifying extended treatment to uncover hidden trauma.
- Controversies:
- His work was central to the Satanic Ritual Abuse panic, particularly through his writings and video productions like Ritual Child Abuse: A Professional Overview.
- Critics argue he helped legitimize recovered memory therapy during a time when many such memories were later discredited or recanted."
"Dr. Colin A. Ross
- Background: Canadian psychiatrist; MD from the University of Alberta; completed psychiatric training at the University of Manitoba.
- Specialization: Trauma, dissociation, and DID; founder of the Colin A. Ross Institute for Psychological Trauma.
- Key Roles:
- President of the ISSTD (1993–1994).
- Author of over 38 books and 290+ professional papers.
- Developer of the Trauma Model Therapy, which links dissociation to early trauma and complex comorbidity.
- Notable Works:
- The CIA Doctors (formerly Bluebird), which alleges covert psychiatric experimentation.
- Satanic Ritual Abuse: Principles of Treatment, which, like Kluft’s work, engaged with controversial recovered memory narratives.
- Controversies:
- Claimed to emit 'energy beams from his eyes' and applied for the James Randi Paranormal Challenge based on this assertion.
- Criticized for blending parapsychology, conspiracy theory, and psychiatry, though he maintains a large following in trauma-informed circles."
"Shared Legacy & Divergence
- Both men were pillars of the dissociation movement and helped bring DID into the DSM mainstream.
- Both were heavily involved in hypnosis and recovered memory therapy, and both were targets of the False Memory Syndrome Foundation.
- Kluft leaned more toward psychoanalytic and clinical rigor, while Ross embraced a broader, sometimes conspiratorial cosmology—including military mind control and paranormal phenomena."
"Their careers illuminate the fault lines between trauma, memory, and belief—and the risks of working at the edge of psychiatric orthodoxy. Would you like to explore how their legacies shaped the cultural reception of dissociation and the ethics of memory retrieval? That could be a fascinating next layer."
Did either Ross or Kluft matriculate at Temple University?
"Yes—Dr. Richard Kluft has a formal academic connection to Temple University. He served as a Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Temple University School of Medicine, where he also held adjunct faculty status. This affiliation placed him within a major academic institution during the height of his influence in the dissociation and trauma field."
"Dr. Colin Ross, on the other hand, does not appear to have matriculated at or held any formal academic position with Temple University. His medical degree is from the University of Alberta, and he completed psychiatric training at the University of Manitoba. His work has been largely independent, through the Ross Institute for Psychological Trauma and various clinical settings in the U.S. and Canada."
"Would you like to explore how Kluft’s academic legitimacy may have shaped the reception of his more controversial work—or how Ross’s outsider status gave him more freedom to speculate? That contrast is rich with symbolic tension."
https://greyfaction.org/resources/proponents/kluft-richard/
https://www.karnacbooks.com/author.asp?AID=5683
https://www.rossinst.com/about-dr-colin-ross
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_A._Ross
You said Kluft performed sessions as long as 6 to 8 hours?
"Yes, that's correct—Dr. Richard Kluft was known for conducting extended hypnosis sessions, sometimes lasting 6 to 8 hours, particularly with patients diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), then classified as Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD)."
"Why Such Lengthy Sessions?
"Kluft believed that:
- The dissociative process was intricate and layered, requiring long periods to access and stabilize various personality states ('alters').
- Sessions needed to allow uninterrupted narrative flow to facilitate integration and internal communication among alters.
- Some patients exhibited 'amnesia for their amnesia', requiring extended time to even establish shared memory or internal consensus."
"In fact, he wrote that patients might resist shorter sessions due to a fear of leaving “unfinished business” between internal parts, which could exacerbate anxiety or fragmentation if interrupted prematurely."
"Controversy and Criticism
- These marathon sessions were highly controversial. Critics argued they risked exhaustion, over-suggestion, or dependency, particularly with highly vulnerable patients.
- Extended trance states also raised concerns about the integrity of memory retrieval, especially when suggestibility and emotional intensity were high.
- Some contemporaries viewed his style as overly directive, possibly contributing to iatrogenic outcomes—where the therapeutic process itself could create or reinforce symptoms."
"Kluft defended his approach as clinically justified within the extraordinary realities of DID, but the length and intensity of his sessions became one of the many flashpoints in the broader debates around hypnosis, memory, and trauma in the 1980s and ’90s."
"Would you like to explore how his methods contrast with more modern trauma-informed or somatic approaches that emphasize shorter, titrated engagement with dissociative states? That could be a fascinating juxtaposition."
