The clinical evaluations of 77 adult psychiatric outpatients reporting
memories of childhood trauma were reviewed. A majority of patients re
ported some degree of continuous recall. Roughly half (53%) said they
had never forgotten the traumatic events. Two smaller groups described
a mixture of continuous and delayed recall (17%) or a period of compl
ete amnesia followed by delayed recall (16%). Patients with and withou
t delayed recall did not differ significantly in the proportions repor
ting corroboration of their memories from other sources. Idiosyncratic
, trauma-specific reminders and recent life crises were most commonly
cited as precipitants to delayed recall. A previous psychotherapy was
cited as a factor in a minority (28%) of cases. By contrast, intrusion
of new memories after a period of amnesia was frequently cited as a f
actor-leading to the decision to seek psychotherapy. The implications
of these findings are discussed with respect to the role of psychother
apy in the process of recovering traumatic memories.