Therapy is supposed to be where healing starts, not where damage gets rerouted through the back door. But that’s exactly what happens when guidance turns into suggestion. When therapists push too hard for answers, clients start delivering what they think is expected. And sometimes, that “clarity” becomes a false trauma narrative with very real consequences.

These stories can feel emotionally true.

They can also destroy relationships, rewrite personal history, and lock clients into an identity that doesn’t fully belong to them.

How It Starts

You walk into therapy dysregulated. Confused. Perhaps emotionally overwhelmed with no corresponding memory. You say, “I don’t remember much from childhood.”
Your therapist nods and offers:

• “Your body remembers.”

• “Gaps usually mean something happened.”

• “People forget abuse all the time.”

It doesn’t sound aggressive. But it isn’t neutral, either.

And for someone vulnerable – emotionally suggestible, desperate to make sense of their pain – it doesn’t take long before the brain starts shaping a story that feels right.

Even if it isn’t true.

The Brain Doesn’t Record. It Rebuilds.

Let’s keep the science simple:

• Under stress, the brain doesn’t store clean data.

• Every time you recall a memory, you rewrite it.

• Strong suggestion – especially from a perceived authority – can alter what gets remembered.

This is textbook neuroscience. False memory formation is well-documented. None of this is fringe theory.

So if your therapist was the first one to plant the seed that “someone must’ve hurt you,” and a vivid narrative grew from there, you’re not broken. But you might be carrying someone else’s idea of your truth.

Red Flags in the Room

Therapists may not mean to do harm. But intention isn’t the point. The patterns are what matter:

• Certainty outweighs curiosity

• Dreams and somatic sensations are treated as factual evidence

• Emotion is mistaken for proof

• Memory gaps are assumed to mean repressed trauma

• Timelines remain fuzzy, but blame is locked in

• Sessions become narrative-driven rather than regulation-focused

Good therapy helps you slow down and tolerate ambiguity. Bad therapy assigns roles and waits for you to play your part.

The Real-World Cost

When trauma therapy creates rather than reveals a narrative, fallout spreads fast.

Clients may cut off family members based on memories that aren’t fully accurate, or were misfiled entirely. The estrangement feels righteous at first. But if clarity comes years later, shame can stop repair before it starts.

The survivor may feel disloyal to their own healing process. Or too humiliated to reach out. Meanwhile, the therapist who unintentionally fueled the distortion is long gone.

You don’t need to abandon your healing to re-examine the lens you were given. Both things can be true.

What Ethical Trauma Work Actually Looks Like

Real trauma-informed therapy should:

• Focus on nervous system regulation first

• Introduce memory science before narrative work

• Encourage thoughtful pacing, not urgency

• Use language that leaves space for uncertainty

• Avoid leading questions or narrative suggestion

• Validate feelings without cementing unverified claims

• Make room for memory and metaphor without confusing the two

If a therapist never explained how memory actually works, but helped you build an emotionally compelling story anyway, that’s a clinical ethics issue, not a personal failing.

Final Thoughts

If you’ve begun to question a trauma story that formed in therapy, it doesn’t mean your pain was fake. It means your brain did what brains do—it looked for meaning, it trusted a guide, and it filled in gaps. That’s normal.

Now, if you’re strong enough to ask harder questions about what’s real and what was suggested, you’re not regressing. You’re growing.

Trauma recovery isn’t about sticking to a script. It’s about getting honest… even when that honesty breaks the version of the story you were taught to cling to.

You don’t owe anyone a rewrite. But you do owe yourself clarity. And if something doesn’t sit right anymore, it’s okay to say so out loud.

Sources:

• Loftus, Elizabeth F. “Creating False Memories.” Scientific American.

• McNally, Richard. Remembering Trauma.

• Brewin, C. R. “Memory Processes in PTSD.” International Review of Psychiatry.

• Schacter, Daniel L. The Seven Sins of Memory.

• Yapko, Michael D. Suggestions of Abuse.

• American Psychological Association. Recovered Memory Ethics Guidelines.

• PubMed Database: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez 🇨🇦 on Unsplash

Guest Post Disclaimer: Any and all information shared in this guest blog post is intended for educational and informational purposes only. Nothing in this blog post, nor any content on CPTSDfoundation.org, is a supplement for or supersedes the relationship and direction of your medical or mental health providers. Thoughts, ideas, or opinions expressed by the writer of this guest blog post do not necessarily reflect those of CPTSD Foundation. For more information, see our Privacy Policy and Full Disclaimer.

Share on Facebook

Tweet

Save

Dr. Mozelle Martin

Dr. Mozelle Martin is a retired trauma therapist and former Clinical Director of a trauma center, with extensive experience in forensic psychology, criminology, and applied ethics. A survivor of childhood and young adulthood trauma, Dr. Martin has dedicated decades to understanding the psychological and ethical complexities of trauma, crime, and accountability. Her career began as a volunteer in a women’s domestic violence shelter as a hospital advocate, later becoming a Police Crisis Therapist working alongside law enforcement on the streets of Phoenix. She went on to earn an AS in Psychology, a BS in Forensic Psychology, an MA in Criminology, and a PhD in Applied Ethics, ultimately working extensively in forensic mental health—providing psychological assessments, crisis intervention, and rehabilitative support within prisons and jails. Dr. Martin is also pursuing advanced legal studies at ASU Law, focusing on internet/cyber-defamation and constitutional law to advocate for stronger protections against targeted professional attacks online. A published author and lifelong student of life, she continues to explore the intersections of forensic science, mental health, and ethical accountability in both historical and modern contexts.