The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

PAGE 16 â€" WATERLOO CHRONICLE, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 6, 1994 Where is child abuse in the greater scheme of things? You can hardly open a newspaper these days without news of another abuse case being brought to court, some even 20 or 30 years after the events took place. in March‘s Saturday Night magazine, Syivia Fraser explores the soâ€"called False Memory Syndrome. Her book in My Father‘s House described her childhood as a vicâ€" tim of incest, memories of which she had long repressed. in this article (as in Gloria Steinem‘s femninist revision of Freud in the current issue of Ms.Magazine), Fraser condemns Freud‘s vacillaâ€" tion about the reality of sexual abuse. He simply could not accept that almost all of his female patients had been seduced by their fathers, so assumed that their memories were largely untrue and attributable to fantasy and hysteria. Whether Freud was right or wrong, his view has shaped psychotherapy‘s approach to the issue of child abuse. All psychology based on a develâ€" opmental model regards any emotional event from the past as shaping adult personality. But is our culture‘s current focus on victim‘s rights a healithy evolution? Even questioning this raises the specter of Political Correctness, so I tread caretfully. Abusers, viectims & storytellers James Hillman is a Jungian therapist who has influenced several authors in the men‘s moveâ€" ment and spirituality field (including Thomas More, whose Soulmates and Care of the Soul are current bestsellers). Hiliman and Michael Ventura coâ€"wrote We‘ve Had a Hundred Years of Psychotherapy and the World‘s Getting Worse (HarperCollins, 240 pages, $15). it‘s a provocative challenge to the assumptions of the developâ€" mental model. How have nonâ€"Western cultures coped with mental iliness? How have previous centuries in our culture coped with sexual abuse and abandonment? Ventura points out that the theory that abuse is linked to ecological abuse of the planet "doesn‘t wash historically. Forced sexual relationships have been with us since the dawn of time, if we can judge by ancient myths and fairy tales, and the ravaging of the planet has only been going on since the beginning of the Industrial Age..." coped with mental iliness? How have previous Which brings me to The Case of Emily v.a centuries in our culture coped with sexual abuse . novel by University of Toronto professor, Keith and abandonment? Ventura points out that the Oatley (Reed Books, 407 pages, §17.99). !t theory that abuse is linked to ecological abuse . belongs to the genre of great writers rewritten, a af the planet "doesn‘t wash historically. Forced . kind of cross between The Sevenâ€"Percent Soluâ€" sexual relationships have been with us since the . tion and The White Hotel. in it, Freud and Sherâ€" dawn of time, if we can judge by ancient myths . lock Holmes tackle the same case involving the and fairy tales, and the ravaging of the planet . seduction of a 14 year old. The publisher has has only been going on since the beginning of high hopes for a Booker Prize nomination. the industrial Age..." Maybe psychotherapists should explore literaâ€" What we are dealing with here is mythology, a . ture rather than casebooks to learn how people belief system that we imbue with ‘reality‘. What . tell stories, And the rest of us should read stories Hillman and Ventura are good at is questioning . to learn to tell our own. . such reality or paradigms. Hillman differentiates Chuck Erion is the owner/operator of Words traumatic memory from the trauma that trigâ€" _ Worth Books and a freelance writer. a dha d n w i wb PP i t t 0 0 w % Presented in coâ€"operation with the University of Waterioo £ p.000, 60 VC Lz C Kancaster hnu;e Cabern 574 Lancaster St., West 743â€" FREE LINE DANCING LESSONS _ 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. _ _ DIAMOND ~«=«= Friendly, downâ€"toâ€"earth and multiâ€"lingual, Charlotte sings about the many joys of the gered it. "It isn‘t that the abuse didn‘t happen â€" I‘m not denying that it happened... But Imay be able to think about the brutality â€" reframe it, as they say â€" as an initiatory experience. These wounds that [my father] caused have done something to me to make me understand punâ€" ishment, vengeance, submission,..the depth of rage between fathers and sons, which is a unk versal theme. ... With my suffering I‘ve entered an imaginal, not just a traumatic, world." This recognition means that the significance of the trauma can always change. *It‘s a place where literal life and mythical life meet. That‘s what wounds are.", says Ventura. Hillman responds that therapy tends to confuse the importance of the event with the importance of the individual, and underestimates the role of storytelling. "We are very much the creation of the stories we tell ourselves." As if in response to Steinem and Fraser, Hiliman says: "Everybody‘s been attacking Freud recently, saying that Freud was covering up, that he wasn‘t admitting these childhood abuses really happened. Whether they happened or not, Freud‘s point, which is so tremendous, is that it‘s what memory does with them that‘s important." world with a bubbly sense of fun that‘s sure to please all nuuummumwâ€"hmcqummsy,MM.,WM“‘W ‘ arRp Outlct Kids/Stu/Sen $7.25 Saturday, April 9 To receive information about the 1994â€"95 Season call 747â€"8734 or 747â€"8769! Part of the 743â€"4331 Tapestry Music Theatre‘s Colours in the Storm written by Jim Betts Friday, April 8 8:00 p.m. Adults $19 Stu/Sen $17 . A2CER NOR L T qponsouidby n!ifi i sn a _ Tom Thompson â€" one of Canada‘s most celebrated and eccentric painters. An unsolved mystery. Haunting music. These are the ingredients of colours in the Storm! c And every ticketâ€"holder at the show has a chance to win a pair of subscriptions to our upcoming season! A great performance deserves a special reward. Treat your secretary to lunch! The Waterloo Inn‘s luncheon buffet includes a variety of salads, hot entrées, delicious desserts and tea or coffee. All for only ‘10"* + April 18 â€" 22, Treat Your Secretary For A Job Well Done. 475 King St. North, Waterioo, Ontario N2J 225 For Reservations Call: (519) 884â€"0220 YOUR RIGHT J J mc un mone cesc tcanat m e 5 Ah mt Sn eA l in en oi mnachs h ie 4Jmm