New York Times
“[T]he moral of Dr. Clancy’s story is clear: science should represent truth, not wishful thinking. When good data fly in the face of beloved theory, the theory has to go…Dr. Clancy writes with the precision and patient repetition of a good teacher on complicated terrain. Her prose could not be clearer, and her points are restated many, many times over.”
Salon.com
“The Trauma Myth is a nuanced and muscular work that takes a surprisingly straightforward approach to a tough subject matter.”
Publishers Weekly
“[A] nuanced psychological study.”
Carol Tavris, Ph.D., coauthor of Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me)
“With her usual clarity of prose and reasoning, Susan Clancy has written a calm and persuasive assessment of a volatile subject. I highly recommend this book for anyone with a personal or professional interest in child abuse—which should be all of us.”
Paul McHugh, University Distinguished Service Professor of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University; author of
Try to Remember
“The Trauma Myth is not a debunking of the psychic damage that sexual abuse of children can cause or a denial of its existence. Rather it reveals how sexual abuse occurs and illuminates its pathogenic nature by drawing upon descriptions from people in the population at large rather than in the clinic. Read this book so as to understand just what is involved in these matters, to grasp what is needed to protect children from these experiences, and to treat them if they have been so miserably betrayed. It’s a great story of discovery – about truth, about interpretation, and about why truth matters.”
Sally Satel MD, Yale University School of Medicine; resident scholar at American Enterprise Institute; author of PC, M.D. and co-author of One Nation Under Therapy
“Psychologist Susan Clancy explodes conventional wisdom about child sexual abuse. Though never ever the child’s fault, as Clancy makes crystal clear, abuse is not usually experienced as traumatic when it occurs. Instead, the trauma often comes later, Clancy argues, when the therapeutic culture dictates to victims how they should feel about their experience. The Trauma Myth is an extremely brave book, filled with enough data to satisfy the open-minded skeptic and a great store of compassion for victims.
