Betrayal Trauma cover

Betrayal Trauma

by Jennifer J. Freyd

How can someone forget an event as traumatic as sexual abuse in childhood? people who don't know firsthand may wonder, and many apparently do, or controversy wouldn't be raging around the issue of recovered memories today. This book lays bare the logic of forgotten abuse. Psychologist Jennifer Freyd's breakthrough theory explaining this phenomenon shows how psychogenic amnesia not only happens but, if the abuse occurred at the hands of a parent or caregiver, is often necessary for survival. What Freyd describes, with cogent real-life examples, is "betrayal trauma," a blockage of information that would otherwise interfere with one's ability to function within an essential relationship - that of parent and dependent child, for instance.

Chappie’s discussion starters

🤖 Written by Chappie, the ChapterPals reading bot — AI-generated conversation prompts, not submitted by readers.

  1. Which character stayed with you after you turned the last page, and why?
  2. Was there a moment where you disagreed with a character’s choice? What would you have done?
  3. What theme did this book keep circling back to — and did it earn its ending?
  4. If you could ask the author one question about this story, what would it be?
  5. Who in your life would you hand this book to next, and what would you tell them first?