NYT expose on The Tell by Amy Griffin

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In a nutshell, can you describe the book and why it’s controversial? Your subject title intrigued me.

I'm not OP but I did read the book. In a nutshull, the author took psychadelics in therapy and through that experience claims to have uncovered long-repressed memories of her being SAed when she was in high school.

MDMA is not a psychedelic

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree that she’s not necessarily lying, even if these “memories” aren’t real. She may genuinely believe the recovered memories are 100% accurate. However, she only became consciously aware of these alleged events while using a drug that makes people hallucinate. This whole journey started with her hallucinating that this teacher was in the room with her.

“Before taking the MDMA pill, Ms. Griffin told the facilitator, ‘There’s something I can’t face. I know something happened to me, something I’m talking around. But I don’t know what it is.’

Five minutes into the session, she writes in the book, she sat up and said, ‘Why is he here?’

The facilitator asked, ‘Who?’

‘Mr. Mason. From my middle school,’ Ms. Griffin said. (Mr. Mason is the pseudonym she uses for the teacher in the book.)”

Her allegations might be the absolute truth, but they’re based solely on memories that surfaced while she was in an MDMA-induced hallucinogenic state. There is no evidence that independently corroborates any of these memories. That doesn’t necessarily mean they’re pure fiction, but that does mean they should be viewed with some skepticism. If this teacher raped a minor repeatedly, he’s getting off incredibly easy…but if he’s totally innocent of these allegations, the poor guy’s life has been turned upside down and there’s no way to clear his name and restore his reputation.

I’m curious why the nyt didn’t interview a psychiatrist or a neurologist or anyone who knows anything about either memory or repressed memories.

Same.

Article was weirdly incomplete.

Seriously!

It was like an article where a random person mouths off about volcanos and they note how much Oprah liked the person’s volcano book but never think to talk to or mention any geologists.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree that she’s not necessarily lying, even if these “memories” aren’t real. She may genuinely believe the recovered memories are 100% accurate. However, she only became consciously aware of these alleged events while using a drug that makes people hallucinate. This whole journey started with her hallucinating that this teacher was in the room with her.

“Before taking the MDMA pill, Ms. Griffin told the facilitator, ‘There’s something I can’t face. I know something happened to me, something I’m talking around. But I don’t know what it is.’

Five minutes into the session, she writes in the book, she sat up and said, ‘Why is he here?’

The facilitator asked, ‘Who?’

‘Mr. Mason. From my middle school,’ Ms. Griffin said. (Mr. Mason is the pseudonym she uses for the teacher in the book.)”

Her allegations might be the absolute truth, but they’re based solely on memories that surfaced while she was in an MDMA-induced hallucinogenic state. There is no evidence that independently corroborates any of these memories. That doesn’t necessarily mean they’re pure fiction, but that does mean they should be viewed with some skepticism. If this teacher raped a minor repeatedly, he’s getting off incredibly easy…but if he’s totally innocent of these allegations, the poor guy’s life has been turned upside down and there’s no way to clear his name and restore his reputation.

Again, it's really important to understand that MDMA is NOT a hallucinogen and not a psychedelic. It does NOT cause hallucination.

I had experience with a psychiatrist in the 90's who encouraged me to do drug assisted hypnosis to recover memories of childhood sexual abuse by my brother. I had shadows of memory but I could not define you exactly what, where, when, how... I knew it was bad but my brain didn't want me to know how bad.

dr. Martin Stein in Arlington was a Washingtonian Top Doctor, a respected lecturer at Georgetown, a renowned psychopharmacologist. And he insisted that I would never get better until I could remember all of the details of the abuse.

I didn't agree. I believe my little childhood brain built a wall to protect me. What could would re-experiencing detailed trauma do? I said no. There were lots of other red flags I had with him, but his definitively telling me that would have to relive the memories in order to believe my depression and ADHD and anxiety struck a bad chord with me.

It turned out he convinced many patients to do this. And when concerned patients and their loved ones reported inappropriate drugging and deaths and sexual activity with patients, he lost his medical license.

One thing that came out in the testimony in the proceedings with the medical board was that several of his patients had been pressured by him to be hypnotized and "recover" false memories of satanic ritual abuse an sexual abuse by parents and siblings. It destroyed so many families.

Those "recovered" memories were ideas that came to him during sessions. He asked lots of leading questions, got what he wanted to hear while they were highly suggestible.


MDMA isn't that. It enhances feeling sod closeness, safety, trust. But it desnt make you hallucinate. You are lucid throughout. Unless she is lying entirely, her therapist never asked her guiding questions or steered her toward sexual abuse as a topic. She just felt safe for the first time in like 29 years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree that she’s not necessarily lying, even if these “memories” aren’t real. She may genuinely believe the recovered memories are 100% accurate. However, she only became consciously aware of these alleged events while using a drug that makes people hallucinate. This whole journey started with her hallucinating that this teacher was in the room with her.

“Before taking the MDMA pill, Ms. Griffin told the facilitator, ‘There’s something I can’t face. I know something happened to me, something I’m talking around. But I don’t know what it is.’

Five minutes into the session, she writes in the book, she sat up and said, ‘Why is he here?’

The facilitator asked, ‘Who?’

‘Mr. Mason. From my middle school,’ Ms. Griffin said. (Mr. Mason is the pseudonym she uses for the teacher in the book.)”

Her allegations might be the absolute truth, but they’re based solely on memories that surfaced while she was in an MDMA-induced hallucinogenic state. There is no evidence that independently corroborates any of these memories. That doesn’t necessarily mean they’re pure fiction, but that does mean they should be viewed with some skepticism. If this teacher raped a minor repeatedly, he’s getting off incredibly easy…but if he’s totally innocent of these allegations, the poor guy’s life has been turned upside down and there’s no way to clear his name and restore his reputation.

Again, it's really important to understand that MDMA is NOT a hallucinogen and not a psychedelic. It does NOT cause hallucination.

I had experience with a psychiatrist in the 90's who encouraged me to do drug assisted hypnosis to recover memories of childhood sexual abuse by my brother. I had shadows of memory but I could not define you exactly what, where, when, how... I knew it was bad but my brain didn't want me to know how bad.

dr. Martin Stein in Arlington was a Washingtonian Top Doctor, a respected lecturer at Georgetown, a renowned psychopharmacologist. And he insisted that I would never get better until I could remember all of the details of the abuse.

I didn't agree. I believe my little childhood brain built a wall to protect me. What could would re-experiencing detailed trauma do? I said no. There were lots of other red flags I had with him, but his definitively telling me that would have to relive the memories in order to believe my depression and ADHD and anxiety struck a bad chord with me.

It turned out he convinced many patients to do this. And when concerned patients and their loved ones reported inappropriate drugging and deaths and sexual activity with patients, he lost his medical license.

One thing that came out in the testimony in the proceedings with the medical board was that several of his patients had been pressured by him to be hypnotized and "recover" false memories of satanic ritual abuse an sexual abuse by parents and siblings. It destroyed so many families.

Those "recovered" memories were ideas that came to him during sessions. He asked lots of leading questions, got what he wanted to hear while they were highly suggestible.


MDMA isn't that. It enhances feeling sod closeness, safety, trust. But it desnt make you hallucinate. You are lucid throughout. Unless she is lying entirely, her therapist never asked her guiding questions or steered her toward sexual abuse as a topic. She just felt safe for the first time in like 29 years.

The memories that she supposedly recovered occurred from the ages of 12 to 16. I’m no psychologist or MDMA expert but is this a little old to have repressed memories of that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree that she’s not necessarily lying, even if these “memories” aren’t real. She may genuinely believe the recovered memories are 100% accurate. However, she only became consciously aware of these alleged events while using a drug that makes people hallucinate. This whole journey started with her hallucinating that this teacher was in the room with her.

“Before taking the MDMA pill, Ms. Griffin told the facilitator, ‘There’s something I can’t face. I know something happened to me, something I’m talking around. But I don’t know what it is.’

Five minutes into the session, she writes in the book, she sat up and said, ‘Why is he here?’

The facilitator asked, ‘Who?’

‘Mr. Mason. From my middle school,’ Ms. Griffin said. (Mr. Mason is the pseudonym she uses for the teacher in the book.)”

Her allegations might be the absolute truth, but they’re based solely on memories that surfaced while she was in an MDMA-induced hallucinogenic state. There is no evidence that independently corroborates any of these memories. That doesn’t necessarily mean they’re pure fiction, but that does mean they should be viewed with some skepticism. If this teacher raped a minor repeatedly, he’s getting off incredibly easy…but if he’s totally innocent of these allegations, the poor guy’s life has been turned upside down and there’s no way to clear his name and restore his reputation.

Again, it's really important to understand that MDMA is NOT a hallucinogen and not a psychedelic. It does NOT cause hallucination.

I had experience with a psychiatrist in the 90's who encouraged me to do drug assisted hypnosis to recover memories of childhood sexual abuse by my brother. I had shadows of memory but I could not define you exactly what, where, when, how... I knew it was bad but my brain didn't want me to know how bad.

dr. Martin Stein in Arlington was a Washingtonian Top Doctor, a respected lecturer at Georgetown, a renowned psychopharmacologist. And he insisted that I would never get better until I could remember all of the details of the abuse.

I didn't agree. I believe my little childhood brain built a wall to protect me. What could would re-experiencing detailed trauma do? I said no. There were lots of other red flags I had with him, but his definitively telling me that would have to relive the memories in order to believe my depression and ADHD and anxiety struck a bad chord with me.

It turned out he convinced many patients to do this. And when concerned patients and their loved ones reported inappropriate drugging and deaths and sexual activity with patients, he lost his medical license.

One thing that came out in the testimony in the proceedings with the medical board was that several of his patients had been pressured by him to be hypnotized and "recover" false memories of satanic ritual abuse an sexual abuse by parents and siblings. It destroyed so many families.

Those "recovered" memories were ideas that came to him during sessions. He asked lots of leading questions, got what he wanted to hear while they were highly suggestible.


MDMA isn't that. It enhances feeling sod closeness, safety, trust. But it desnt make you hallucinate. You are lucid throughout. Unless she is lying entirely, her therapist never asked her guiding questions or steered her toward sexual abuse as a topic. She just felt safe for the first time in like 29 years.

“It also causes hallucinogenic effects that can change how you see the world, such as not knowing what time it is or seeing things that are not there. Ecstasy directly affects the levels of neurotransmitters in your brain, including serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine.”

https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/addiction/what-is-ecstasy

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree that she’s not necessarily lying, even if these “memories” aren’t real. She may genuinely believe the recovered memories are 100% accurate. However, she only became consciously aware of these alleged events while using a drug that makes people hallucinate. This whole journey started with her hallucinating that this teacher was in the room with her.

“Before taking the MDMA pill, Ms. Griffin told the facilitator, ‘There’s something I can’t face. I know something happened to me, something I’m talking around. But I don’t know what it is.’

Five minutes into the session, she writes in the book, she sat up and said, ‘Why is he here?’

The facilitator asked, ‘Who?’

‘Mr. Mason. From my middle school,’ Ms. Griffin said. (Mr. Mason is the pseudonym she uses for the teacher in the book.)”

Her allegations might be the absolute truth, but they’re based solely on memories that surfaced while she was in an MDMA-induced hallucinogenic state. There is no evidence that independently corroborates any of these memories. That doesn’t necessarily mean they’re pure fiction, but that does mean they should be viewed with some skepticism. If this teacher raped a minor repeatedly, he’s getting off incredibly easy…but if he’s totally innocent of these allegations, the poor guy’s life has been turned upside down and there’s no way to clear his name and restore his reputation.

Again, it's really important to understand that MDMA is NOT a hallucinogen and not a psychedelic. It does NOT cause hallucination.

I had experience with a psychiatrist in the 90's who encouraged me to do drug assisted hypnosis to recover memories of childhood sexual abuse by my brother. I had shadows of memory but I could not define you exactly what, where, when, how... I knew it was bad but my brain didn't want me to know how bad.

dr. Martin Stein in Arlington was a Washingtonian Top Doctor, a respected lecturer at Georgetown, a renowned psychopharmacologist. And he insisted that I would never get better until I could remember all of the details of the abuse.

I didn't agree. I believe my little childhood brain built a wall to protect me. What could would re-experiencing detailed trauma do? I said no. There were lots of other red flags I had with him, but his definitively telling me that would have to relive the memories in order to believe my depression and ADHD and anxiety struck a bad chord with me.

It turned out he convinced many patients to do this. And when concerned patients and their loved ones reported inappropriate drugging and deaths and sexual activity with patients, he lost his medical license.

One thing that came out in the testimony in the proceedings with the medical board was that several of his patients had been pressured by him to be hypnotized and "recover" false memories of satanic ritual abuse an sexual abuse by parents and siblings. It destroyed so many families.

Those "recovered" memories were ideas that came to him during sessions. He asked lots of leading questions, got what he wanted to hear while they were highly suggestible.


MDMA isn't that. It enhances feeling sod closeness, safety, trust. But it desnt make you hallucinate. You are lucid throughout. Unless she is lying entirely, her therapist never asked her guiding questions or steered her toward sexual abuse as a topic. She just felt safe for the first time in like 29 years.

The memories that she supposedly recovered occurred from the ages of 12 to 16. I’m no psychologist or MDMA expert but is this a little old to have repressed memories of that?

Yes!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree that she’s not necessarily lying, even if these “memories” aren’t real. She may genuinely believe the recovered memories are 100% accurate. However, she only became consciously aware of these alleged events while using a drug that makes people hallucinate. This whole journey started with her hallucinating that this teacher was in the room with her.

“Before taking the MDMA pill, Ms. Griffin told the facilitator, ‘There’s something I can’t face. I know something happened to me, something I’m talking around. But I don’t know what it is.’

Five minutes into the session, she writes in the book, she sat up and said, ‘Why is he here?’

The facilitator asked, ‘Who?’

‘Mr. Mason. From my middle school,’ Ms. Griffin said. (Mr. Mason is the pseudonym she uses for the teacher in the book.)”

Her allegations might be the absolute truth, but they’re based solely on memories that surfaced while she was in an MDMA-induced hallucinogenic state. There is no evidence that independently corroborates any of these memories. That doesn’t necessarily mean they’re pure fiction, but that does mean they should be viewed with some skepticism. If this teacher raped a minor repeatedly, he’s getting off incredibly easy…but if he’s totally innocent of these allegations, the poor guy’s life has been turned upside down and there’s no way to clear his name and restore his reputation.

Again, it's really important to understand that MDMA is NOT a hallucinogen and not a psychedelic. It does NOT cause hallucination.

I had experience with a psychiatrist in the 90's who encouraged me to do drug assisted hypnosis to recover memories of childhood sexual abuse by my brother. I had shadows of memory but I could not define you exactly what, where, when, how... I knew it was bad but my brain didn't want me to know how bad.

dr. Martin Stein in Arlington was a Washingtonian Top Doctor, a respected lecturer at Georgetown, a renowned psychopharmacologist. And he insisted that I would never get better until I could remember all of the details of the abuse.

I didn't agree. I believe my little childhood brain built a wall to protect me. What could would re-experiencing detailed trauma do? I said no. There were lots of other red flags I had with him, but his definitively telling me that would have to relive the memories in order to believe my depression and ADHD and anxiety struck a bad chord with me.

It turned out he convinced many patients to do this. And when concerned patients and their loved ones reported inappropriate drugging and deaths and sexual activity with patients, he lost his medical license.

One thing that came out in the testimony in the proceedings with the medical board was that several of his patients had been pressured by him to be hypnotized and "recover" false memories of satanic ritual abuse an sexual abuse by parents and siblings. It destroyed so many families.

Those "recovered" memories were ideas that came to him during sessions. He asked lots of leading questions, got what he wanted to hear while they were highly suggestible.


MDMA isn't that. It enhances feeling sod closeness, safety, trust. But it desnt make you hallucinate. You are lucid throughout. Unless she is lying entirely, her therapist never asked her guiding questions or steered her toward sexual abuse as a topic. She just felt safe for the first time in like 29 years.

“It also causes hallucinogenic effects that can change how you see the world, such as not knowing what time it is or seeing things that are not there. Ecstasy directly affects the levels of neurotransmitters in your brain, including serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine.”

https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/addiction/what-is-ecstasy

Griffin knew she was undergoing treatment, but she saw her middle school teacher in the room with her during the session. The clinician who was treating her didn’t know who she was talking about. Either Griffin hallucinated or her teacher was actually there. Obviously, she hallucinated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree that she’s not necessarily lying, even if these “memories” aren’t real. She may genuinely believe the recovered memories are 100% accurate. However, she only became consciously aware of these alleged events while using a drug that makes people hallucinate. This whole journey started with her hallucinating that this teacher was in the room with her.

“Before taking the MDMA pill, Ms. Griffin told the facilitator, ‘There’s something I can’t face. I know something happened to me, something I’m talking around. But I don’t know what it is.’

Five minutes into the session, she writes in the book, she sat up and said, ‘Why is he here?’

The facilitator asked, ‘Who?’

‘Mr. Mason. From my middle school,’ Ms. Griffin said. (Mr. Mason is the pseudonym she uses for the teacher in the book.)”

Her allegations might be the absolute truth, but they’re based solely on memories that surfaced while she was in an MDMA-induced hallucinogenic state. There is no evidence that independently corroborates any of these memories. That doesn’t necessarily mean they’re pure fiction, but that does mean they should be viewed with some skepticism. If this teacher raped a minor repeatedly, he’s getting off incredibly easy…but if he’s totally innocent of these allegations, the poor guy’s life has been turned upside down and there’s no way to clear his name and restore his reputation.

Again, it's really important to understand that MDMA is NOT a hallucinogen and not a psychedelic. It does NOT cause hallucination.

I had experience with a psychiatrist in the 90's who encouraged me to do drug assisted hypnosis to recover memories of childhood sexual abuse by my brother. I had shadows of memory but I could not define you exactly what, where, when, how... I knew it was bad but my brain didn't want me to know how bad.

dr. Martin Stein in Arlington was a Washingtonian Top Doctor, a respected lecturer at Georgetown, a renowned psychopharmacologist. And he insisted that I would never get better until I could remember all of the details of the abuse.

I didn't agree. I believe my little childhood brain built a wall to protect me. What could would re-experiencing detailed trauma do? I said no. There were lots of other red flags I had with him, but his definitively telling me that would have to relive the memories in order to believe my depression and ADHD and anxiety struck a bad chord with me.

It turned out he convinced many patients to do this. And when concerned patients and their loved ones reported inappropriate drugging and deaths and sexual activity with patients, he lost his medical license.

One thing that came out in the testimony in the proceedings with the medical board was that several of his patients had been pressured by him to be hypnotized and "recover" false memories of satanic ritual abuse an sexual abuse by parents and siblings. It destroyed so many families.

Those "recovered" memories were ideas that came to him during sessions. He asked lots of leading questions, got what he wanted to hear while they were highly suggestible.


MDMA isn't that. It enhances feeling sod closeness, safety, trust. But it desnt make you hallucinate. You are lucid throughout. Unless she is lying entirely, her therapist never asked her guiding questions or steered her toward sexual abuse as a topic. She just felt safe for the first time in like 29 years.

“It also causes hallucinogenic effects that can change how you see the world, such as not knowing what time it is or seeing things that are not there. Ecstasy directly affects the levels of neurotransmitters in your brain, including serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine.”

https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/addiction/what-is-ecstasy

Griffin knew she was undergoing treatment, but she saw her middle school teacher in the room with her during the session. The clinician who was treating her didn’t know who she was talking about. Either Griffin hallucinated or her teacher was actually there. Obviously, she hallucinated.

+1

[Anonymous]

Now she is being sued. This story is so strange.
[url]
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/05/nyregion/amy-griffin-the-tell-lawsuit.html[/url]

Amy Griffin, a best-selling memoirist, was sued on Wednesday by a former classmate who contends that Ms. Griffin’s story of being sexually abused — as she described in her book, “The Tell” — was based on assaults the classmate herself suffered at their Texas middle school in the 1980s.

The classmate, identified in court papers as Jane Doe, filed the lawsuit in California, accusing Ms. Griffin of invasion of privacy, negligence and infliction of emotional distress, among other claims. The suit also names Sam Lansky, a ghostwriter who worked on “The Tell,” as well as Penguin Random House and The Dial Press, which published the book, as defendants.

[Anonymous]

I think it’s suspicious that the memories she recovered are exactly what actually happened to a classmate of hers (by a different teacher).

I immediately put the book on hold at my library after reading the NYT article

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In a nutshell, can you describe the book and why it’s controversial? Your subject title intrigued me.

The author went from a wealthy, privileged childhood to an even more wealthy and privileged adulthood. She wondered what made her feel like she had to be perfect all the time. Her husband had a significant financial stake in a business that was promoting the use of psychedelic drugs by patients in therapy. She felt like there was some dark reason behind her quest for perfection, so she decided to try drug assisted psychotherapy. Under the influence of the drugs she either hallucinated or recovered actual memories of repeated violent sexual abuse at the hands of one of her middle school teachers. Despite a heavy saturation of celebrities promoting her book and her whole hometown being aware of the book, no one has corroborated her account and zero other victims have come forward, which was very unexpected since the assaults recounted in her book were brazen and sexual offenders with easy access to kids tend to have multiple victims. There is one classmate of hers who had a rather traumatic childhood and suffered remarkably similar sexual assaults, but at the hands of a completely different teacher. The classmate didn’t need psychedelics to remember the details of her attacks. The attorney for the author says that the Times even trying to fact check the author’s account is an unacceptable attack on a victim of sexual assault.

Who cares if she's rich? What does that have to do with anything? More importantly, why does it matter if it happened or not? That was her experience under the influence of drugs. Take drugs yourself, see what crazy shit your mind "dredges up" -- or manufactures. Maybe she's saying not to do it.

[Anonymous]

Amy Griffin is so obviously a narcissistic grifter

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Now she is being sued. This story is so strange.
[url]
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/05/nyregion/amy-griffin-the-tell-lawsuit.html[/url]

Amy Griffin, a best-selling memoirist, was sued on Wednesday by a former classmate who contends that Ms. Griffin’s story of being sexually abused — as she described in her book, “The Tell” — was based on assaults the classmate herself suffered at their Texas middle school in the 1980s.

The classmate, identified in court papers as Jane Doe, filed the lawsuit in California, accusing Ms. Griffin of invasion of privacy, negligence and infliction of emotional distress, among other claims. The suit also names Sam Lansky, a ghostwriter who worked on “The Tell,” as well as Penguin Random House and The Dial Press, which published the book, as defendants.

Why sue the ghost writer? That doesn't seem fair.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Now she is being sued. This story is so strange.
[url]
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/05/nyregion/amy-griffin-the-tell-lawsuit.html[/url]

Amy Griffin, a best-selling memoirist, was sued on Wednesday by a former classmate who contends that Ms. Griffin’s story of being sexually abused — as she described in her book, “The Tell” — was based on assaults the classmate herself suffered at their Texas middle school in the 1980s.

The classmate, identified in court papers as Jane Doe, filed the lawsuit in California, accusing Ms. Griffin of invasion of privacy, negligence and infliction of emotional distress, among other claims. The suit also names Sam Lansky, a ghostwriter who worked on “The Tell,” as well as Penguin Random House and The Dial Press, which published the book, as defendants.

Why sue the ghost writer? That doesn't seem fair.

The lawsuit alleges that he knew the truth and likely facilitated the 'investigation' into Jane Doe.

[Anonymous]

I just read this and it isn’t good. So whatever you believe about the abuse (and I am in the camp of not believing) don’t bother with this book. I can’t believe all these people blurbed it and recommend it’s…. Legit bad. She sounds insufferable. She spends so long telling us how perfect she is and one of the big moments is about how she gave a party dress to a poor person. Eyeroll. Bad writing. Fake story. Irritating person. Skip the book.