Introducing...Dangerous Memories
Introducing...Dangerous Memories
When Sarah watched her 23 year old daughter cycle away from her in Chelsea - a well-off corner of London - she had no idea it would be the last time they’d see each other for 6 years. What would make a loving child from a life of privilege sever ties with friends and family, and disappear?
It turns out, Sarah wasn’t alone in losing a daughter. Something strange was happening to other young women, too.
And they all had one thing in common: a kind of therapist figure - a woman they were all seeing and sharing their problems, their secrets, their fears with. But it took years for the truth of what was happening behind closed doors to emerge, and the extraordinary things this woman led them to believe.
Dangerous Memories is the story of young women who wanted to be healed that became, for us, a story about the healer, and what we risk when we let someone else into our mind, and our memory.
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Reporter: Grace Hughes-Hallett
Producer: Gary Marshall
Additional reporting and production: Imogen Harper
Sound design and original composition: Tom Kinsella
Theme music: Far Gone (Don’t Leave) by Pictish Trail
Podcast artwork: Lola Williams
Commissioning editor: Basia Cummings
Executive producer: Ceri Thomas
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Full Transcript
Four years ago, a family friend of mine got in touch. She wanted to tell me a story about how she'd finally got her daughter back after she'd been missing for years.
What she told me is that she disappeared because of one woman, a kind of therapist
and the extraordinary things her daughter had come to believe because of her. She was just always, look at the dreams, look at your memories.
It's all there. You just need to believe it.
And as I started to investigate, it turned out her daughter wasn't the only one.
It all started in Florence, in Italy.
A group of young women were there to hone their craft at a prestigious art school.
And it was there that a name started to be mentioned.
A woman who was described as a teacher of personal development. From what I heard, it was all very positive.
It just sounded magical and alluring. So some of them started to visit her for sessions.
Her methods were unusual. She'd interpret dreams, communicate with the spirit world.
It was nothing like traditional therapy, but she was warm, beguiling, and they trusted her with their problems. And then something strange started to happen.
This doesn't feel right. Something doesn't feel right.
And I just felt terrified. I was so afraid.
Families and friends noticed changes in the young women who were seeing her. Something really odd was going on.
It was actually becoming dangerous. And then suddenly, some of them disappeared, without explanation.
And she bicycled away, and that was the last time I saw her in six years for years the families fought to get their daughters back at one point she said to me isn't it suspicious that they're trying to shut me down they called on lawyers private investigators and the police i heard police open up police and i was what the fuck? But there was nothing any of them could do to stop what was happening. She's destroyed people's lives.
Made them sick. She was definitely on a mission.
She was definitely on a mission. I'm Grace Hughes-Hallett.
And from Tortoise, this is Dangerous Memories. A story that started with young women who wanted to be healed and became about the therapist
and what we risk when we let someone else into our mind and our memory.
If I can stop anyone from seeing that woman
and stop a family from being broken,
then I can sleep better at night.
Listen to Dangerous Memories today.
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