Lawrence Pazder
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Lawrence Pazder (April 30, 1936 – March 5, 2004) was a
Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry, the branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, study, and treatment of mental disorders. Psychiatrists are physicians and evaluate patients to determine whether their sy ...
and author. Pazder wrote the discredited biography, ''
Michelle Remembers ''Michelle Remembers'' is a discredited 1980 book co-written by Canadian psychiatrist Lawrence Pazder and his psychiatric patient (and eventual wife) Michelle Smith. A best-seller, ''Michelle Remembers'' relied on the discredited practice of rec ...
'', published in 1980, with his patient (and eventual wife) Michelle Smith, which claimed to detail satanic ritual abuse.


Background

Pazder was born in Edmonton, Alberta, on April 30, 1936, and completed his undergraduate medical training at the
University of Alberta The University of Alberta, also known as U of A or UAlberta, is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford,"A Gentleman of Strathcona – Alexander Cameron Rutherfor ...
in 1961. He received a diploma in tropical medicine from the
University of Liverpool , mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning , established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...
in 1962, practicing medicine in
Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
from 1962 to 1964. Pazder returned to Canada in 1964 and completed his psychiatric training at
McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...
in 1968. During his professional career, Pazder worked at two
Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Greater Victoria area has a population of 397,237. Th ...
hospitals in addition to his private psychiatric practice. Pazder saw patients at his private psychiatric practice in Victoria until his sudden and unexpected death of heart failure in March 2004. Pazder considered himself to be a devout
Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
. As part of his church activities Pazder founded the Anawim Companions Society in Victoria to provide a day home for people in need as a result of poverty. Pazder also had an interest in African religions and religious ceremonies. Pazder and his first wife Marylyn had four children together and were married for many years, until he developed a relationship with his patient Michelle Smith. Court documents filed in the divorce proceedings indicated that between March 1977 and June 1979 Pazder disappeared with Smith (co-author of ''
Michelle Remembers ''Michelle Remembers'' is a discredited 1980 book co-written by Canadian psychiatrist Lawrence Pazder and his psychiatric patient (and eventual wife) Michelle Smith. A best-seller, ''Michelle Remembers'' relied on the discredited practice of rec ...
'') for lengthy periods of time. In 1979 after a rejected attempt at
annulment Annulment is a legal procedure within Law, secular and Religious law, religious legal systems for declaring a marriage Void (law), null and void. Unlike divorce, it is usually ex post facto law, retroactive, meaning that an annulled marriage is c ...
, Pazder divorced his first wife and later married his former patient and co-author, Smith. Pazder died in his home of
heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, a ...
on March 4, 2004.


''Michelle Remembers'' and satanic ritual abuse

In 1973 Pazder first started treating a woman named Michelle Smith in his private psychiatric practice in Victoria. In 1976 when Pazder was treating Smith for depression (related to her having had a miscarriage), Smith confided she felt that she had something important to tell him, but could not remember what it was. Soon thereafter, Pazder and Smith had a session where Smith allegedly screamed for 25 minutes non-stop and eventually started speaking in the voice of a five-year-old. The book claims that Pazder used hypnosis on Smith to recover memories of alleged satanic ritual abuse, that would have occurred during 1954 and 1955 when Smith was five years old, at the hands of her mother (Virginia Proby) and others, whom Smith alleges were members of a Satanic cult in Victoria. As Pazder believed he was on the verge of uncovering a vast satanic conspiracy, he eventually would spend many hours at a time treating Smith during a 14-month period. So convinced of the problem of satanic ritual abuse, Pazder and Smith travelled to the Vatican in 1978 to alert the
Catholic church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
about the previously unknown dangers to children posed by Satanic cults worldwide. Pazder and Smith co-authored ''Michelle Remembers'' about the chronicles of the therapy sessions and purported
recovered memories Recovered-memory therapy (RMT) is a catch-all term for a controversial and scientifically discredited form of psychotherapy that critics say utilizes one or more unproven therapeutic techniques (such as psychoanalysis, hypnosis, journaling, past ...
, using scientifically discredited methods. ''Michelle Remembers'' was the first published survivor account of alleged satanic ritual abuse and was a publishing success, earning Pazder and Smith a $100,000 hard-cover advance and $242,000 for paperback rights. After the publication of ''Michelle Remembers'', Pazder was considered to be an expert for the topic of satanic ritual abuse. With the sudden development of satanic ritual abuse cases during the 1980s (likely due to the publication of ''Michelle Remembers''), Pazder's supposed expertise was requested. In 1984, Pazder acted as a consultant in the McMartin preschool trial. Pazder also appeared on the first major news report on Satanism (broadcast on May 16, 1985), by
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...
's television series ''
20/20 Visual acuity (VA) commonly refers to the clarity of vision, but technically rates an examinee's ability to recognize small details with precision. Visual acuity is dependent on optical and neural factors, i.e. (1) the sharpness of the retinal ...
''. In the report titled "The Devil Worshippers", Pazder discussed the clues that he felt indicated satanic practices. Pazder also participated in the first national seminar at which law enforcement were introduced to the satanic ritual abuse of children (in Fort Collins, Colorado, on September 9–12, 1986). Subsequently, Pazder was part of the CCIN (Cult Crime Impact Network) and lectured to police agencies about satanic ritual abuse during the late 1980s along with other speakers such as
Mike Warnke Michael Alfred Warnke (born November 19, 1946) is an American Christian evangelist and comedian who was exposed in 1992 for inventing stories of his past as a Satanist. Before being debunked by the Christian magazine ''Cornerstone'', he was ...
. By 1987 Pazder reported that he was spending a third of his time consulting on satanic ritual abuse cases. Pazder is credited with coining the term 'ritual abuse' to describe the type abuse that Smith alleged. At a professional conference in Richmond, Virginia in 1987, Pazder defined ritual abuse of children as "repeated physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual assaults combined with a systematic use of symbols and secret ceremonies designed to turn a child against itself, family, society and God." Pazder alleged that "the sexual assault has ritualistic meaning and is not for sexual gratification." Pazder claimed that "The pure group of 'orthodox satanists' is never seen or identified in public, yet it is this group of invisible satanists who plant the seeds and encourage all the more visible satanic groups". Further investigations into the allegations made in ''Michelle Remembers'' found no evidence to support them and satanic ritual abuse is considered to be a
moral panic A moral panic is a widespread feeling of fear, often an irrational one, that some evil person or thing threatens the values, interests, or well-being of a community or society. It is "the process of arousing social concern over an issue", usua ...
.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pazder, Lawrence Satanic ritual abuse 1936 births 2004 deaths Canadian conspiracy theorists Canadian psychiatrists Canadian non-fiction writers Canadian Roman Catholics Writers from Edmonton Writers from Victoria, British Columbia Canadian expatriates in Nigeria 20th-century non-fiction writers