Editing Lawrence Pazder (section)

==''Michelle Remembers'' and satanic ritual abuse==
{{main|Michelle Remembers|satanic ritual abuse}}
In 1973 Pazder first started treating a woman named Michelle Smith in his private psychiatric practice in Victoria.<ref name="Macleans"/><ref name="Wenegrat">{{cite book |author=Wenegrat, Brant |title=Theater of disorder: patients, doctors, and the construction of illness |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford [Oxfordshire] |year=2001 |pages= [https://books.google.com/books?id=o5i5utgOjvgC&pg=PA190 190–192] |isbn=0-19-514087-7 }}</ref> 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.<ref name="Cuhulain"/><ref name="Wenegrat"/> 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.<ref name="Macleans"/> 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.<ref name="MR">{{cite book |author=Smith, Michelle |title=Michelle Remembers |publisher=Pocket |location=New York |year=1989 |isbn=0-671-69433-2 }}</ref> 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.<ref name="Macleans"/><ref name="Wenegrat"/> So convinced of the problem of satanic ritual abuse, Pazder and Smith travelled to [[Holy See|the Vatican]] in 1978 to alert the [[Catholic church]] about the previously unknown dangers to children posed by Satanic cults worldwide.<ref name="Cuhulain"/><ref name="Wenegrat"/> Pazder and Smith co-authored ''Michelle Remembers'' about the chronicles of the therapy sessions and purported [[Recovered-memory therapy|recovered memories]], 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.<ref name="Macleans"/><ref name="deYoung"/><ref>{{cite news|first=Ed|last=Cara|date=November 3, 2014|title=The Most Dangerous Idea in Mental Health|url=https://psmag.com/social-justice/dangerous-idea-mental-health-93325|website=Pacific Standard}}</ref>

After the publication of ''Michelle Remembers'', Pazder was considered to be an expert for the topic of satanic ritual abuse.<ref name="deYoung"/> 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]].<ref name="Cuhulain"/><ref name="Nathan"/> Pazder also appeared on the first major news report on Satanism (broadcast on May 16, 1985), by [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]]'s television series ''[[20/20 (US television series)|20/20]]''.<ref name="Cuhulain"/><ref name="ABC">{{cite news | title = The Devil Worshippers | publisher = ABC News 20/20 transcript, show #521 | pages = 6–7 | date = May 16, 1985}}</ref> In the report titled "The Devil Worshippers", Pazder discussed the clues that he felt indicated satanic practices.<ref name="ABC"/> 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&ndash;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]].<ref name="Cuhulain"/> By 1987 Pazder reported that he was spending a third of his time consulting on satanic ritual abuse cases.<ref name="Nathan"/>

Pazder is credited with coining the term 'ritual abuse' to describe the type of abuse that Smith alleged.<ref name="deYoung"/><ref name="Nathan"/> 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."<ref name="FBI">{{cite web  | last = Lanning | first = Kenneth V. | title = Investigator's guide to allegations of 'ritual' child abuse | publisher = FBI | year = 1992 | url = https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Investigator%27s_guide_to_allegations_of_%27ritual%27_child_abuse}}</ref> 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".<ref name="Richardson">{{cite book |first1=David G.|last1=Bromley |first2=James R.|last2=Richardson|first3=Joel|last3=Best|title=The Satanism scare |publisher=A. de Gruyter |location=New York City|year=1991 |isbn=0-202-30378-0 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=MY7sQuT0MnMC}}</ref>

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]].<ref name="Cuhulain"/><ref name="Macleans"/><ref name="Nathan"/><ref name="FBI"/><ref name="Skepdic">{{cite web  | last = Carroll  | first = Robert Todd   | title = Satanic Ritual Abuse  | publisher = The Skeptic's Dictionary  | date = April 6, 2006  | url = http://skepdic.com/satanrit.html}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/31/us/satanic-panic.html|title=It's Time to Revisit the Satanic Panic|date=March 3, 2021|newspaper=New York Times|first=Alan|last=Yuhas}}</ref>