The original edition of the book contained an influential chapter discussing satanic ritual abuse (though satanic ritual abuse is now considered a moral panic, the case specifically discussed in "The Courage to Heal" is that of Judith Spencer, which has since been discredited) and the discredited autobiography "Michelle Remembers" - citing the latter approvingly along with other alleged survivor stories of satanic ritual abuse. Subsequent editions renamed the phenomenon "sadistic ritual abuse". "The Courage to Heal" was part of the vision that childhood sexual abuse could be discovered with no corroborating evidence beyond a vague set of symptoms.