NOVEL Dibs in Search of Self

1. • Soha Saeed 048
• Huda 076
• Hajra 086
• Laiba 080
• Mahnoor 082
• Setaish Al Moid 104
• Syed Misbah Ur Rehman 108
CHILD PSYCHOLOGY
NOVEL PRESENTATION
PRESENTERS

2. Story of an Emotionally Lost Child Who Found His Way Back
DIBS IN SEARCH OF SELF (1964)

3. ABOUT AUTHOR
• Virginia Axline (1911-1988)
• Psychologist and a pioneer of play therapy for children
• wrote the book Dibs in Search of Self.

4. ABOUT BOOK
• Published in 1964
• Follows the path of one young patient, Dibs, throughout his journey with play
therapy having Axline as his therapist. It is a nearly verbatim transcript of the
weekly sessions that follow this five-year-old child and his emergence to health
and functioning

5. INTRODUCTION
• This is a true story of 5 years old boy Dibs finding a strong sense of self through
psychotherapy
• Family :
• Wealthy and highly educated family
• They lived in New York
• Dibs father is a brilliant scientist and
the mother was a top heart surgeon
• Therapist: Axline

6. SUMMARY
• Five years old boy
• Dibs rarely interacts with others
• The teachers have a hard time categorizing him
• Dibs’s parents agree to bring him to weekly play therapy sessions with Axline.
• During Dibs’s first few sessions, he is tentative and afraid.
• With Axline’s help defining and expressing his anger and disappointment, Dibs is better
able to cope with these emotions.

7. ISSUES WITH MAIN CHARACTER
• Dibs shows abnormal social behavior
• He isolate himself
• Physically lash out at people around him
• He rarely speaks.
• Unable to cope up with emotions
• He cant use his intelligence properly
• Cannot express what he thinks

8. • He stands outside the door unless someone leads him
• He does not interact with other children
• He hides from others
• Crawls around the edge of the room
• He throws tantrums if someone forces him

9. TREATMENT:
• In this book the writer states that the successful therapy starts with the therapist.
• The author Virginia Aline was a clinical psychologist herself.
• She gave the 8 basic principle or concept
that are followed during therapy session.

10. • The First principle that she stated that developing a warm, friendly relationship
with the child as early as possible.
• In the Second principle, the author states that the therapist should b able to accept
the child as he is.
• And assure him to gain his trust.

11. • In the Third concept, the author states that there should be feeling of freedom of
expression.
• So that child should be able to express his feeling freely.
• The Fourth concept, states that the therapist is sharp enough to recognize the
feeling that the child is expressing.

12. • In the Fifth concept, the therapist should b capable enough to solve the issues that
are happening with the child.
• In the Sixth concept, the author states that the therapist should not give direction
to the child instead therapist should follow child’s direction.

13. • In the Seventh concept, the writer writes that the therapist should not be in a
hurry to hasten the therapy process.
• In the last Eight concept, the therapist only considered that those precincts that
are required to integrate the reality.

14. CRITICAL REVIEW
• Explanation of technique
• How Dibs' personality radically shifts and changes.
• Dibs parents crazy
• Parents expectations high
• Punishment every time

15. • Dr. Axline using play therapy
• Achieve emotional independence
• Depict the implementation of play therapy.

16. • Play therapy is useful
• Express their experiences and feelings
• self-guided, natural and leads to self-healing

17. • Play experience is therapeutic
• Child is ensured with abundant freedom
• Expressing himself
• Child is found to be acting in his own way