Dibs in Search of Self: The Renowned, Deeply Moving Story of an Emotionally Lost Child Who Found His Way Back

Psychology is a field of study which extends to philosophy, science, sociology, and medicine. It is a field that originates with the philosophical prospect of answering life’s biggest questions—the how’s and the why’s of human existence, how people overcome challenges and why “some people believe in God and some not believe” (208). Dr. Virginia M. Axline was a child psychologist in the mid-20th century during the height of child psychological development. It was a time when the classical and operant conditioning of psychologists like B. F. Skinner emerged and clashed with the humanistic approaches of those like Carl Rogers. During this period, different approaches, models, and experiments took place to determine how and why children grew up to be the people they did, and what could be done to change this process. Dr. Axline’s approach to child therapy is largely inspired by Carl Rogers’s Humanistic Approach to Child Therapy, which claims that people know themselves best, and should be given the space and safety to guide their own healing. Rogers is considered by many psychologists to be the most influential psychologist of all time, as his approach was more effective and efficient than traditional psychotherapy. Dibs: In Search of Self is introduced by Leonard Carmichael, a child psychologist in the 1930s-1940s who worked with Carl Rogers as he designed his model for treating children.

Dr. Axline’s approach to Dibs reflects these values of humanism. She provides a space where he is free of judgment and can do as he pleases. This is something that Dibs, who faces daily pressure, appreciates. He uses his sessions to learn about himself, express his darker emotions, and grow in confidence and self-acceptance. In doing so, Dibs finds stability within himself and the larger world. In the memoir, whenever Dibs acts or talks, Dr. Axline never affirms nor denies him. Instead, she repeats his statements back to him, allowing for clarity and trust. Dr. Axline was likely influenced by Lev Semyonovich Vygotsky, a child psychologist whose scaffolding and zone of proximal development are evident in Dr. Axline scaffolding Dibs’s development (i.e., slowly challenging him to exercise greater independence). She stays within the zone of proximal development by giving Dibs only as much support as he needs—no more, no less. Dr. Axline’s approach to child therapy became widely used, with her writing a guide called Play Therapy and lecturing on the topic. Dibs’s impact spans space and time, as people from all educational backgrounds find inspiration in his journey to accept himself for who he is.