Content Warning: Dibs: In Search of Self discusses emotional abuse and mental health in ways that could be considered ableist.

The Introduction to Dibs: In Search of Self, written by child psychologist Leonard Carmichael, outlines the fundamental reasons why Dibs’s story became so significant in the field of psychology. In the memoir, Dibs is five years old and refuses to engage with other students or school material. He remains mute or crawls around, sometimes having temper tantrums. With the help of Dr. Virginia M. Axline’s play therapy techniques, which challenge the idea of relying on classical or operant conditioning to help a child patient, Dibs is able to find confidence and courage. In turn, Dibs’s healing helped heal his family. 

Dr. Virginia M. Axline opens her account of Dibs’s transformation by explaining that Dibs desired a source of stability amidst the chaos of the larger world. She helped Dibs learn to embrace the hopes and disappointments of life—making his story relatable.

The opening scene sees Dibs, his teacher, and teaching assistant Hedda in the classroom at the end of the school day. Every day, Dibs becomes upset when it’s time to go home, either shutting down in silence or screaming and fighting.