Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Dibs in Search of Self, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Therapy, Empathy, and Non-Judgment
Parental Expectations vs. Self-Determination
Trust and Security
Intelligence vs. Emotional and Social Skills
Summary
Analysis
A week after the play therapy sessions end, Dibs takes the Stanford-Binet Intelligence test. He establishes a good relationship with the examiner and the results indicate that he has an I.Q. of 168. His reading score is also years beyond his age and grade level. Axline writes that he is an exceptionally gifted child. She concludes that a child, given the opportunity, can have honest, forthright communication. In addition, a mother who is respected can also be sincerely expressive when she knows she will not be criticized or blamed.
In contrast with Dibs’s introduction, where his emotional incapacity obscured his intelligence, here the opposite is true. Only through his newly developed social skills is he able to demonstrate his aptitude—a genius I.Q.—because before the sessions, he wouldn’t let anyone test him. And in Axline’s concluding remarks, she reinforces how empathy and non-judgment enable all people—children and adults alike—to be freer with their emotions and work through them.
Themes
