psychology notes.

Just finished this last night, and was quite astonished by all I didn’t know about this famous/infamous case, and the Multiple Personality Disorder craze it gave rise to following the publication of the book and the popular made-for-TV film (starring Sally Field as “Sybil”). Including how untrue almost every aspect of it was, a mutual fiction crafted by three very different women (Shirley Mason (aka “Sybil”), her psychiatrist Dr. Connie Wilbur, and the book’s author Flora Schreiber) to serve their respective—and often very different—needs and purposes.

A very interesting look at what really happened (author Debbie Nathan researched their lives in great detail, interviewed those who knew “Sybil” and Dr. Wilbur, combed through archived letters, Dr. Wilbur’s notes, and transcripts/recordings of their therapy sessions), as well as a powerful reminder of both the importance of ethics and boundaries in any therapeutic relationship and some of the more damaging—and thankfully out-dated—theories from psychoanalytic history.