Pope ‘complicit in child sex abuse scandals’ , UK top cardinal accused, “The story of Sybil is true, not fictional or fraudulent.” they refute the sociocognitive model of DID

- Pope Benedict ‘complicit in child sex abuse scandals’, say victims’ groups
- UK’s top cardinal accused of ‘inappropriate acts’ by priests
- Lessons not learned on abuse therapy
- Republic accused of sex abuse ‘cover-up’
- Sybil in her own words: The untold story of Shirley Mason, her multiple personalities and paintings “The story of Sybil is true, not fictional or fraudulent.”
- A New Model of Dissociative Identity Disorder “They also refute the sociocognitive model of DID.”
- Delhi High Court commutes death penalty of man who killed father

Pope Benedict ‘complicit in child sex abuse scandals’, say victims’ groups
Pope Benedict XVI ‘knew more about clergy sex crimes than anyone else in church yet did little to protect children’, say critics
Ian Traynor in Brussels, Karen McVeigh in New York and Henry McDonald in Dublin
guardian.co.uk, Monday 11 February 2013

For the legions of people whose childhoods and adult lives were wrecked by sexual and physical abuse at the hands of the Roman Catholic clergy, Pope Benedict XVI is an unloved pontiff who will not be missed.

Victims of the epidemic of sex- and child-abuse scandals that erupted under Benedict’s papacy reacted bitterly to his resignation, either charging the outgoing pontiff with being directly complicit in a criminal conspiracy to cover up the thousands of paedophilia cases that have come to light over the past three years, or with failing to stand up to reactionary elements in the church resolved to keep the scandals under wraps.

From Benedict’s native Germany to the USA, abuse victims and campaigners criticised an eight-year papacy that struggled to cope with the flood of disclosures of crimes and abuse rampant for decades within the church….
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/feb/11/pope-complicit-child-abuse-say-victims

UK’s top cardinal accused of ‘inappropriate acts’ by priests
Three priests and former priest report Cardinal Keith O’Brien to Vatican over claims stretching back 33 years
Catherine Deveney
The Observer, Saturday 23 February 2013
Three priests and a former priest in Scotland have reported the most senior Catholic clergyman in Britain, Cardinal Keith O’Brien, to the Vatican over allegations of inappropriate behaviour stretching back 30 years.

The four, from the diocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh, have complained to nuncio Antonio Mennini, the Vatican’s ambassador to Britain, and demanded O’Brien’s immediate resignation. A spokesman for the cardinal said that the claims were contested.

O’Brien, who is due to retire next month, has been an outspoken opponent of gay rights, condemning homosexuality as immoral, opposing gay adoption, and most recently arguing that same-sex marriages would be “harmful to the physical, mental and spiritual well-being of those involved”….
One of the complainants, it is understood, alleges that the cardinal developed an inappropriate relationship with him, resulting in a need for long-term psychological counselling….
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/feb/23/cardinal-keith-o-brien-accused-inappropriate

Letters
Lessons not learned on abuse therapy
The Guardian, Monday 11 February 2013

In 1995 a 13-year-old boy committed suicide having been told he could not have counselling in the long run-up to his abuser’s trial. His mother said: “He was desperate to talk to someone. But social workers said there was no possibility of discussing the abuse before the trial. They did not want to contaminate the evidence.” His abuser was later jailed for four years for offences against other boys….

Malign attacks in the 1990s on psychotherapists by those accused of abuse in an effort to discredit their adult children’s stories have left a false impression. The purpose of therapy is to provide a container for patients’ often unbearable feelings and help them to move on. It leads to a more not less coherent witnessing of the past. Perhaps that is why it arouses such hostility in those who are desperate to bury what happened – accused abusers and their defence teams….
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2013/feb/11/lesssons-not-learned-abuse-therapy

Republic accused of sex abuse ‘cover-up’
11/09/2001
The Irish Government and judicial system conducted a ‘‘hideous cover-up’’ after a young girl was subjected to years of sexual abuse, it was claimed today.

Ian Paisley Jr (DUP, North Antrim) told the Stormont Assembly that 24-year-old Sarah Bland and her mother have spent the last two decades battling in vain to secure justice.

They had come to him in a desperate bid to right a terrible wrong, he said.

He declared: ‘‘For as long as this gross injustice, known as the Bland case, remains unresolved, anything the Irish authorities may say about rights, about equality, about honour, about truth, should be treated with contempt.’’

Mr Paisley’s motion expressing concern at the failure of the Irish judiciary to resolve the case of Sarah Bland, the daughter of a British citizen, was passed unanimously. He said the student and her mother, Trish, had given him a huge dossier on the abuse which began in 1980 when she was aged four and living in a stately home in the Irish midlands….
http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/republic-accused-of-sex-abuse-cover-up-23261.html

Journal of Trauma & Dissociation
Sybil in her own words: The untold story of Shirley Mason, her multiple personalities and paintings
DOI:10.1080/15299732.2013.724611 Philip M. Coons MD
10 Oct 2012

Abstract
Suraci’s Sybil in Her Own Words is almost as fascinating as the original book Sybil(Schreiber, 19732. Schreiber, F.R. 1973. Sybil, Chicago: Henry Regnery Company). The story of Sybil is true, not fictional or fraudulent. One early commentator actually suggested that Sybil and Dr. Cornelia Wilbur, her treating psychiatrist, were a case of folie à deux, or shared psychosis (Victor, 19753. Victor, G. 1975. Sybil: Grand hysteria or folie a deux? [Letter]. American Journal of Psychiatry, 132: 202). Having met Dr. Wilbur, listened to her presentations on multiple personality (now known as dissociative identity disorder or DID), and read the many critiques and reviews of Sybil, I have concluded that Sybil was not iatrogenically created by Dr. Wilbur. Documenting this, however, is beyond the purview of this book review.

Shortly after the death of Sybil in 1998, her identity as Shirley Ardell Mason was revealed. She had been living in Lexington, Kentucky close to the residence of her former therapist and had been running her art business out of her home. Patrick Suraci, Ph.D., had discovered Sybil’s identity from a painting that he had inherited from a colleague at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York. This colleague, Flora Rheta Schreiber, the author of Sybil, had died in 1988. Waiting until after the death of Dr. Wilbur in 1993, Suraci finally telephoned Shirley Mason and began a five-year telephone relationship with her until she died in 1998. This book grew from those telephone conversations and other research that Dr. Suraci conducted….
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15299732.2013.724611

A New Model of Dissociative Identity Disorder Paul F. Dell, PhD Psychiatr Clin N Am 29 (2006) 1–26

Summary
Data from 220 persons who had DID were used to compare three models of DID: the DSM-IV’s classic model of DID (ie, multiple personalities, switching, amnesia), the subjective/phenomenological model of DID (Box 1), and the sociocognitive model of DID. The DSM-IV narrowly portrays DID as an alter disorder; the subjective/phenomenological model portrays DID as a far more complex dissociative disorder. The data indicate that the subjective/phenomenological model of DID is a superior predictor of the dissociative phenomena of DID. The three studies [14,70] that corroborate the subjective/phenomenological model of DID are important. They show that the subjective/phenomenological model of DID is more comprehensive and more accurate than the DSM-IV’s classic model of DID. They also refute the sociocognitive model of DID. The subjective/phenomenological model of DID was deduced from a novel, empirically supported model of pathological dissociation [4] ; that model fully explains the empirical literature on DID, whereas the DSM-IV model of DID can account for little of that literature.
http://www.copingwithdissociation.com/Dell_2006_ANewModelofDID1.pdf

describes crimes
Delhi High Court commutes death penalty of man who killed father
Press Trust of India  February 24, 2013
New Delhi: The death sentence of a man, who had killed his father as sacrifice to a deity in 2008, has been reduced to life imprisonment by the Delhi High Court….

According to prosecution, Jitender believed that if he offered a human sacrifice for the deity, his problem with his wife would be resolved.

The convict, however, had argued before the trial court that once in his dream, deity asked Jitender for a human sacrifice to ward off his problems with his wife….
http://www.ndtv.com/article/cities/delhi-high-court-commutes-death-penalty-of-man-who-killed-father-334832

Susan Powell’s Blood Found At Josh Powell’s Home, SYBIL in Her Own Words

Susan Powell’s Blood Found At Josh Powell’s Home, New Documents Show
By MIKE BAKER 03/30/12

TACOMA, Wash. — Authorities investigating the 2009 disappearance of a Utah woman found her blood in the family home and a hand-written note in which she expressed fear about her husband and her potential demise, according to documents unsealed Friday.

The files raise further questions about why Susan Powell’s husband was never charged in her disappearance before he killed himself and their two young sons in a gas-fueled inferno in Washington state earlier this year. Investigators in West Valley City, Utah, never arrested Josh Powell or even publicly labeled him as a suspect in his wife’s disappearance….

Shortly after Susan Powell disappeared, authorities found blood evidence on a floor next to a sofa and determined that it was Susan Powell’s. The sofa appeared to have been recently cleaned, and two fans had been set up to blow on it.

Investigators found several life insurance policies on Susan Powell that totaled $1.5 million and determined that Josh Powell had filed paperwork to withdraw her retirement account money about 10 days after her disappearance.

The documents describe Josh Powell as unwilling to help in the investigation.

A safety deposit box used by Susan Powell had a hand-written letter titled “Last will & testament for Susan Powell,” according to the documents. She wrote in that letter that she did not trust her husband and that they’d been having marital troubles for four years.

The letter also said that “if Susan Powell dies it may not be an accident, even if it looks like one,” according to the documents….

Investigators had found a gas can, tarps and a shovel in Josh Powell’s vehicle shortly after the investigation began. Susan Powell’s cellphone was also in the car, and Josh Powell “did not have an answer as to why,” according to the documents. One person interviewed by police said Powell had once made comments about how to kill someone and dispose of the body….

The documents also describe how Steven Powell had an apparent obsession with his daughter-in-law. A locked cabinet in Steve Powell’s bedroom contained multiple images of Susan Powell, including some of her in her underwear. Other images showed nude female bodies with Susan Powell’s face copied onto them.

Another image showed Steven Powell masturbating to an image of Susan Powell.

Susan Powell wrote in her personal journals that she did not want Steven Powell involved in her life and wished that Josh Powell would sever ties with him. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/30/josh-powell-susan-powell-missing-utah_n_1392756.html

SAT MARCH 31
7pm • Free
READING: PATRICK SURACI: SYBIL IN HER OWN WORDS
Dr. Patrick Suraci, a friend of Sybil/Shirley Mason, will read from his book SYBIL in Her Own Words: The Untold Story of Shirley Mason, Her Multiple Personalities, and Paintings. Recorded conversations between Mason and Suraci will be made public for the first time, and Suraci will share his interpretations of paintings of five of Mason’s sixteen personalities.
Bluestockings, 172 Allen St
212-777-6028 • bluestockings. com  http://www.indypendent.org/2012/03/30/indy-weekly-events-calendar-march-30-april-5

more information on the reading:
Projections of the paintings of 5 of Sybil’s 16 personalities are accompanied by his interpretations. Shirley’s recorded conversations with Dr. Suraci will be heard in public for the first time. Documents will be produced exposing the untrue statements made by others attempting to claim the Sybil case is a fraud.

 

Private Practice – ABC Makes TV History, Public Reading of SYBIL in her own words

Private Practice Partners with RAINN As ABC Makes TV History

ABC made television history this month when its hit drama, Private Practice, ran a storyline about a male survivor of sexual assault. The episode featured a character that had just returned from Afghanistan, who discloses that he was raped during his military service. This was the first time that a national network addressed sexual assault in the military.

The Private Practice team, led by the show’s creator, Shonda Rhimes, partnered with RAINN for the second time in the last year. Experts on RAINN’s staff were able to help the show’s writers and producers understand what many men go through after an assault, and the challenges they face in their recovery process.

http://rainn.org/news-room/private-practice-military-survivor-episode

The Time Has Come – Full Episode – Private Practice – ABC

http://abc.go.com/watch/private-practice/SH559070/VD55167665/the-time-has-come

Press Release: Reading of “SYBIL in her own words: The Untold Story of Shirley Mason, Her Multiple Personalities and Paintings.”

The public is invited to attend a reading of the book “SYBIL in her own words: The Untold Story of Shirley Mason, Her Multiple Personalities and Paintings.” It is the follow up to the original book SYBIL. Being her friend, Shirley gave Dr. Suraci the materials for this book about her life after her cure.  Paintings of 5 of her 16 alternate personalities will be projected on a screen and Dr. Suraci shall give interpretations of the various emotions each personality displayed.

A recording of her conversation with Dr. Suraci will be played so the audience will hear Sybil/Shirley’s voice for the first time. Shirley maintained her anonymity until her death.

The event will be held on March 31, 2012 from 7pm to 9pm at the Bluestockings Bookstore,  172 Allen St. New York, NY 10002 – 212.777.6028

Sybil in her words – Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sybil-In-Her-Own-Words/108610352553254

Sybil in Her Own Words – Patrick Suraci, Psychologist http://www.huffingtonpost.com/patrick-suraci/post_2699_b_1152241.html

Patrick Suraci, Ph.D. Biography http://members.authorsguild.net/psuraci/

newest child abuse, clergy abuse and ritual abuse newsletter

forwarded with permission

newest child abuse, clergy abuse and ritual abuse newsletter is now available online.

This issue contains information on the Penn State Abuse Scandal (Jerry Sandusky), Syracuse Scandal (Bernie Fine), fighting child pornography, Afghan ‘dancing boys,’ spanking controversy, Bernard Jackson, international paedophile ring, Satanic Sex Encounter, Children’s Bones at Canada’s Indian Residential School, child sacrifice, non-state torture, Sybil and MPD, Sybil Exposed, Sybil in her own words, dissociative identity disorder, Childhood Abuse and Household Dysfunction, childhood abuse prevention, Child Death, Betrayal Blindness and Institutional Betrayal and sterilization victims.

http://ritualabuse.us/2011/12/issue-102-January-2012/

 

The Myth of Parental Alienation Syndrome, Sybil in her own words

The Myth of Parental Alienation Syndrome and Its Impact on Women in Child Custody Cases Thursday, December 8, 2011, 6:00 PM – 8:30 PM

Course Description:

A diverse panel from varying disciplines will explore how the theory of ‘Parental Alienation Syndrome’ (PAS) disproportionally affects the way judges and court collaterals make decisions and recommendations in child custody determinations, focusing on New York State.

Other topics to be discussed include:

clinical and ethical issues surrounding parental alienation syndrome,
lack of clinical and empirical evidence to support PAS as valid,
biases towards using parental alienation as the defining factor in which parent receives custody, its intersection with child and intimate partner abuse, and
a first hand account of its affect on a former child involved in a custody dispute.

Faculty:

Program Co-sponsor: NYCLA’s Women’s Rights Committee

Faculty: Jennifer Collins; Nancy S. Erickson, Esq., MA Forensic Psychology ; Dr. Joyanna Silberg, Executive V.P. of the Leadership Council on Child Abuse and Interpersonal Violence (Psychologist); Garland Waller, Professor of Television, Boston University

http://www.nycla.org/index.cfm?section=CLE&page=CLE_Detail&itemID=2554&dateID=20111208

“SYBIL in her own words: The Untold Story of Shirley Mason, Her Multiple Personalities and Paintings”

A kindle version is available at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/SYBIL-her-words-Personalities-ebook/dp/B0067QMNVU/

A paperback version is available at: http://www.amazon.com/SYBIL-her-own-words-Personalities/dp/0615560474/

words deleted from the dust jacket of Sybil Exposed

posted with permission

words deleted from the dust jacket of Sybil Exposed

“The original letter from Helen Vogel,  executor of Flora Schreiber’s will, giving access to Dr. Patrick Suraci to all of Schreiber’s archives, dated Sept. 5, 1998, is in the Special Collections Library at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. The  archive was make public shortly after that. Simon & Schuster has  agreed to delete from the dust jacket in future editions of the book “Sybil   Exposed” the words “first person’” in the sentence: “The Sybil archive became available to the public only recently, and Nathan is the first person to have examined all of it….”

SYBIL in her own words: The Untold Story of Shirley Mason, Her Multiple Personalities and Paintings

SYBIL in her own words: The Untold Story of Shirley Mason, Her Multiple Personalities and Paintings

The book “Sybil” by Flora Rheta Schreiber written in the 1970′s, has recently received media attention again.

The veracity of the original Sybil story has been attacked. One person attacking the story called MPD – DID (dissociative identity disorder) a “cultural construct.”  Research shows that this isn’t true. MPD – DID is found around the world.  Research studies have shown it to be caused by severe, repeated trauma.

For research study information, see http://childabusewiki.org/index.php?title=Dissociative_Identity_Disorder

Another book published this year was written by a psychologist that knew Sybil and others in her life.

The book is called “SYBIL in her own words: The Untold Story of Shirley Mason, Her Multiple Personalities and Paintings”

A kindle version is available at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/SYBIL-her-words-Personalities-ebook/dp/B0067QMNVU/

A paperback version is available at: http://www.amazon.com/SYBIL-her-own-words-Personalities/dp/0615560474/

Several articles have been written about the new book.

Book Review of “Sybil in her own words” http://sybilandmpd.blogspot.com/2011/11/review-of-sybil-in-her-own-words-by.html

from Sybil’s closest living relative http://sybilandmpd.blogspot.com/2011/11/from-sybils-closest-living-relative.html

Sybil In Her Own Words – The Untold Story of Shirley Mason http://sybilandmpd.blogspot.com/2011/09/sybil-in-her-own-words-untold-story-of.html

The author Patrick Suraci, Ph.D. describes writing the book “Sybil in her own words” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBgr92uC4YI&feature=youtu.be

Biography of the author “Sybil In Her Own Words: The Untold Story of Shirley Mason” http://members.authorsguild.net/psuraci/

Art work from the book, “Sybil In Her Own Words: The Untold Story of Shirley Mason” http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.108682822546007.17639.108610352553254&type=1

Review of “Sybil in her own words”

Permission was given to post this here.

After reading the book “Sybil in her own words” by Patrick Suraci, Ph.D., I realized the importance of this book. The people in the Sybil story are treated like human beings and they are allowed to speak about their own life stories. What is interesting about this book, is that it is written by a professional who has experience with the scientific knowledge of MPD.

The book shows how Dr. Connie Wilbur’s treatment was successful and that Shirley Mason (Sybil) never had a relapse or return of her MPD symptoms after her treatment with Wilbur. She was able to live a full life, as shown in her interactions and discussions with Patrick Suraci, Ph.D.

In chapter seven, Dr. Suraci goes back to Shirley Mason’s home town to check on her story.  He speaks with three women, Wilma Bode, Betty Christen and Patricia Alcott, who were classmates and playmates with Shirley in her childhood. Wilma and Betty were two of the few children that were able to enter Shirley’s household.

Wilma stated, “We always said that her mother was an old witch.” She describes Shirley as having troubles concentrating in school and not knowing if she was day dreaming or that her attention was drawn away. Wilma is asked if she believes if Shirley was abused. Wilma states that she believes that some of what is written in the book did happen.

Betty talks about Shirley’s mother. She states that her mother never came over to visit, but would come over and look (or peek) in the windows when they had company. She said that “Ms. Mason relieved herself in a neighbor’s yard.”

Patricia describes Shirley’s mother as “strange, stern, raucous” and “someone to stay away from.”  She states that Shirley’s mother (Mattie) “had a shrill voice and ridiculed Shirley.” Shirley’s mother repeated things over and over again. Patricia stated Mattie “played the piano too loudly, bombastically, venting anger. She was harsh.”  She said that Shirley’s father (Wilbur) “stood in shaded corners with his head down.”

Patrick Suraci describes the mechanism of “splitting” that contributed to the development of Shirley’s personalities. Shirley came to view Mattie sometimes as the “good mother” and sometimes as the “bad mother.”

In his chapter on Shirley in New York, Patrick Suraci speaks with Jim and Naomi, Shirley’s closest living relatives. Jim had noticed that on the phone Shirley “was a different personality, a different person.”  Naomi agreed and described a strong change in personality also. Naomi in Chapter Nine tells Patrick that Shirley and Dr. Wilbur confirmed that the book Sybil “was 100% accurate.”

The pictures in the book are excellent. Under one of the pictures drawn by Shirley’s alter Peggy of a Christmas tree (in black and white), the note describes that Christmas was unpleasant for Shirley because she would receive a lot of games and toys which her mother would put away and not let her play with. Shirley was told she could play with them another time. Yet her mother would give them away to a poor family that didn’t have anything.

Patrick Suraci states in his chapter Controversy Over Sybil that Mason, Schreiber and Wilbur were offered money, television and media interviews to reveal Shirley’s identity, but did not do this. He discusses the problems with Dr. Herbert Spiegel’s view of the Sybil story, as well as other skeptical of the story.

I highly recommend this book to those interested in the Sybil story. It is very well documented, using actual transcripts of conversations with those in the story and those that knew Shirley, showing that the original Sybil book was an accurate description of Shirley’s life.

Review of “Sybil in her own words” by Patrick Suraci, Ph.D.

Permission was given to post this.

The book “Sybil in her own words” by Patrick Suraci, Ph.D. is for sale at Amazon.com

After reading the book “Sybil in her own words” by Patrick Suraci, Ph.D., I realized the importance of this book. The people in the Sybil story are treated like human beings and they are allowed to speak about their own life stories. What is interesting about this book, is that it is written by a professional who has experience with the scientific knowledge of MPD.

The book shows how Dr. Connie Wilbur’s treatment was successful and that Shirley Mason (Sybil) never had a relapse or return of her MPD symptoms after her treatment with Wilbur. She was able to live a full life, as shown in her interactions and discussions with Patrick Suraci, Ph.D.

In chapter seven, Dr. Suraci goes back to Shirley Mason’s home town to check on her story and validate it. He speaks with three women, Wilma Bode, Betty Christen and Patricia Alcott, who were classmates and playmates with Shirley in her childhood. Wilma and Betty were two of the few children that were able to enter Shirley’s household.

Wilma stated, “We always said that her mother was an old witch.” She describes Shirley as having troubles concentrating in school and not knowing if she was day dreaming or that her attention was drawn away. Wilma is asked if she believes if Shirley was abused. Wilma states that she believes that some of what is written in the book did happen.

Betty talks about Shirley’s mother. She states that her mother never came over to visit, but would come over and look (or peek) in the windows when they had company. She said that “Ms. Mason relieved herself in a neighbor’s yard.”

Patricia describes Shirley’s mother as “strange, stern, raucous” and “someone to stay away from.”  She states that Shirley’s mother (Mattie) “had a shrill voice and ridiculed Shirley.” Shirley’s mother repeated things over and over again. Patricia stated Mattie “played the piano too loudly, bombastically, venting anger. She was harsh.”  She said that Shirley’s father (Wilbur) “stood in shaded corners with his head down.”

Patrick Suraci describes the mechanism of “splitting” that contributed to the development of Shirley’s personalities. Shirley came to view Mattie sometimes as the “good mother” and sometimes as the “bad mother.”

In his chapter on Shirley in New York, Patrick Suraci speaks with Jim and Naomi, Shirley’s closest living relatives. Jim had noticed that on the phone Shirley “was a different personality, a different person.”  Naomi agreed and described a strong change in personality also. Naomi in Chapter Nine tells Patrick that Shirley and Dr. Wilbur confirmed that the book Sybil “was 100% accurate.”

The pictures in the book are excellent. Under one of the pictures drawn by Shirley’s alter Peggy of a Christmas tree (in black and white), the note describes that Christmas was unpleasant for Shirley because she would receive a lot of games and toys which her mother would put away and not let her play with. Shirley was told she could play with them another time. Yet her mother would give them away to a poor family that didn’t have anything.

Patrick Suraci states in his chapter Controversy Over Sybil that Mason, Schreiber and Wilbur were offered money, television and media interviews to reveal Shirley’s identity, but did not do this. He discusses the problems with Dr. Herbert Spiegel’s view of the Sybil story, as well as other skeptical of the story.

I highly recommend this book to those interested in the Sybil story. It is very well documented, using actual transcripts of conversations with those in the story and those that knew Shirley, showing that the original Sybil book was an accurate description of Shirley’s life.

http://sybilandmpd.blogspot.com/2011/11/review-of-sybil-in-her-own-words-by.html

from Sybil’s closest living relative

from Sybil’s closest living relative

posted by permission from Naomi Rhode

As Shirley Mason’s (Sybil) closest living relative, I was close to her for the 30 plus years through the saga of her life journey. In fact, I was with her for several days during the week of her death, at her request, and was one of the only people that was in constant contact with her over those 30 years. I kept her identity confidential at her fervent request. Through all these years up until literally the day before she died, she verified the complete accuracy of the book, ‘Sybil’. Debbie Nathan claims that she contacted me for an interview in 2008 and that I declined. Over the years many people have contacted me for information about Shirley’s life. Not knowing their intent, always, I have declined all such interviews. If Debbie was one of those people, I do not recall the call, as I do not keep records of every call in a busy business life. I apologize for this, but I do not recall her calling. Knowing Dr. Connie Wilbur, and Flora Schreiber, also, the book concerns me greatly. It is an attack on their credibility, their research, and their professionalism. And, the book is a complete attack on the person I loved, Shirley Mason.

Shirley did not die a recluse. Shirley was a loving, and productive woman until her final,lengthy bout with cancer. She painted, and
taught painting. She sold her paintings. She corresponded with friends, and regularly with us. She was a woman of strong spiritual faith in God, loved her books and her music, and loved our family greatly. She chose, however, to live carefully and confidentially because she was adamant that her identity not be known. She was very protective of our family and any recourse her life and story may have on us.

Inaccuracies in Nathan’s book, Sybil Exposed

forwarded with permission

Inaccuracies in Nathan’s book, Sybil Exposed

October 19, 2011,   Statement from Dr. Patrick Suraci

I went to the Special Collections Library at John Jay College of Criminal Justice to verify statements made by Debbie Nathan in her book SYBIL EXPOSED.

1. On pages 99-100 Nathan writes: “Connie would carry her apparatus to Shirley’s apartment and climb in bed with her. She would clamp the paddles to Shirley’s temples, twirl the dials, and press the buttons. Connie’s gadget was an old electro-convulsive machine she had retired years earlier.”

Nathan cites the evidence for this in her “Notes: Chapter 8, No.38.. FRS Box 37, Files 1081, Tape 124.” In this document on January 26, 1955, Shirley writes about “electric shock” along with her other treatments. There is absolutely no documentation of Nathan’s outrageous claim.

2. On page 71 Nathan writes: “Completely inexperienced with men, she had little idea of how to take Gene’s (O’Neill) measure. He noticed her ignorance and didn’t like it. Too‘girlish’ he called Flora, particularly when it came to sex. In a sheaf of notes she wrote to herself, she described feeling pain at having his finger inside her, let alone his penis. ‘Be an animal,’ Gene would urge her, and he blamed her reticence  on the fact that she had a profession. ‘You bring Adelphi College into the bedroom. It is not that career women don’t want to go to bed – it is that they don’t know how,’ he scolded Flora.”

To prove this Nathan cites in: “Notes: Chapter 6, No.11, FRS Box 34, File 1051″ In this document Schreiber writes about Eugene O’Neill: “His complaint – Be an animal – give – you bring Adelphi College into the bedroom – we’re close friends in the living room and the moment we go into the bedroom you become a stranger…he says that it is not that career women don’t want to go to bed – it is that they don’t know how. Outcome might have been different if she had gone to bed with him on the last Saturday after he told her about _____” Schreiber at no time writes about O’Neill’s “finger” or “penis.”

3. On page 232 Nathan writes: “…She (Shirley Mason) died quietly in her home, surrounded by nurses, on February 26 of that year. She was seventy-five years old. It was early evening when she died.”

In my book SYBIL in her own words: The Untold Story of Shirley Mason, Her Multiple Personalities and Paintings.  On page 261 I write:

“The penultimate time I phoned Shirley’s home was on February 26, 1998, at 12:07 PM. In the background I heard her weak voice pleading to Roberta ,(Guy) ‘Tell him I’m sorry. I’m sorry.’ Roberta informed me that Shirley was too sick to speak on the phone. I mumbled, ‘Please tell her that it’s okay, it’s okay. I’ll call later.’ …

“When I called later that day  at 3:01 PM Roberta stunned me with the news than Shirley had just died.”

Dr. Suraci has the telephone records of that day, February 26, 1998.

Information about Dr. Suraci:

“SYBIL In Her Own Words: The Untold Story of Shirley Mason, Her Multiple Personalities and Paintings” by Patrick Suraci, Ph.D.

SYBIL is a new book about Shirley Mason who had 16 personalities. It  tells the story of her life after her cure depicted in the book SYBIL  and TV movie starring Sally Field. This book contains paintings by 5 of  Sybil’s alternate personalities. The author’s interviews with Shirley  Mason report her own words and her new whole personality.

In the book, the author presents evidence refuting Dr. Spiegel’s claim to have hypnotized  Shirley Mason. Dr. Suraci discovered an audio cassette where Ms. Mason  and Dr. Cornelia Wilbur, her therapist, discuss how it was impossible  for Dr. Spiegel to hypnotize Shirley, because she did not trust or like him.

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Dr. Leah Dickstein, who worked with Mason in her later years, stands by her assessment of Mason as a multiple. Professionals and staff at Wilbur’s Lexington, Kentucky clinic confirm that Mason was multiple, and that she attempted to integrate several times, without success. Dr. Leah Dickstein, whose mentor was Dr. Wilbur

Dr. Dickstein also stated that she was in touch with Mason for many years after Wilbur died. She remembers Mason telling her that “every word in the book is true.” She stated that Wilbur had “no need to make this up.” Ritter, Malcolm Doubt Cast on Story of `Sybil’ AP 8/16/98

Dr. Leah J. Dickstein
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/changingthefaceofmedicine/physicians/biography_85.html

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The American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis – Jan 2008 The bifurcation of the self: The history and theory of dissociation and its disorders, The
by Lawrence, Mark

“In fact, from my perspective, it is Rieber who has distorted the evidence to establish his case. For example, the appendix includes a long letter which includes a short section in which Sybil refers to having written something to the effect that she had made up everything about being a multiple personality, but this was presented in her letter in the context of trying to find a way of not needing Dr. Wilbur. Rieber calls this a “letter of denial” of MPD/DID. There are many more instances in which Rieber misrepresents the material in the appendix to support his case.”

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa4087/is_200801/ai_n21279759/

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“SYBIL In Her Own Words: The Untold Story of Shirley Mason, Her Multiple Personalities and Paintings” by Patrick Suraci, Ph.D.

SYBIL is a new book about Shirley Mason who had 16 personalities. It tells the story of her life after her cure depicted in the book SYBIL and TV movie starring Sally Field. This book contains paintings by 5 of Sybil’s alternate personalities. The author’s interviews with Shirley Mason report her own words and her new whole personality. (video of Dr. Suraci explaining the book.)
http://bea11.mapyourshow.com/3_0/exhibitor_details.cfm?exhid=331445&markcamefrom=y

“SYBIL In Her Own Words: The Untold Story of Shirley Mason, Her Multiple Personalities and Paintings” by Patrick Suraci, Ph.D. presents evidence refuting Dr. Spiegel’s claim to have hypnotized Shirley Mason. Dr. Suraci discovered an audio cassette where Ms. Mason and Dr. Cornelia Wilbur, her therapist, discuss how it was impossible for Dr. Spiegel to hypnotize Shirley, because she did not trust or like him.

SYBIL In Her Own Words: The Untold Story of Shirley Mason, Her Multiple Personalities and Paintings (2011), a book written by Patrick Suraci, Ph.D. ISBN: 978-0-615-44600-4
http://members.authorsguild.net/psuraci/

Born May 31, 1936 in Rochester, New York, Patrick Suraci received his Bachelor of Arts Degree from Assumption College, University of Windsor, Ontario, Canada. He received his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the New School for Social Research, New York in 1981.

His latest work, Sybil In Her Own Words: The Untold Story of Shirley Mason, Her Multiple Personalities and Paintings is being launched at Book Expo America at the Jacob Javitz Center in New York City on May 24, 2011….Dr. Suraci was a Staff Psychologist for the New York Police Department and is now in private practice in Manhattan. He has taught at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and Baruch College at the City University of New York.

Sybil In Her Own Words: The Untold Story of Shirley Mason, Her Multiple Personalities and Paintings
Dr. Suraci developed a friendship with Shirley Mason (Sybil) after she was cured from Multiple Personality Disorder. She gave him personal effects and paintings made by five of her personalities which all appear in the book. He discovered evidence to disprove the critics who were attempting to attack the veracity of her case.
http://members.authorsguild.net/psuraci/

Sybil In Her Own Words on facebook

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sybil-In-Her-Own-Words/108610352553254