The Three Faces of Eve

The Three Faces of Eve

  • Submitted By: uejazz
  • Date Submitted: 04/16/2011 3:14 AM
  • Category: Psychology
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The three Faces of Eve

By Thigpen and Cleckley (1954)

The Case Study ‘The three Faces of Eve’ by Thigpen and Cleckley is about a woman
Eve White, who had been referred for therapy because she was suffering from severe,
blinding headaches, blackouts and amnesia.
Thigpen and Cleckley, her therapists, used hypnosis to restore her memory. Some
days after the hypnosis, a letter arrived for them. The letter was intriguing for it had
been written in a confident hand and referred to her therapy though at the bottom of
the page there was a childish postscript written in a different hand. When questioned
about it Eve denied sending the letter, although she did admit having started to write
one which she had not finished. During the interview she showed signs of distress and
admitted to hearing imaginary voices from time to time. Then in mid conversation the
therapists observed Eve White putting both her hands to her head, as if in pain and after
a tense moment of silence she dropped her hands and with a quick reckless smile and
a bright voice said ‘Hi there, Doc’! The demure and retiring Eve White had changed
into a confident and relaxed person, with a very different physical presence. Her voice
and language structure was different, and to the therapist it appeared to be an entirely
different woman.
Over the next 14 months, a series of interviews totaling over 100 hours explored the
behavior and experience of Eve White and the other woman, who was referred to as,
Eve Black. Although Eve Black could sometimes appear unexpectedly, she could only
be called out by the therapists when Eve White was under hypnosis. Eve Black had been
in existence since early childhood, and when she was out Eve White was unaware of
what was happening. Eve Black was shallow and irresponsible and was successful in
concealing her identity from Eve White’s parents and husband. She despised Eve White’s
husband and daughter and denied any relationship to them.
During...

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