Living with the 'Gloria Films': A Daughter's Memory

In 1964 Dr Everett Shostrom produced a series of educational films called "Three Approaches to Psychotherapy", therein filming complete psychotherapy sessions for the first time. Three celebrated therapists demonstrated their models on a client called Gloria. In the films, Gloria agreed to discuss her disquiet over questions (regarding her recent divorce and her sex life) from her fourth-grade daughter, Pamela. At the time, the topic had pith, intrigue and moral uncertainty, underscoring the state of psychotherapy, the era of the mid-60s, and the evolving consciousness and liberation of women during that decade. The films became famous amongst practitioners and students of psychotherapy, and remain famous within these circles today. Controversially, the films were also shown in public theatres and on TV. In this memoir Gloria's daughter Pamela J. Burry (Pammy), whose innocent question sparked Glorias's disquiet, has written about a life which became the subject of much academic analysis, moral outrage, rumours of suicide and speculation in the years following the release of "Three Approaches to Psychotherapy", more popularly known as "The Gloria Films". This title will be of interest to anyone who has trained in counselling or psychotherapy and hence knows the films, or the interested lay person.