On May 14, 1998, I received a phone call from Dr. Smith concerning a sixteen-year-old boy named Holden Caulfield, the son of one of his patients. Dr. Smith provided me with a summary of Holdens condition and made me aware of the fact that he needed professional help. After hearing about this, I decided to make an arrangement to meet with Holdens mother. Later that week, Holdens mother arrived at my office and informed me more thoroughly of Holdens condition, in an apologetic tone because she felt she had been a bad mother for Holden. Before leaving my office, Holdens mother handed me a diary that she wanted me to read before my first meeting with Holden, to understand his situation more thoroughly and analyze the diary. That evening, after a long day at work, I began reading the diary, hoping that I would learn more about Holdens situation and would eventually be able to help him.
After reading many pages, I soon realized that Holden had difficulty relating to women. Even though he had his opportunities, he had never gone through with it. I began to realize that he had a serious problem because the only woman that he is able to relate to is his sister Phoebe. After reading on, I also concluded that Holden had a bitterness instilled in him towards other people that made it difficult for him to see good in others. He had a bitter hatred for everyone whom he believed was “phony” or pretentious. For example, he hated people who were intentionally cruel, such as his roommate in his boarding school. Another example of people whom he hated was white people at a bar.
Finally, as I finished reading the diary, I became aware that Holden used various things to escape reality, and its surroundings. Many times, he fantasized about good things because he wanted to stop thinking about what was really happening. Also, I began to see the museum, which he used to visit, as a refuge from the outside world. Lastly, Holden used his memories to escape reality also. For example, he would remember about his brother Allie, who had died, and the times he had with him while he was alive. When I arrived at my office the next morning, I instructed my secretary, Ben Affleck, to call Holden Caulfield to schedule and appointment as soon as possible.
Since I had many other patients to occupy my time, I soon forgot about Holden entirely until the following Tuesday when he walked into my office. When Holden first walked into my office, the first thing that caught my attention was his physical appearance. He was dressed in clothes that looked like if they had never been washed. His hair, not only was not brushed, but also was dirty and died purple. Another thing that stunned me was the lack of respect that he showed. For example, he walked into my office smoking a cigarette and didnt even ask me if the smoke bothered me. Also, his behavior was that of someone who had never been taught any manners, but since I had met the mother earlier, I knew that this behavior was on his behalf, and I knew not to blame the mother for anything.
During our first session, we talked about Holdens encounter with Sunny the prostitute. Obviously, Holden just told me that he just didnt feel like having an experience with her, but deep inside, I knew that there was more behind what Holden was saying, that he just was not revealing to me. I tried to ask him if there was something that he wasnt telling me, but in response, he raised his voice and told me that he did not have to tell me anything that he did not wish to. Since I began to notice the tension, I told Holden to think about what we had talked about for the next week and to tell me anything he missed at the next session. A week later, in our second session, Holden came back with a better attitude, and it seemed like he had really thought about things and given them some deep thought. After speaking for a while about his relationship with his family, Holden revealed to me that he was in love with his little sister, Phoebe. This is what he was hiding from me at our last session that he did not wish to reveal to me.
He began to tell me that he was passionately in love with his sister for various reasons. He told me that first of all, she was what he always wanted to love. Also, he told me that it was already easy to love her because he loved her as a sister so it was not difficult to expand the feelings. When we looked at the time, we realized that time was up and it was time for Holden to leave because another patient was waiting for me. We continued the same discussion during our third session. Holden now seemed to open up, and he told me that he needed help because he realized that it was not normal to be passionately in love with your little sister.
Not only did I agree with him, but also told him that he should try to get that thought out of his head because revealing that to his family would change the way everyone treats him and acts around him. Finally, as my last advice, I told Holden that he needed to get away from home, not only to get away from Phoebe, but also to give himself a place where he could think about all that was happening. After the third session I called Mr. and Mrs. Caulfield to discuss the issues. I explained to them that I knew exactly what was wrong with Holden, but I could not reveal that to them. Instead I told them that I would offer advice to them about what to do with Holden and his condition. I recommended them to send him to a place where may teenagers go with similar problems. I told him that would help improve his condition because there the kids got into groups and spoke about their problems and things they could do to improve their condition. Mr.
and Mrs. Caulfield told me that they appreciated my help and that they would send their son there as soon as possible. A year later, as I was walking down the street, I saw a familiar face on a newspaper that was on the floor, so I decided to pick it up. When I picked it up I tried to remember who it was. Finally, after minutes of heavy pondering I remembered that it was Holden Caulfield. I read the heading of the article which said “Teenager rapes younger sister.” I kept on reading and later found out that he had raped her because he was passionately in love with her and could not resist to stay away from her any longer. It also said, that after attending a psychologist, He refused to take the advice that was given to him because he just could not be far from his sister because he believed that the problem would get worse. Finally, I realized that I had done as much as possible to help him, but learned that many times people who need help are seriously stubborn.