Final Asessment

Judging by how Holden has grown throughout this experience, he is no longer a psychotic teen but rather a troubled teen. A troubled teen is a person that woud rather stick with his/her own thoughts and doesn't consider what other people have to say. They do what they want when they want and don't listen to authority. I can see that he has accepted the fact that everyone must grow up and he accepts that. However, I can see that he is still growing into being comfortable with this. His rebellious personality is still present but that is nothing unusual at this age. He is ready to leave the institution and continue with his life. Before he left, I asked him some questions to verify my thoughts on him:
       What is the significane of your red hunting hat?  The hat gives me a sense of individuality. I feel a bit of confidence when I wear it because I know that no one else will have the same hat as me. I would rather be alone if I am myself rather than conform to others and be phony.
        Do you feel running away has fixed your problems? No, it hasn't. Before I came to this place, I feel I finally faced my fear of growing up and realized that it will happen to everyone including me. Facing this problem has made me happier.
        What are some qualities you like about yourself? I like that I don't care what other people think of me. Like I told you before, I'd rather not conform to fit in because I'd have to be phony.

        

      

Fulfillment & Motivation

This is one of the very last sessions I will have with Holden. Today, I would like to know a little bit more about what motivates and makes him happy. When I asked him, he said right before he was admitted into the institution, watching Phoebe ride a carousel was what made him truly happy. He said the way she spun around and around coming back each time. It seems Holden realized at this moment, the carousel was like life. Life is a cycle. No matter how many times you fall, you can get back up and keep trying at it again. I also asked him if he could be anything he wanted, what would it be? Holden responded, "...I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids... And I'm standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff..." It seems like Holden wants to help the children from growing up and falling into the world of phoniness. He himself doesn't want to grow up and tries to keep the innocence of other children as well.

Diagnosis

My time with Holden has been quite the experience. He is a very intelligent boy who has been affected greatly by certain events mentioned here, throughout his life. Throughout these sessions, I found the primary source to be a struggle to conform to society and grow up. He see's so many people as phonies mostly because they're adults. Holden refuses to become phony and thus refuses to grow up. However, everyone must grow up at one point and he can't seem to accept this. When he finally realizes that he will be on his way to adulthood, he experiences the breakdown. I feel Holden has accepted reality at this point. When he expressed what happened at the carousel with Phoebe during the last session, I knew he was ready enter back into the real world. By accepting his and everyone else's fate, Holden can be released with reasoning and a new state of mind. Before he leaves, he says one last thing, "Don't ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody."

Holden's Past

I decided to travel to Holden's past and ask him if anything significant, good or bad, has occurred throughout the years. He began talking about his the death of his younger brother Allie who had been diagnosed with leukemia. Holden told me about a time after his death when he snapped and broke and broke all the windows in the house and attempted to break the windows of their car. At that moment, I could tell the death of Allie is when Holden began to change and become who is right now. He begins to mention a time when he saw ducks at Central Park and asked where they would go during the wintertime. It seemed like a very random statement at the time but now I can see that Holden is represented as the ducks during wintertime. Just like they are forced to move out of the pond, Holden is forced to leave Pencey. Also, when the ducks must leave, they are lost and don't know where to go. Holden is also very lost during this time wandering the streets of New York without any set destination.

Rotten Relationships

Alongside with the few positive relationships Holden has, he also mentions the troubled ones as well. We moved onto his thoughts on the previous school he attended, Pencey. He stated that he didn't like the school because of all the phonies there including one of his roommates named Stradlater. Holden named him the "secret slob" because you could never tell what he was really like until you caught him alone. Ackley, Holden's other roommate, is completely different in that he flaunts his lack of hygiene. However, he states that he respects Ackley much more than he does Stradlater. The reason behind this seems that Holden favors someone who is fine with making their imperfections known rather than a person who tries to be someone he or she is not by hiding these flaws. I feel individuality is something Holden cherishes very much and immediately senses a person as a phony if this quality is not expressed.

"Secret Slob"



Slob

 

 

Reassuring Realtionships

In the previous meeting, Holden mentions  a very close and happy bond with a friend. Continuing into this next entry, I will reveal yet another relationship Holden has but this time, with his younger sister Phoebe. His hatred of phony people seems to disappear when he talks about her. From what he states, Phoebe is intelligent and only has straight A's since she began school. Holden explains that she is extremely emotional for her young age and writes books all the time. It seems as if  Phoebe is the person Holden aspires to be. Out of his entire family, Holden is very different from everyone else. There is a sense of low self-esteem finding it hard to live up to his families accomplishments saying,"Im the only really dumb one..." As he describes her, I can tell that she is the only non-phony person he refers to. She seems to have a very straight forward personality telling Holden he doesn't like anything and that their father will kill him when he finds out that he ran away. For Holden, it seems reassuring to him that his own sister is not a phony person like most of the people he encounters. In addition, I can sense he has a "sweet spot" for children seeing them all as innocent while most adults to him are phony.

Inside Holden's Thoughts

After conducting my first session with Holden, I beleive I had a decent indication of what his  personality was like. Our second meeting today reinforced my thoughts on him. Throughout the time spent with Mr. Caulfield, he was very relaxed and carefree. He answered questions with ease but took on a rather sarcastic tone. When asked about his time at his previous school, Pencey Prep, he simply laughed and stated that it wasn't the school for him. However, by observing his records, the obvious answer was that Holden had been kicked out. The next subject we moved onto was regarding any relationships he with friends or acquantances. Holden simply said,"There's a word I really hate. It's a phony. I could puke every time I hear it." His tone changed to a very stern and angry tone. It was evident that he didn't get along with most people and had trouble connecting with them. However, when I asked if he was involved in a relationship, he said no but went on talking about a girl named Jane. Straight away his tone switched into a  happy one and he became more interactive in the conversation.  Through his statements, I felt Jane was one of the very few people Holden had a connection with. It was obvious he had strong feelings for her but he states that he can't see himself getting sexy with a girl he's genuinely close to. I sense Holden would be happy with her despite his critical outlook on most people. However, in his eyes, becoming sexual with one you really care for is a way of treating them "crumby" or bad. From this second session I have obtained a new idea on Holden. Despite his "rough around the edges" personality, he is shown to be compassionate and kind to others.