Holden Caulfield Grief Analysis

17-year-old Holden Caulfield’s mother scheduled him for a psychiatric appointment in my office. On the phone, Mrs. Caulfield explained that everything seemed to start when Holden disappeared for 3 days, around Christmas last year, after being kicked out of his fourth boarding school. Phoebe Caulfield, Holden’s little sister, was the one that noticed his strange behavior and told her mother of these peculiarities when they started to worsen throughout the year. Holden displayed feelings of wanting to run away from home, not returning home, seeming sad, and having dissatisfaction with many things. When I asked for more family information, I was told Holden’s little brother died of leukemia at the age of 11 which was 3 years ago. This information …show more content…
The grief would be helped with grief counseling. Where we would talk about how he feels about his brother’s death, reduce any feelings of guilt and blame that may come from our talks, redefine personal goals, and improve his coping skills; which could help with his depression that seems to be affected by his grief problem. (1,4) To treat his depression, a bit of creativity is needed. One remedy could be calling Jane Gallagher since he talks about wanting to call her but always talks himself out of it,” I figured maybe I’d give old Jane a buzz and see if she was home for vacation yet. So I went in a phone booth and called her up. The only trouble was, her mother answered the phone, so I had to hang up. I didn’t feel like getting involved in a long conversation and all with her.” (151) Bottom line is Holden really cares for her and Jane seems to understand him so it could be good for him. Besides that, an eating plan would be needed, to make sure he’s actually eating a good meal, along with a plan to diminish Holden’s smoking and drinking habits. To help Holden’s sense of restlessness and apparent loneliness, I, in my professional opinion, think that getting a job at the art museum or the museum of natural history would help because he would have a chance to talk to people and be around the kids that come to the museums, since he has a fondness for children. Plus, he’s already helping them around like a tour guide; when he meets two boys at the art museum, “’ You two guys so interested in mummies?’ I said. ‘Yeah.’… Finally we found the place where the mummies were and we went in.” (263) and he continues to tell them about the mummies. Overall, I think that Holden’s problem is that he stays too much in his head, where he thinks very pessimistically, and can’t find anyone who will really talk to him. My goal is for Holden to heal from his