Psychological Profile of Holden Caulfield

Psychological Profile of Holden Caulfield

Part One:

The patient is Holden Caulfield, a sixteen-year-old teenage boy. Caulfield's appearance is tall for his age and surprisingly has quite a few gray hairs at the age of sixteen. Holden comes from an upper-middle class family. His family has enough money to support Holden with many luxuries including skates and expensive suitcases. It appears that Mr. and Mrs. Caulfield aren?t there to talk, care, and be there for Holden, which seems to drive Holden away from his family. However, he has an intimate bond with his younger siblings, who embody innocence and youth. The death of his brother Allie has left a large scar on Holden. He has a cherished and intimate relationship with his young and innocent sister, Phoebe. Holden has been to many schools and has been kicked out of many schools. Holden is an intellectual teenager, who refuses to apply himself, and thus goes from school to school.

Some of the important and affecting moments in Holden?s life are death of Allie, suicide of a close friend, D.B. ?selling out?, and his summer with Jane Gallagher. Allie, Holden?s younger brother died of leukemia recently and has caused stress upon the patient. Also witnessing the death of once close friend traumatized the patient. The fact that Holden?s friend committed suicide wearing some of his clothing, placed even more strain on the patient. Another factor surround Holden is his brother D.B. leaving him and his family to ?sell out to Hollywood? disturbed Holden. Lastly, the summer he had spent with a close and intimate friend, Jane Gallagher had added fuel to fire, which drove Mr. Caulfield to this institution and require professional help from our clinic.

Part Two:

The patient, Holden Caulfield, perceives himself a ?madman?. Holden proclaims he is a madman for his actions and thoughts. With the analysis of Holden Caulfield?s description of the weekend leading up to his enlistment of professional care for chronic depression, Holden reveals his thoughts on being convinced he was a madman. One incident from Holden?s description explicitly gives Holden?s view of himself. The incident in reference is his date with Sally Hayes. Holden proposed to Sally to run away to Massachusetts and live together away from the world. In actuality Holden could not tolerate Sally and her ?phoniness?, but he still made the sug...

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...hem. Holden Caulfield is capable of recovery, but will require intense work and help. A timeline for his recovery could be anywhere from three months to as long three years. Currently, I believe it will take approximately six months for Holden to fully recover based on his interactions with the staff here at Bergen Pines. When asked by a psychoanalyst about applying himself in school next year, his response was, ?It?s such a stupid question, in my opinion. I mean how do you know what you?re going to do till you do it?? (Salinger 213). In this response, there are remnants of hostility and anger remaining him Holden, which would make me believe it would take a full year in order for him to recover. However, in Holden?s account it states, ?I sort of miss everybody I told about. Even old Stradlater and Ackley, for instance. I think I even miss that goddam Maurice? (Salinger 214). In this statement, it makes me believe that Holden is already working to return back on the path of sanity, because he lets go of the phony business and outright states he is beginning to miss his friends and the people he met. This is a sign that shows me he is bound to recover as soon as six months.