Induction to solve the problem of short memory

Rooney has had issues with being forgetful. He says that the problem might have been caused by the frightening experiences he passed through as a kid. His father was a drunkard who would abuse her mother and him every time he comes home from the bar. Rooney always watched television programs that demonstrated the aspects of a father's love. He would have this image that his father was similar to the one he just watched on TV. "In the middle of my daydreaming, my father would come roaring and cursing signaling danger. I would then hide in the wardrobe to be safe. Since I was a kid, I thought this is how life was supposed to be. One day he bit up my mom while I was hiding in the wardrobe and later came straight to the wardrobe. I was scared to death," narrates Rooney. From that point on, he started developing self-esteem issues and was often very frightened of situations that were not worth getting scared about. 

As Rooney grew up, he developed a short memory and would forget obvious things easily. For instance, he often ignores the pattern of his phone whenever he sets it, however simple the design is. Rooney has sought help in various ways including attending therapies to help him revive his memory. He is quite worried that if the trend continues, it will be detrimental to his life. He does not want the situation to get worse because he has a bright future ahead. Rooney has been performing very well in school despite his challenge, but he attests to the fact that his condition has been retrogressive to the targets that he wants to achieve in life. He has also attempted to measure his progress regarding remembering basic things. According to him, he is getting worse than better. He is obsessed with getting a good memory because he wants to be a surgeon. He has been examining various ways of improving the ability of his memory to remember things easily. The implication of becoming a medical doctor and in particular, a surgeon requires that a person recalls things easily. Rooney can hardly recall small things, and that is his main concern. Medical records do not show any medical complications of any condition or disease. It, therefore, portends that the problem arises from psychological issues that were established through the hardships that he went through as a young kid. Consequently, it means that the only way of solving the problem at hand is to tackle the psychological experiences causing the high level of forgetfulness. Owing to that, I will strive to solve the problem of Rooney by first addressing his mental issues. 

Rooney has, therefore, asked me if I can help him to regain long-term memory so that he can pursue his dream of being a doctor. I have therefore created a therapeutic process that will be utilized in solving Rooney’s problem of short memory. First, I will try and understand the main cause of Rooney’s short-term memory. His background and the harrowing experiences he passed through as a child will be important in the question sessions. The sessions will involve the different tests that include getting Rooney to be in hypnosis state. 

Induction 

This induction plan will assist Rooney to get into a state of hypnosis. I will need to get Rooney into a state of inner focus. I will first begin with letting him engage in a lot of activities and the later have him be in a state of relaxation and self-evaluation. 

Activity	Details	When	Completed
Multitasking	Stay at home, cook, work, clean the house and answer the questions that will be sent to in the text messages within 10 seconds.	Day 1	5/12/2018
Memorizing of names	Establish five different friendships every day, for five days  After five days, 25 friends would have been made  Remember not only the names of them but as much personal details as you can.	Day 1-Day 5	10/12/2018
Meditating	Spend at least one hour a day out in the woods and the river without any gadgets. Try to detach from the world and meditate.	Day 2 &5	6/12/2018
Playing games	With the 25 friends made in the five days, play games of recalling as much personal information as possible from the friends made. The winner will be awarded. After that spend your time alone and try and focus on the game you just played.	Day 3-5	10/12/2018

Reflection of the induction activities 

Multitasking 

The purpose of this activity is to get Rooney into a state of high activity before settling his mind. He is supposed to stay at home and handle all the chores on his own. That is, make breakfast, do the laundry, do some work, meet some schedules and also text back some basic answers to some questions that will be asked. These activities are quite a lot for Rooney because he will have to plan his time well. He will also have to increase his ability to remember where he left the previous activity (Tobia et al., 2016). The reason for the choice of household chores for multitasking is that they entail very small details that act as the ultimate test for the memory. For instance, while making tea, Rooney may decide to go disposing of trash as the tea boils. If he forgets about the tea in the kitchen, he will not take breakfast that day because it will boil over. In this scenario, Rooney has been accorded very limited resources. If the tea becomes exhausted in the heat, there will be no more tea leaves not milk to make another tea. Also, if Rooney fails to perform some of the tasks on time, he will be fined. In this case, the process involves some counter consequences, and any failure would lead to natural punishment. It is therefore hoped that when Rooney fails to take breakfast, his brain will be stimulated to tread more carefully with other progressive activities. 

Memorizing of names 

The activity of remembering titles will also be useful to boost his memory. Many people face a lot of problems trying to recall names of people who they just met. Rooney will, therefore, be put the ultimate test because he will be required to create a new friendship with five people and try to recall their details. The process will not only be useful in exercising the memory, but it will help to boost Rooney's confidence and improve his social scope (Abbas et al., 2015). I realized that because of the experiences that Rooney went through, he lacks the confidence to create new friendship and maintain them. Therefore, this activity will expose him to different characters of people and how to handle the different characters. He will also be needed to be creative enough to try and become the leader in that friendship and influence the friends in various positive aspects. He might decide to plan for recreational fun activities and visits that will enable him to connect with all the friends. For instance, if he will be the one to invite the friends and plan for activities, he will get accustomed to having to know their names and know their details ( Cutler, 2016) . The more he becomes the central character in the friendship the more efficient the exercise of remembering the friends’ details. 

Meditating 

It is most likely that after the first and second day, Rooney will be exhausted and shocked to a great extent because he would have been exposed to an environment he is not accustomed to. Therefore, having some time for mediation will be worthwhile in helping him recover and refresh his confidence and memory. He will also reflect on the activities that he just went through. Without mediation, Rooney might lose confidence and the courage to continue with the activities. This time will also help him settle any conflicts that might be playing out in his inner self. The exercise that is made is meant to expose the areas of weakness and the reasons for making those problems ( Das, 2015) . On the day of mediation, Rooney will be required to assess every activity and the outcome of that activity with himself. In that case, he will be needed to understand the main source of his problems. 

That assessment will be needed to unravel not only the source of his short memory problem. The exercise of meditation will also be helpful to Rooney because he will find the musical moments of facing himself. That is, to confront some of his greatest fears and understand that he still has hope. In the long term, he will be able to heal from the experiences that he went through. In the meditation stage, he will have both the courage and privacy of reacting emotionally in whatever way he knows ( Ruiz, 2014) . The gentle rhythm of the river labyrinth will also cause a natural effect of inducing peace and sanity and emotional healing to Rooney’s soul. After this exercise in the woods and near a gently flowing river, he will be prepared to face the world more clearly. 

Playing games 

The game of having to remember as many personal details of all the friends in the group will be helpful in boosting his long-term memory. After undertaking meditation exercises, Rooney will be more confident and bold. At this point, he will have understood the reason why he sometimes acts differently from others. He would also have discovered that he had great potential ( Kaplan, 2016) . The process of finding and understanding oneself is one of the most important difficult processes, and teenagers have problems achieving that. After doing a SWOT analysis to himself, Rooney will have understood himself thus allowing him to have a clear mind in his actions and decisions. While playing the game, he will also have the chance to hear what others have to say about him. That is he will get the chance to listen to the good and bad stuff that others have to say about him. He will, therefore, have to compare notes on what he always thought about himself ( Sadock, Sadock & Ruiz, 2015) . This session will help him to understand the potential that he has. He will also get the chance to evaluate other people and understand their problems and weaknesses. 

Transcript 

Me: Hey Rooney, what is your main problem? 

Explanation: I want to find out Rooney’s problem to understand the best way of formulating the conversation. 

Rooney: I forget small things very easily. I forget even the passwords for my social media accounts. 

Explanation: Rooney proceeds to state his problem rather remorsefully. With his further explanation of the problem by stating that he even forget the passwords of his phone numbers, he gives a deeper insight into his problem. 

Me: Alright, how would you want me to help you? 

Explanation: I want to gauge his willingness to participate in the process. 

Rooney: Do anything that you know to see it that I find the solution for my problem. I will appreciate because I want to be a medical doctor. My problem with being forgetful is not even residing. 

Explanation: He demonstrates his desperation in getting a solution. 

Me: I appreciate your willingness to cooperate as we seek for the solutions for the problems at hand. Tell me a little about yourself and background. 

Rooney: Alright well, I was born in the year 2002 in a family of three. I grew up in difficulties because my dad was a drunkard. He used to insult and beat us up especially when he was under the influence of alcohol. I was very bright in school, but I always had very low esteem, and I had almost zero confidence. I grew up with the fear of being in constant trouble and punishment meted on me. I started forgetting things when I joined campus. There were many bullying groups of boys, and when they discovered my weakness, they started taking advantage of that. My fears of being in the wrong were cultivated, and I developed a high degree of forgetfulness. 

Me: Oh, I see. So the main reason for your high short-term memory is because of your childhood experiences. 

Rooney: Definitely. I strongly believe that is the reason because when I was five, my father was less abusive and I was very confident and sharp. I remember I would remember the color of my mom's clothes that she wore in the whole week. 

Me: Would you agree to take part in some exercises that are intended to help you overcome your problem? 

Rooney: I am more than willing because I want the solution badly. 

Me: let me see…what is the color of the socks you are wearing? Please do not check. Answer. 

Explanation: I want to see if he has the problem. 

Rooney: (laughs hysterically) honestly I cannot remember. It must be black. 

Me: okay as you came in, my friend introduced her to me. She even told you her name. What is my friend's name? She told you her name five minutes ago. 

Rooney: (scratches his head) I cannot remember. 

Me: No worries. You will be better. My friend I called Alice. Just one more question, you had a chance to check the color of your socks after failing to answer the first time. Can you tell me the color of your socks? 

Rooney: (Appears shocked and elated) what! I just checked the color of my socks. Please forgive me. Let me check for the last time, and I won't forget. 

Explanation: I repeat the question to ascertain the problem. 

Me: Alright go ahead and check it. 

Rooney: I now see. I will not forget that one. 

Me: before you answer me about the color of your socks, please tell me the name of my friend I just told you. 

Explanation: I want to check his ability to handle pressure and remember things. 

Rooney: (appears confused) this is getting embarrassing. I will not tell you the name of your friend, but the color of my socks is blue. 

Explanation of the question session 

Interacting with Rooney was an eye opener, and I was able to understand his main problem with thoughts. As he answers questions, he avoids eye contact, and the less you look at him, the high chances of him answering rightly. From my judgment, I think Rooney forgets things because he has a high affinity to fear. When he is frightened, he can even forget his name. First, I needed Rooney to discuss his problem openly because I did not appear as if I was imposing anything on him. Also, I needed to know if Rooney is aware of his problem ( Saduk & Sadock, 2014) . I discovered that Rooney is well versed with his problem. The nature of the questions was quite frustrating and annoying because I was able to tap into his main weaknesses and put pressure to beat his weaknesses. I asked him about his background and Rooney went straight into explaining the problems that he went through in his childhood days. I was able to digest that that was his main concern. I went ahead and suggested that the main reason for his short-term memory is the fact that he went through harrowing childhood experiences. 

He appeared elated and answered with affirmative that the main cause of his problem is his childhood experiences. Since I knew I would be taking Rooney through some uncomfortable session of asking questions, I ascertained his willingness to comply with my style of therapy. After that, I went straight to the session of asking questions to understand if Rooney’s case is normal or special. I asked him about the color of the socks he wore, and he could not answer. That was an indication that he forgot things easily. 

Offering the benefit of the doubt because in many cases people especially men, forget the color of socks they wear, I asked him about the name of my colleague Alice whom I just introduced him to. He could not remember. I then shifted direction by referring him to the first question about the color of his socks. By this time, it seemed that the questions were too much for him because he was very disappointed that he failed to answer the question he just sought an answer to. To confirm his fast forgetful nature, I referred him again to the second question in which I just gave him the answers. 

The reason for this repetition was to establish if the ability to recall only two variables in his mind after distraction. I used the first question as destruction to the answer of the second question and the second question was destruction to the first question. I discovered that another weakness with Rooney is handling adverse situations. After getting destructed, it was as if his brain came to a standstill. The exercise and questions helped me to understand the source of Rooney's weaknesses that caused him to forget things quickly. It was instrumental in creating the induction program above, that will help him boost his prowess in recalling things. By this time, I was pretty sure that if Rooney became serious and consistent in following the exercises and activities laid out in the induction plan above, his problem would end. That is because the induction activities are tailor-made for his problem. Instead of going the normal way of proposing broad and widely based activities, I decided to get to the bottom of the source of Rooney's problem. After that, I created the activities to counter the source of the problem of being forgetful. 

In many cases, people suffering from a high degree of forgetfulness have a high chance of solving their problems. Because many therapists work on a broad way of solving their problem, the cause of the problem is not treated. The symptoms of the problems are often solved, and with time, the symptoms regrow. For Rooney, the main causes of this forgetfulness are fear and poor self-esteem. To handle the problem of self-esteem, I created a program that will need him to look for friends and be their leader. With this kind of exercise, Rooney will get a platform not only to deal with his fears but also to learn broadly about the way to handle people. To deal with his inability to remember things, I needed him to do household chores. These activities would be repeated for three months and in every first five days of the week. After that, he will be assessed to see if he progressed or not. 

References  

Abbas, A., Hussain, M. I., Mehboob, S., & Basri, R. (2015). ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION IN CONVERSION DISORDER PATIENTS.  KJMS ,  8 (2). 

Cutler, J. L. (2016). Kaplan and Sadock’s Synopsis of Psychiatry.  Journal of Psychiatric Practice® ,  22 (1), 68-69. 

Das, S. (2015). OJPAS this issue.  Open Journal of Psychiatry & Allied Sciences ,  6 (1), 1-2. 

Kaplan, B. J. (2016). Kaplan and Sadock’s Synopsis of Psychiatry. Behavioral Sciences/Clinical Psychiatry.  Tijdschrift voor Psychiatrie ,  58 (1), 78-79. 

Ruiz, P. (2014). Sadock’s Synopsis of Psychiatry: Behavioural Science.  Clinical Psychiatry, 

Sadock, B. J., Sadock, V. A., & Ruiz, P. (2015). Child psychiatry. In  Synopsis of Psychiatry  (pp. 1082-1096). Wolters Kluwer, Philadelphia, PA. 

Saduk, B. J., & Sadock, V. (2014). Synopsis of Psychiatry: Behavioral Sciences and Clinical Psychiatry. Translated by Rezaee F. Publication: Arjmand 1388: 240-263.  The Journal of Urmia University of Medical Sciences ,  25 (3). 

Tobia, A., Mintz, J., Rudge, D., Bisen, V., Trenton, A., Draschil, T., & Dobkin, R. (2016). Deconstructing the Film Sinister through the Lens of Psychiatry.  J Psychiatry ,  19 , 354.