The GO Treatment Centre - A Stranger from a Strange Land

[Alexrandia]

I'll probably reinstall LN now that we can control the populations of celebrities and vampires, but I haven't gotten around to it yet.

I just looked last night, and the population controls came with latest patch. So now you can reinstall! There's also an option to opt only your household out of celebrity. So there could be celebrities around town, but your household would never become famous. I'm glad I don't have to put fences around all my houses now, just to keep the paparazzi out. I'm not exactly sure why anyone would want that.

EDIT: Apparently I can't read very well. I thought your message said "when we can control" not "now that we can control."

[Schipperke]

Group Therapy

Friday afternoon everyone gathers in the group room.

Sstarr:  As you know, group therapy is confidential.  What's said in this room stays here.  That way people can feel safe to say what's on their minds.



Coleen:  But won't our case managers want to know what we're doing here?
Charissa:  Yes, and all our friends in the forum!
Emily:  I think we should let them see a little bit of what we are doing, but not everything.

So the residents agree to share excerpts of their session with you.



Callum:  I miss my dear little Catfish Sally!  She was the love of my life and now she's gone.  My heart aches for her.



Trisha:  Yes, I know exactly what you mean!  Ever since my husband died, I've had such heartache!



Coleen:  Yes, I miss my Fried Bacon!
Emily:  You miss food?
Coleen:  Fried Bacon, my dog!  Oh where, oh where has my little dog gone?



Sstarr:  Hmm, yes - definitely some grief issues to work on, here.



Charissa:  I think I'm making progress!  I don't mind gardening and fishing, now that I have my new gloves to wear.



Emily:  I think I'm getting to be a pretty good cook.  It was so exciting seeing everyone enjoying the food and having a good time at the party yesterday!



Frank:   Eugene says if I SWAP my Hydrophobic trait, I won't mind taking showers any more!  I don't know if that's true, but I think I'd like it.

Incubus:  When is it going to be my turn?



Sstarr:  You've all been doing very well!  I'm proud of the work everyone's done.  The weekend's coming up, so you can all take a break from working so hard.  Have fun and spend time socializing, and enjoy more of Emily's good food!



Coleen:  And what are you going to do, Sstarr? 
Sstarr:  I need to work on the progress reports I'll be sending out to your case managers.  And I hope to have time to work on some of my own personal goals.  I've been wanting to learn how to prepare Lobster Thermidor and I think with a bit of studying, I'll get there.
Emily:  Just make sure it's the Vegetarian version!

And the meeting concludes.



To all Case Managers:  The Residents arrived on Sunday afternoon, so they've been in treatment almost a week at this point.  I'll be posting progress reports for the Residents over the next few days (not all at once).

[SadieHamming]

Oh, okay. Coleen does have some grief issues, maybe it's time to get her a new dog that won't run off into the woods.

[Schipperke]

It's Sunday evening in the Treatment Centre, one week since the residents arrived.  So what progress have they made toward their treatment goals?  Time for interim progress reports.  First, Callum:

Callum Fishis - Progress Report/Week 1

Treatment Goals:  To find his catfish max the fishing skill and make a friend who is actually living.

Callum's referral information notes that:  "one day, he was fishing with his parents when he caught a Catfish. It grew an odd obsession with this Catfish. Her name was Sally. He walked Sally, don't ask how, every morning to keep her fit. Sally died after two years of eating way too much. Callum was devastated. He never recovered. "

Callum was understandably upset when he arrived at the Treatment Centre and found his shoes had gone missing.  Excerpt from his letter home:  "This whole treatment centre is weird, I don't like it. On Day One I had my shoes stolen by the owner! I don’t have proof but the sandals look like ones she’d like. "

Of course, Sstarr didn't take Callum's shoes.  But she made sure he got new ones along with a place to hang his picture of Sally.  I'm not sure how Callum feels about his shoe rack full of women's shoes, although it might be fun to see him in the red high heels:



Adding to Callum's unhappiness, he was at first put on cleaning duty:



He was happier when Sstarr decided to hire a maid and assigned Callum to help in the garden:



He likes to dress up in his spiffy fishing pants and spend the day at the lake with his fishing rod:



Charissa likes him so much she gave him a present:



Week 1 progress:  Skills:  Logic 1, Athletic 4, Charisma 3, Cooking 2, Gardening 2, Fishing 6.  Friends:  He is Best Friends with Charissa and Coleen.  LTH - 15,290



* Thanks to Gogowars for the referral and for the copy of Callum's letter home.

[Schipperke]

Charissa Hilliard - Progress Report/Week 1

Treatment Goals:  my goal is to get better at fishing and gardening so I can graduate and get a horse. Preferably a black Arabian with a white star on its forehead.  Also, I'm clumsy, and I don't like children. Maybe you can help me change? Because everyone says I would make beautiful babies.

Charissa noticed that Frank was getting a lot of attention and screenshots because of the expressions he was making.  If it worked for Frank, it should work for her too:



There, Frank - see if you can top that!

Charissa decided if she couldn't have a horse right away, she could at least have something to remind her of horses:



Thanks to Dean Clemens for sharing this excerpt from Charissa's letter home:  "I just had an idea -- if I wear gloves when I go fishing, then maybe their sliminess wouldn't bother me so much. Do you think you could send me some gloves? Elbow length, in case the fish flops around?"

She seems to enjoy fishing in her new gloves:



Even jogging is fun when you're wearing long white gloves:



Charissa really wanted to learn to cook.  Emily wouldn't let Charissa cook in her kitchen, so Charissa served up some horrifying whatever-it-was to the lucky townies:



In her letter to Dean Clemens, Charissa observed:  "Whoa! I just checked out the guy who is allegedly going to be my fishing buddy. Is he cute!!"

She was delighted when her fishing buddy gave her a wonderful gift - an apple seed!



Charissa's progress toward Treatment Goals:  Skills:  Athletic 5, Charisma 2, Cooking 2, Fishing 4, Writing 1 (from all those letters home), Gardening 4.  Friends:  Best Friends - Coleen, Callum; Best Friends Forever - Incubus.  LTH - 14,795

Thanks to MarianT for referring Charissa and for Charissa's letter home.

[MarianT]

I'm glad Incubus likes her! She might write another letter to Dean Clemens later. Also -- do all insane Sims fish in their formal clothing, or is it just mine?

[Schipperke]

Coleen Bacon - Progress Report/Week 1

Treatment Goals:  For Coleen to be more in touch with the world, make a few friends, learn manners and a few basic skills in things to support her.

 In her first letter home, Coleen talked about her Gnomes and her friend the freezer bunny and how she would miss him:  "I have a cool head! I put it in the fridge for three hours to talk to my freezer bunny. I'm going to miss bunny."  So of course we encouraged her to decorate her room with pictures of her friends: 



Coleen knows she has the potential to become a great athlete.  With Bunny behind her and in front of her urging her on, how could it not be so?

361

In her second letter home, Coleen reported:  "Dear Gnome and Katie,
We all went to this Charisma class to learn how to make friends. But, I don't think I'm very good at making friends. And they taught us all wrong, that didn't give us clay, how do they except us to make friends if they don't supply us?
But I like playing with Incubus, he's so cute and cuddly and a doggie! "



Dancing with Frank:



Coleen's sister Katie informed us in her referral letter:  "she has a thing for ice cream. If she even hears the ice cream truck song, she bolts for the door. But she hasn't figured out how to unlock the door, yet. I only reward her with ice cream, maybe you can do the same."  So when the ice cream truck pulled up in front of the Treatment Centre, we felt Coleen had earned her special treat:



Progress toward treatment goals:  Skills:  Logic 1, Athletic 6, Charisma 3.  Friends:  Despite having no clay to work with, Coleen has made more friends than most of the residents:  Best Friends - Charissa & Callum; Friends - Frank and Simis Bachelor; Best Friends Forever - Incubus.  LTH:  17,545

Note:  Coleen has essentially completed her treatment goals at this point - she has learned Charisma, made 4 friends and is definitely qualified to get a good job as a professional Athlete. As for whether she's more in touch with the world, that's hard to determine.  Please let us know if you are satisfied with this progress, and if you want her to stay long enough to attend a SWAP meeting and learn how to not be Hot-Headed.  Are there any other things you would like Coleen to achieve before leaving treatment?

Thanks to SadieHamming for referring Coleen and for giving us so much to work with in the letters!

[Schipperke]

Frank Myron - Progress Report/Week 1

Treatment Goal:  Learning skills to support himself

When Callum accused Frank of stealing his shoes, Frank was understandably upset.  Sstarr managed to smooth things over between the two fellows and Callum stopped blaming Frank.  As Frank's letter home suggests, though, maybe Frank really was responsible for the disappearance of Callum's shoes:  "Maybe I did take the shoes, but it was all for a good cause! Cousin A. is always going on about how he needed more fancy footwear for his store."  In any case, Frank got his own shoe rack and they stopped arguing about it.



I'm not sure why both guys have shoe racks full of women's shoes that they can't wear.

Fortunately Frank was more successful with his upgrade than Sstarr was when she tried to work on the stove:



Now that the toilet has been upgraded, other residents keep wanting to use it.  But Frank doesn't seem to want to let Emily in the bathroom:



All the residents have been building Athletic skill by jogging around town.  Frank goes jogging when he has to, but Frank-ly my dears, he'd rather drive around in the convertible:





He really wanted to discover a potion at the Chemistry table.  He got a bit singed in the process, but looks fairly happy in spite of that:



Frank's progress toward treatment goals:  Skills:  Logic 3, Painting 1, Athletic 3, Charisma 2, Gardening 3, Handiness 5.  Friends:  Coleen.  LTH:  14,032

Note:  Frank, too, has achieved his treatment goal of learning skills to support himself.  His Handiness and Gardening will give him a good start in his LTW of being a Scientist.  Do you want Frank to stay long enough to attend a SWAP meeting, and are there any further goals you'd like to see Frank complete before leaving treatment?

Thanks to Audren for referring Frank and for the great letters!

[Schipperke]

Emily Pinson - Progress Report/Week 1

Treatment Goal:  SuperMax (or, at the very least, Max) the Cooking Skill

In her first letter home, Emily told Carlos (her referral agent):  "I was shocked to meet Frank, as I have idolised A. from the Mole challenge since it's inception. I find him a slightly odd fellow, however, he seems obsessed with Shoes. I find it simple, and much prefer my obsession with bowls and spoons."

Emily chose room decorations that suit her passion for cooking:



Emily is really a lovely young woman.



She has been working hard to perfect her cooking skill, and her food contributes to keeping everyone in a good mood.  The veggie  burgers were superb!



When Emily served key lime pie, even the maid couldn't resist joining the meal.  He thought the pie went well with ice cream.



Emily really isn't very interested in athletic pursuits, but she's a good sport about jogging when she goes to the library.  I wouldn't think those shoes would be very comfortable to run in.



Emily's progress toward treatment goals:  Skills: Athletic 4, Charisma 3, Cooking 7, Gardening 1.  Friends:  Ethan Bunch.  LTH:  16,915

Thanks to Seabody for referring Emily and for her letter home!

[Audren]

I'm actually somewhat jealous of Frank's convertible now. Though I'm surprised Frank is actually jogging in athletic clothes. 

And Coleen's Freezer Bunny tattoo is awesome. 

[Schipperke]

Trisha Scarlet - Progress Report/Week 1

Treatment Goals:  To SWAP her Neurotic trait, gain life skills and be well-versed in pet care to get an animal of her own on return home

Like the other residents, Trisha has her own personality and definitely has her likes and dislikes.  In her first letter home she wrote:  "I bet there won't be a princess bed like the one I have at home. What will life be like without a princess bed? I need my princess bed and my toy cars!"  We weren't able to provide a princess bed, but Trisha's bed is the most comfortable one we could find, and we hope her toy truck and train set will comfort her and remind her of home:



Trisha also wrote to her daughter that Sstarr had "promised to give me a teddy bear if I clean," and she does in fact have a teddy bear to sleep with now, although unfortunately it doesn't seem to show up when Trisha is in bed.

When asked what skills she would like to work on, Trisha chose to learn to paint.  She was very proud of her first painting:



Trisha has also become known as Sunset Valley's most elegant jogger in her floor-length gown:



Incubus and Trisha have had many long conversations.  They seem to understand each other:



It took a lot of work, but Trisha finally managed to befriend Agnes:



Progress toward treatment goals:  Skills:  Logic 2, Painting 3, Athletic 4, Charisma 3.  Friends:  Agnes and Incubus.  LTH:  15,254

Thanks to The Sweetest Pea for referring Trisha and for the entertaining letters!

[Gogowars329]

You know, Callum probably loves his shoe rack as he used to wear his mother's high heels when he went searching for Sally. It gave him extra height.

[SadieHamming]

I would kind of like to see Coleen get her hotheadedness treated with a SWAP. But, like you said, she's pretty much done with her treatment. I'll leave it up to you, Schip, to decide whether you want to keep her around longer

And Coleen's Freezer Bunny tattoo is awesome. 

I thought Coleen need to show her spirit with her tattoos, to show who's side she's really on

[Schipperke]

As Frank and Coleen are both interested in attending a SWAP meeting, we will arrange for them to attend before discharge.  Thank you to both case managers for the quick reply!

[Schipperke]

To all case managers and friends of the Treatment Centre (that means, anyone who has been following the story):

In a week or so our first group of referrals should all have achieved their treatment goals, which means our pilot project will be completed.  It is time to evaluate the success of the project and to decide whether or not the project should continue.  We invite your input into this decision.  1.  Should the Treatment Centre continue?  2.  Are there any changes you would like to see?  3.  We have had requests to admit teenagers into the program.  One possibility would be to have an admission of only teenagers, possibly the next group.  Would you like to see a special admission for teenagers only?  What about any other special groups?  4.  Any other comments or suggestions would be welcome.

Thank you for your interest.

- The Management