Good Will Hunting is an American film directed by Gus Van Sant, which got released in the year 1997. The film revolves around the protagonist Will Hunting , a 20
year old chap, who’s enormous mathematical and logical reasoning skills are observed by a Mathematics genius, Professor Gerald Lambeau, in the university where Will works as a janitor. The story is set up at South Boston, USA. Prof. Lambeau notices Will’s natural flair and takes up an expedition into his social world to try and help him resolve his aggressive and anti- social behaviour in the process of building him as a noteworthy individual in the field of Mathematics. With the help sought from Psychiatrist Dr Sean Maguire in changing the maladaptive behaviour of Will, there are numerous approaches that Dr Sean deploys in achieving the desired objective.
The field of psychology has seen tremendously beneficial over the past decades there- by fetching new perspective and methods in dealing with psychological and relational issues of individuals. The therapeutic interventions exhibited in this film marks a phenomenal breakthrough in coagulating the real scenario of the therapy sessions and has shattered various misconceptions of Psychotherapy. A few instances from the film that depict the process of different stages of therapy sessions are elucidated below.
In the first two sessions of therapy, Will is seen to be reluctant towards Dr Sean and avoid interacting with him, and Will uses aggressive means to instigate Dr Sean. This can be termed as ‘resistance’ in psychological terms, which is
a common phenomenon in Psychotherapeutic settings. An iconic scene where Will keeps silent for an entire one hour session of therapy depicts the level of patience and perseverance
a therapist needs to develop in order to acquire information from the client even when he is not ready to open up.
The third session of therapy is when Will talks about how all women around him are imperfect and he opens up about his date with a girl named Skylar who according to him is unlike other girls and seems to be perfect. Dr Sean discloses a little bit about his personal life and throws light on how imperfect his wife was, which does not matter much now, as he misses his wife who is no more. The psychotherapeutic process of ‘Consciousness raising’ is depicted through this scene.
Now that Will has made himself comfortable in sharing his personal experiences with Dr Sean, he opens up a little more about the complexities of his relationship, and how he finds himself moving away from his loved one because of the fear of losing her. The notion of ‘regret’ is discussed in detail during the ongoing sessions. Dr Sean, yet again shares his personal experience, which makes Will ponder on his inner needs and the mask that he needs to wear out. This scene reflects the defence mechanism of denial that Will has been exhibiting to avoid getting exposed to his repressed emotions from his childhood days which is yet to get uncovered.
Will, comes to the breaking point where he is emotionally intrigued by Dr Sean when he says, ‘It’s not your fault’ after talking about his own father and the bitter abuse that he had been through. Being in touch with his repressed feelings from the unconscious mind a cathartic cry leads Will to resolve his inner most conflicts and search for what his soul really wants. In a Psychotherapeutic process, the end marks an important phenomenon known as ‘Termination’. The therapist must make the client understand that their professional relationship has now come to an end. This is beautifully depicted in the scene where Will Hunting addresses Dr Sean as his fatherly figure; yet, Dr Sean declines it and tells him that he can meet him anytime in future related to any issue that he may stumble across.
As a conclusion, the movie ends with Will Hunting goes on in search of his girl Skylar, and he realises that becoming a renowned mathematician was not what his inner self sought after. This masterpiece not only portrays the importance of therapy and mental wellbeing in an individual’s life but also shows that human beings are capable of being decisive in their life’s goals which could have the potential to change the course of their future. Good Will Hunting is surely a film that is made a mark on the hearts of many audiences across the globe.
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