Good Will Hunting Report

Reungrong Van Es (59376372)

Chulalongkorn University
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GOOD WILL HUNTING REPORT
Abstract

This report will reflect on the movie Good Will Hunting. Four main points will be addressed

Firstly, the core reasons why Sean was able to make a positive connection with Will Hunting.

One of the main reasons was because of the fact that they both came from similar backgrounds

not just geographically but also mentally; they both came from rough homes and expected abuse

when they were a child. Another point I, the fears Will had which were blocking his ability to

connect with other people. Since Will came from a rough childhood, he had attachment issues

which meant that he was not trusting towards others, he had a fear that people would leave him

that is why he left people before people could leave him. Thirdly, the actions that would be

taken if Will was a client. One of the most important steps which would have to be taken if Will

were to be a client is to form a trusting bond, this is because he has trust issues. Which means

that if a positive bond is formed, Will would be more likely to be open. Finally, the last point is

ethical considerations. The main issues regarding ethics is: informed consent, confidentiality and

the balance between following guidelines and helping the client effectively.

Reasons for a positive connection

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Will Hunting is an intriguing character who has faced many hardships in his life, which has led

him to be defensive and detached when meeting new people. This resulted him in not being able

to form a positive connection with the two therapists beforehand. Will antagonized the first by

calling him gay; whereas the second therapist, he could not take him seriously and started

making the therapist and his practice of hypnosis. He had gone through an array of therapists

before meeting Sean, which might have been one reason why he took to Sean better than the

other therapists - because the ones before, even though they were professional, Will did not

respect and trust them, which is why a positive connection was not formed. Another distinct

reason why Sean was able to make a positive connection with Will is because of the fact they

came from a similar background: they both came from Southie. From the tone present in the

film, Southie might have been a rough neighborhood or a place where people do not thrive

intellectually, as seen when Sean says boy genius from Southie. (Good Will Hunting, 1997)

However, another fact that bonded the two was the knowledge that they both came from abusive

homes. The traumatic experiences that they went through helped solidify the bond, as they can

relate to one another.

Furthermore, Sean was very different compared to the other therapists, he was more laid back

which was evident by his swearing. Even though this may be unprofessional, it distinguished

Sean from the others and made him more relatable to Will; which might be why the two were

able to make a positive connection. In addition, Sean did not make Will confront his problems

straight away, they skirted around Wills problems and often just talked about Sean. Even though

that might not be efficient, this method made Will feel more comfortable with Sean which is why

a positive connection was formed.

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Fears

One of the reasons why Will had trouble connecting with people or even be willing to get close

and connect with people, is because of the fear that those people might leave him. So he doesnt

get attached or leaves them first due to the fear of getting hurt. It is a defense mechanism. This is

abundantly clear in the scene where he tells Skylar that he doesnt love him and walks away,

rather than confronting the emotions he was feeling for her. In addition, Wills repressed self-

blame because of his past made him fearful that he was unlovable, which in turn held him back

from being able to bond with others, for example: Skyler.

Another reason why Will was unable to connect with others was because of his background and

the attachment types in his early childhood. Mary Ainsworth proposed 3 different types of

attachment, and when looking Will a clear attachment type is: insecure avoidant (McLeod,

2016), which meant his parents were rejecting, which usually leads to avoidance of emotional

connection in the future, which is very clear when Will pushes everyone away from himself. It

can also be argued that there was also the attachment type of insecure ambivalent (McLeod,

2016). This is because will was placed in foster care, which meant he never had a stable home,

this attachment type leads to people being erratic, unpredictable and sometimes charming

(Segal, 2016). Lastly, when looking at Wills background, it was revealed that he came from an

abusive home and that is why he was placed into foster care, his father had put out cigarettes

(Good Will Hunting, 1997) on him. Children that come from abusive homes commonly have

disorganized attachment (Smith, Atkinson, & Hilgard, 2003) which can lead to them being

untrusting even though craving security (Segal, 2016). All of these events in Wills past and
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the attachment types he had to experience when he was a child made him untrusting when he

was an adult. Which consequently negatively affected him being able to form bonds.

If Will were to be a patient

If Will were to become a patient, then there would be different steps that would have to be taken

in order for him to be trusting and be able to talk openly. Firstly, a bond must be formed this is

because Will is very untrusting, and allowing him to be more relaxed and connect on a more

personal level such as hobbies would help Will open up more easily. For example, in the movie

Will really seemed to open up when Sean mentioned baseball - a common ground. Furthermore,

it is recommended for therapists to sit quite close to the patient; however, in Wills case some

distance would have to be put in the beginning, this is because due to Wills tendencies, being

too close might scare him off. Another way of letting Will become more relaxed would be to be

not too professional. Authenticity of a therapist can help the patient feel more secure and more

willing to share their emotions (Corey, 2012). A method of exerting not too much

professionalism would be to swear. In the movie, Will seemed to appreciate when Sean swore

and seemed to make him more at ease. This is because with the first two therapists, the air of

professionalism made him very antagonistic.

After Will has become relaxed and trusting of the relationship, the hard or confrontational

approach would have to be taken. This is because gently probing and guiding him to self-

realization would not be effective because he is a very defensive person, and is the type of

character who is not willing to confront their emotions. This means that yelling at him even

though is unprofessional might be the only way to get through to him and make him have a
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break through. Another consideration that would have to be taken into account when having a

client like Will is the ability to be flexible. This is because Will has a very temperamental

personality, which means he can shift mood quite easily. So by being flexible and being able to

adapt to the situation would be key to helping Will. This is because being too regimented might

make him feel uncomfortable and pull away. Furthermore, another consideration would have to

be the perspective on multiple relationships (Corey, 2012). This is because Will had come from

an abusive home, and he looks for loyalty in people. This might mean that a therapist who shows

care and love for him, Will might become too attached. Will might try to look for something

more than a therapist. This can be healthy for the Will and may help him feel secure and

attached, and may be essential for this development and growth as he does have trust issues.

What is vital would be to set boundaries and make him realize the nature of the relationship.

Ethical considerations

There are a vast number of ethical considerations that have to be taken into consideration, for

example, one of the principles of the American Psychological Association is Privacy and

Confidentiality which states that Psychologists have a primary obligation and take reasonable

precautions to protect confidential information obtained. (APA, 2016). This means that all

information that is received from Will would have to be kept confidential, unless there is a direct

harm to himself or other people. Confidentiality was not shown in the movie, this is because

Sean told the mathematician about Wills problems, which would be seen as a breach of

confidentiality. Keeping everything confidential is essential in creating a trusting relationship

between the therapist and the client. Another ethical guideline that would have to be taken into

consideration is informed consent which involves the rights of clients to be informed about
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their therapy and to make autonomous decision pertaining it. (Corey, 2012) Clients such as Will

Hunting would have to have a session that would explain to them what would happen in the

sessions and what possible confidentiality breaches there could be. In the movie again there was

never any indication of informed consent between the client and therapist, which may become

problematic later on, as there could be legal issues involved if there is no informed consent.

Another ethical principle that would have to be taken into consideration is competence (APA,

2016), which means how well a therapist can do their job in helping the client. If a therapist is

not competent, and they are showing signs of not being able to be flexible to the client. The

consequence may be that the therapist may end up negatively effecting the client rather than

helping them. Even though there are ethical principles, they are not set in stone which means

everything does not to be adhered to. Some of the ethical principles such as confidentiality may

be more important than others, but even then those are still flexible. This is because there is a

delicate balance between following regulations or law and also doing what is best for the client.

This means that the therapist should always look at the guidelines for help, but they should adapt

their thinking and methods in order to effectively help the client.

References

(2016). Apa.org. Retrieved 29 September 2016, from http://www.apa.org/ethics/code/

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Corey, G. (2012). Theory and practice of counseling and psychotherapy (9th ed.). Pacific Grove:

Brooks/Cole Pub. Co.

Good Will Hunting. (1997). Hollywood.

McLeod, S. (2016). Mary Ainsworth | Attachment Styles | Simply

Psychology. Simplypsychology.org. Retrieved 29 September 2016, from

http://www.simplypsychology.org/mary-ainsworth.html

Segal, J. (2016). Attachment and Adult Relationships: How the Attachment Bond Shapes Adult

Relationships. Helpguide.org. Retrieved 29 September 2016, from

http://www.helpguide.org/articles/relationships/attachment-and-adult-relationships.htm

Smith, E., Atkinson, R., & Hilgard, E. (2003). Atkinson & Hilgard's introduction to psychology.

Australia: Wadworth/Thomson Learning.