Over the last several decades, the trend of therapy scenes in television and cinema has noticeably increased; however, "Good Will Hunting" (1998) stands out as one of the most powerful representations of the therapeutic journey and the most authentic portrayal of the transformative relationship between therapist and client.
The movie features a 20-year-old Will Hunting, a prodigy with a photographic memory, who works as a janitor at an Ivy League school. In his spare time, Will devours books and drinks beer with his friends. Coming from a troubled childhood, Will finds social interactions challenging and has difficulty regulating his emotions.
Early in the story, when Will solves a near-impossible math equation, he attracts the attention of Professor Lambeau, an esteemed mathematician. Professor Lambeau recognizes Will’s gift and wishes to groom him, but he doesn’t see that Will’s attachment wounds do not allow him to embrace his potential.
When Will’s impulsivity leads to an arrest and a conditional release with a mandate for therapy, the professor takes Will under his wing and introduces him to several therapists. Despite the skill level and expertise of the therapists, Will reenacts his early abandonment wound and manages to get rejected by each and every one of them.
Will’s interaction with various clinicians highlights the importance of the therapeutic match, that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to mental health. Similar to any other relationship, therapy is centered on interpersonal alignment and works best when the person feels connected to the clinician.
Eventually, Lambeau introduces Will to Sean McGuire, his former college roommate, who agrees to work with him. Despite Will’s resistance and attempt to divert the session by being adversarial and aggressive and crossing boundaries, Sean sees Will’s suffering and slowly begins to establish therapeutic rapport with him.
Sean is genuinely compassionate and insightful and is excellent at therapeutic maneuvers. He manages to maintain boundaries with Will while still being authentic with him. In one session, Will attempts to light a cigarette, but Sean firmly discourages him from doing so, and Will holds on to the unlit cigarette until the end of the session. Will also attempts to exert control by refusing to talk for an entire session, and Sean patiently waits for him.
This movie also challenges the misconception that therapists are supposed to be empty slates and keep their personalities outside of the therapy room. Through Sean’s casual outfits, his office stacked with books and various knick-knacks, and the painting of his late wife, Sean’s personality shines through. We see Will interact with the room, scan the books, and make assumptions about Sean.
Having grown up as an orphan and experienced severe childhood abuse, Will approaches relationships with mistrust and is unable to show his vulnerabilities. He is unable to establish a lasting intimate relationship, is suspicious, is defensive, and shuts people out before they get the chance to abandon him.
We also see Sean use humor as a therapeutic tool. He talks about emotional intimacy and offers Will a peak into what healthy relationships look like. Sean talks about how his wife would fart in her sleep, “The idiosyncrasies about her are what made her my wife.”
From the perspective of self-disclosure, we see Sean being open about his grief, but he doesn’t put the burden on Will; rather, he uses his story as a means to reach him and empower him to take the risk of being vulnerable.
Will, who adopted the survival strategy of pushing people away by outsmarting them and attacking them from their Achilles heel, tries these strategies on Sean as well. At some point, Sean loses control over his emotions and lashes out against Will. As an aside, if this weren’t an exaggerated Hollywood cinematic scene, Sean would likely face serious judicial and even therapeutic board-level consequences.
The relevance of the scene, however, is that it portrays Sean as a human, someone who can get hurt and react from a vulnerable place. It is a powerful scene that speaks to the fact that people want to be treated by real humans and not sterile clinicians, and what matters is being present and not being perfect. Because therapists are people, they aren’t flawless and, in turn, neither is the therapeutic process. We later see Sean take accountability for his actions and model repair in relationships.
Despite his intellectual capacities, Will is unwilling to take the necessary steps to fulfill his academic, career, or even interpersonal potential. He hides behind his knowledge as he is afraid of showing himself to others.
Sean is transparent with Will and emphasizes the difference between real-life experiences and those represented in novels. He confronts Will by saying, “You could’ve been a janitor anywhere. Why did you choose the most prestigious college in the whole f*cking world?”
Sean guides Will to process his trauma of being abandoned and abused as a child. He helps him become aware that no matter how hard he is trying to live small, there is a part of him that wants to achieve his full potential.
Slowly, Sean begins to earn Will’s trust. Sean gently steers Will to find his inner resources, face his fears, and take the risk of emotional intimacy.
The most powerful scene is the last therapy session, where Sean is reviewing Will’s chart, and Will asks Sean if he has any personal experience with childhood abuse. Sean uses self-disclosure once again, revealing his own traumatic experiences to reduce the sense of isolation and alienation abuse victims often feel.
In this last therapy scene, we see Will finally let his guard down and feel his pain. Toward the close of the session, Sean repeatedly says, “It’s not your fault” until Will breaks down and sobs, liberating him from the internalized shame and bottled-up feelings he had been holding onto for years.
Sean withholds nothing, takes all the therapeutic risks, and is able to meet Will at his deepest, darkest secrets. He is authentic, transparent, and self-revealing, and patiently guides Will as he integrates his past, makes sense of his trauma, and moves toward wholeness.
References
Balan, D (2023). Re-Write: A Trauma Workbook of Creative Writing and Recovery in Our New Normal. Routledge.
Damon, M, Affleck, B. (1998). Good Will Hunting. Film Tie-in Ed edition.
Harris, N. (2018). The Deepest Well: Healing the Long-term Effects of Childhood Trauma and Adversity. Mariner Books.
Yalom, I. (1992) When Nietzsche Wept. Basic Books.
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