Good Will Hunting: Therapeutic Analysis

Good Will Hunting is the tale about a young adult male named Will Hunting, who has a high intelligence level in mathematics compared to other individuals his age; yet, he works as a janitor at MIT. Professor Gerald Lambeau, who specializes in mathematics, notices this and tries to find out why Will is not pursuing a career. The reality is that Will grew up in foster care and moved from home to home after being put through physical abuse. Due to this abuse and being in an unstable environment, Will has a tendency to be aggressive and violent towards other people. He has a close circle of friends but struggles to relate to other people and remains unconfident in romantic relationships with women.
After going to a bar with his circle of friends,

Will shows interest in a young woman named Skylar. He can’t hold a full conversation with her and displays a hint of social awkwardness. Will begins to doubt that she will ever love him if she knew the truth about his past and his violent behavior. He even attacks a young man on the street and this causes him to be sent to a judge. After being sentenced to jail, Will seeks to find meaning in his life and goes through a variety of therapists. Each one is unsuccessful and refuses to help Will due to his disrespectful behavior and hot-blooded temper. Finally, Lambeau requests that his friend, therapist Sean Maguire, to help Will. Maguire agrees and little does he know that he will be the very tool to help Will overcome his past.
Due to his experience with abuse, it can be inferred that Will has a fear of abandonment and neglect. He has a damaged and low self-esteem thinking that he was not good enough and perhaps that is why he was a victim of harsh treatment. This causes him to become angry and throughout the movie, he lashes out on nearly everyone he holds a conversation with. Having been raised in an abusive environment, Will never had the opportunity to be in a stable atmosphere and this may have been an indication as to why Will often uses his anger as a tool to solve his problems. Unfortunately, violence is what he grew up with or may have been succumbed to.
The themes of Will’s life include Instability of relationships, fear, and self-destruction. He blames himself for his experience with abuse. He also possesses a fear of the future and a career that is successful. Due to his experience with others, Will lacks trust in people and connection. He fears being betrayed and feels as if no one is able to understand him because of his assumption that others did not go through abuse like he did.
Possible suggested techniques and suggested interventions include Person-Centered, Adlerian, and Behavior therapy.

Each of these different types of therapies focuses on positive change to help the client overcome obstacles that hinder their growth or ability to find a solution to their problem. There are; however, a few challenges with these various therapeutic styles that may stop the client from coming back to receive help. Some of these challenges include resistance, lack of communication, and the development of a strong therapist-client relationship. Will is quite defiant to elders and may use anger and resistance as a defense mechanism from getting hurt

again.
Another challenge that may become evitable is dedication and commitment. Will is going to therapy to get out of jail. If the therapist assigns homework and group sessions, there is no guarantee that Will shall complete the tasks. He may see therapy as an event he is forced to attend. This is seen at the beginning of Maguire and Will’s first session where Will lashes out on him and walks away without a proper parting greeting, such as “goodbye”.

“Person-Centered therapy is grounded on the assumption that it is clients who heal themselves, who create their own self-growth, and who are active self-healers” (Gerald Corey, 2013, p. 167). For the Person-Centered therapist, the quality of the relationship between the client and patient is essential in helping the client overcome his or her own struggles. The therapist needs to be sensitive to their client’s needs and encouraging and positive in attitude. The foundation of a successful Person-Centered therapist is for the therapist to possess accurate empathic understanding, unconditional positive regard, and display congruence (genuineness).
“Empathy is a deep and subjective understanding of the client” (Gerald Corey, 2013, p. 170). This implies that the therapist does not judge the client and gives the client his or her undivided attention when the client is explaining their situation. For the Person-Centered therapist, he or she would think that Will’s struggles with trust and confidence are due to a lack of attention in a positive environment. Having been raised in an abusive, unstable, and negative environment, the “attention” Will received was not healthy and damaging to his self-esteem. He thinks that he is not good enough and feels that is the reason for why he was abused.
One, out of many aspects of Person-Centered Therapy is the humanistic approach. This can serve as a guide and foundation for Will and therapist relationship. If Maguire was a Person-Centered therapist and decided to use \this approach, he and Will would potentially solve issues together and learn from each other. Maguire may open up about his past and share his experiences with the client in order for the client to feel comfortable and have an opportunity to relate to them. This is seen in the film when Maguire talks about the death of his wife and emphasizes not only the importance of building a strong relationship, but putting the needs of the other person above your own.
Another aspect of Person-Centered Therapy is the idea of a hierarchy of needs, created by Abraham Maslow (Gerald Corey, 2013, p. 163). It serves as a checklist and a guide to the basic physical survival and physiological necessities for every human being. For example, due to Will’s low self-esteem, Maguire would argue that Will cannot move forward towards happiness till his basic needs are met. He needs an environment full of love and security and he also needs to love and value himself. The absence of love and positive attention from older individuals is what is leaving Will to feel empty inside and fearful of people. Maguire would argue that if Will is put in an environment with these conditions; he would then become more optimistic and be on his way to a brighter future full of hope. There are many ways to achieve this, especially with the application of expressive art therapy.
With each session, Maguire could use expressive arts therapy as an opportunity and tool for Will to express his emotions, such as the art of painting. Painting could be used to represent a symbol of Will’s past and how he slowly but surely overcomes his struggles. Expressive art therapy also uses many other artistic ways, besides drawing, for the client to express their feelings. As seen in the film, Will enjoys reading and Maguire may ask Will to write down his thoughts and create a journal. Will also enjoys listening to music, which is why he goes out to bars quite often. Maguire may ask will to compose a song and sing it back to him. For the Person-Centered therapist, expressive art therapy is to be used as a tool for healing.
Maguire may also suggest for Will to go through a process called motivational interviewing in order to “reflect discrepancies between the behaviors and values of Will to increase the motivation to change” (Gerald Corey, 2013, p. 178). For example, Will desires to be with Skylar but is afraid to commit due to his lack of trust. His desire to be with her and his fear contradicts each other; therefore, Maguire would point out to Will his goals and fears and ask him what he thinks he should do to bring about change. Maguire would then come up with a plan that is in mutual agreement with Will’s beliefs and commitment to attend therapy. This plan would be established early in order to ensure Will gains the results he wants.
Adlerian Therapy focuses “on forming a relationship on mutual respect, a holistic psychological investigation, and disclosing mistaken goals and faulty assumptions” (Gerald Corey, 2013, p.

101). If Maguire was an Adlerian therapist, the first thing he might do is perform a lifestyle assessment and have Will recall his earliest memories. Maguire may ask Will to keep a dream journal to record any dreams that could help the therapist figure out what Will desires in life and what contributed to his struggles. Maguire may also use a subjective and objective interview to do this. He would then pay close attention to how Will criticizes himself and point out that his lack of trust in people are due to him forming false assumptions that all people are like that. Due to Will’s experience with abuse and low self-esteem, Maguire may also investigate his past families or family constellation.
Maguire in Adlerian therapy acts like a teacher and due to Will’s struggle with connecting with women, he would strive to teach Will how to be brave. He may also encourage him to pursue Skylar since she may be a potential social interest. With Adlerian therapy, Will would learn to modify his pessimistic thinking to be more optimistic in order to pursue his desired relationships. Due to his constant yelling at others and excessive anger, Maguire may ask Will to try to understand Skylar’s feelings by going out with her more, pursue a job, or volunteer in order to be involved and contribute to

society.
Similar to Person-Centered therapy, Adlerian therapy places a large emphasis on the relationship between the therapist and client. Due to Will’s fear of people, Maguire would strive to ensure that he and Will have a relationship based on respect and responsibility. He would be responsibility in guiding and teaching Will steps to overcome his struggles and it would be Will’s responsibility to come to each session and apply what he has learned to his situation; however, the primary goal of Adlerian therapy is to help clients change their inaccurate assumptions about others and the world.
Behavior therapy “focuses on directly observing behavior, learning experiences that promote change, tailoring treatments to clients, and rigorous assessment and evaluation” (Gerald, Corey, 2013, p. 227). If Maguire was a behavioral therapist, he would record Will’s conservations about how he feels towards others and consider Will’s experience with abuse as an influencing factor to why he feels that way. Through a process called functional assessment, Maguire would ask Will to surround himself with positive people. This is essential for him to find a solution to his anger and fear of relationships because it is requiring him to change his environment. Having been raised in a negative and abusive environment, Will did not receive the positive attention, love, and support he was originally suppose to receive.
Unlike the previous therapies mentioned, the relationship between the client and therapist in Behavioral Therapy are engaging in regards to techniques, such as homework assignments. It is the client’s responsibility to do the homework in order to modify negative to positive behavior. Will’s completion of the homework Maguire assigns is essential in resolving his struggles because the homework is an opportunity for him to apply what he learned into the real world. In order to eliminate Will’s high anger levels, Maguire may suggest that Will practice relaxation techniques, such as deep breathing to be calm.
Another way for Will to rid himself of the excessive anger and hatred he has towards others, is to go through positive and negative reinforcement. “Positive reinforcement involves the addition of something for value to the individual” (Gerald Corey, 2013, p. 236). For example, Maguire is aware that Will likes music and it is very possible Maguire may give Will a Cd of a band that Will enjoys listening to. Will could also be awarded a concert ticket or anything music related that sparks his interest. The key is to change the current behavior and reward the behavior modification with the addition of something positive or something other than the old behavior.
“Negative reinforcement involves the avoidance of unpleasant stimuli” (Gerald Corey, 2013, p. 236). Maguire would suggest that Will avoids situations that may spark his anger, such going to a bar. If Will would like a drink he could easily make one by buying a pre-mixed drink from the grocery store. The drink doesn’t have to be alcohol necessarily; therefore, it is very possible for him to have a virgin drink as a healthy alternative. The key is to avoid negative behavior that contributes to the problem the client is facing.
Due to Will’s attitude towards people, Maguire may have Will participate in Social skills training, in which he would communicate with others politely and positively. This could be done in a variety of ways, such as complimenting the other individual or the willingness to getting to know them a bit more. Will might not desire to do this at first due to fear, but it could be beneficial to him in finding a solution to his problems. This training is a way to modify his negative behavior and help decrease his anger and outbursts. One major and distinct feature of Behavioral therapy is self-monitoring. It is Will’s responsibility to monitor his behavior and to tell Maguire how he is doing during every session. Ideally, Maguire and Will would continue to work out a program in order for Will to change in his overall attitude and behavior towards others.