Good Will Hunting

OBSERVATIONAL STUDY OF
“GOOD WILL HUNTING”

3251 WORDS


Introduction
In this essay I will observe the psychotherapeutic relationship between Will Hunting
and Sean Maguire in the movie Good Will Hunting. I chose to observe Good Will
Hunting as I identified with Will on a few aspects of his life. It was made in 1997
when I was an impressionable sixteen year old and I admired Sean for the way he
treated Will and encouraged him to open up and face his issues. I think it was from
watching the interaction between these two men that planted the thought that I would
one day want to help people in that way.
I will start by giving a brief overview of the movie to explain more about these
characters and how the start of their relationship materialised. Due to the amount of
detail in each of their sessions, I have chosen what I feel are the five most significant
sessions, analysing the different TA theories that emerge in each one. I observed
the injunctions Will carries with him from childhood, the shift in ego states between
the two characters, the ulterior transactions and games they play in the sessions and
how their scripts influenced their decisions and relationship. Before concluding I will
draw upon aspects of my own process and how it felt for me to watch the character
Will deal with his abandonment issues and fear of rejection. I will discuss my feelings
on how I would work with a client that has experienced similar issues to what I have
had and how this would influence me as a psychotherapist.
Synopsis of Good Will Hunting
The movie is based on the character Will Hunting who works as a janitor at MIT, a
prestigious technical college. He grew up in South Boston, during a time of turmoil
for the area and had a turbulent and violent childhood as an abandoned orphan.
While he was at work at MIT he started solving formulas written on a blackboard
outside Professor Lambeau’s maths class, which only a handful of people in the
world could...