Good Will Hunting
RUNNING HEAD: Good Will Hunting
GOOD WILL HUNTING
Myriam Smith
St. Thomas University
May 3, 2012
Good Will Hunting
Good Will Hunting is a poetic story of a young man who works as a janitor at MIT while living in one of the rough neighborhood in South Boston. Despite his gift in Mathematics, he is still having a hard time finding his place in the world. Matt Damon plays a young genius with a troubled childhood and a troubled mind that was severely abused as a child and has been in trouble with the law on numerous occasions. The movie is a passage through the mind of Will Hunting as he is required to undergo therapy instead of going to jail. Stellan Skarsgard who plays Professor Lambeau helped Will to stay out of jail by convincing the judge to have Will placed under his custody to work on mathematical problems and to get psychological help. After many failing attempts with different psychologists, Professor Lambeau contacted his colleague and good friend Robin Williams who plays “Sean” the psychologist to work with Will. Despite the fact that the rapport between both Will and Sean is very complicated and psychologically volatile, Sean sticks with it because he is convinced he can assist Will in finding some sort of stability and happiness within his life. Will’s life revolves around his job and his friends. One of those best friends is Ben Affleck who plays Chuckie, whom he enjoys to hang out with, but at the same time his hanging out usually gets him into fights and into trouble with the law. Will spends a lot of time at home reading books and storing information in his photographic mind, and because of Will’s dysfunctional childhood, he has difficulty controlling his anger and trusting people, especially ones with authority, he also has poor social interaction with others. From observing Will in the movie, I became convinced that he has reactive attachment disorder. According to the DSM-IV-TR, “RAD is
GOOD WILL HUNTING
Myriam Smith
St. Thomas University
May 3, 2012
Good Will Hunting
Good Will Hunting is a poetic story of a young man who works as a janitor at MIT while living in one of the rough neighborhood in South Boston. Despite his gift in Mathematics, he is still having a hard time finding his place in the world. Matt Damon plays a young genius with a troubled childhood and a troubled mind that was severely abused as a child and has been in trouble with the law on numerous occasions. The movie is a passage through the mind of Will Hunting as he is required to undergo therapy instead of going to jail. Stellan Skarsgard who plays Professor Lambeau helped Will to stay out of jail by convincing the judge to have Will placed under his custody to work on mathematical problems and to get psychological help. After many failing attempts with different psychologists, Professor Lambeau contacted his colleague and good friend Robin Williams who plays “Sean” the psychologist to work with Will. Despite the fact that the rapport between both Will and Sean is very complicated and psychologically volatile, Sean sticks with it because he is convinced he can assist Will in finding some sort of stability and happiness within his life. Will’s life revolves around his job and his friends. One of those best friends is Ben Affleck who plays Chuckie, whom he enjoys to hang out with, but at the same time his hanging out usually gets him into fights and into trouble with the law. Will spends a lot of time at home reading books and storing information in his photographic mind, and because of Will’s dysfunctional childhood, he has difficulty controlling his anger and trusting people, especially ones with authority, he also has poor social interaction with others. From observing Will in the movie, I became convinced that he has reactive attachment disorder. According to the DSM-IV-TR, “RAD is
References: Corey, G. (2000). Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy. Existential Therapy. (6th. Ed. p. 142) Wadsworth/Thomson Learning. Belmont, CA. Corey, G. (2000). Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy. Cognitive Behavior Therapy. (6th. Ed. p. 311) Wadsworth/Thomson Learning. Belmont, CA. DSM-IV-TR (2000). Diagnotic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. (4th Ed.) American Psychiatric Association. Arlington: VA. NACBT (2007, Apr. 5). National Association of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapists: Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy. Retrieved July 4, 2008, from http://www.nacbt.org/whatiscbt.htm Van Sant, G. (1997). Good Will Hunting.