Psychosocial Assessment of Good Will Hunting
December 06, 2011
Identifying Information
Will Hunting is a 20 year-old Caucasian male of Irish decent. He turned 21 before the time he was terminated from therapy. He was always casually dressed in slacks, or jeans and t-shirt or short sleeves shirt like most youths or teenagers. Although he had few clothes as evidenced by the fact that he wore the same two or three outfits to all his therapy sessions, his clothes were always clean.
Referral Source
He was referred to therapy by the juvenile court system.
Presenting Problem
Will Hunting had anger issues and was very oppositional to authority figures. He also had abandonment issues. He was arrested for fighting and beating up another
…show more content…
They drank and picked fights together which resulted in his arrest and incarceration. However, his friends wanted the best for him as evidenced by his friend Chuckie’s statement to him that he owed it to him to make something of his life. Will’s friends also bought him a car to assist him with his commute to work.
Will’s girlfriend, Skylar, had a good influence on him. Initially, Will was unwilling to establish a lasting relationship with her but eventually decided to join her in California.
Client’s Strength
Will Hunting is very smart. He was described as genius as evidenced by his ability to solve very difficult mathematical problem that even the students and professor Lambeau at MIT could not solve. As a result, the professor recommended him for a job that would provide him challenge. The professor described Will as having a gift of good memory. Professor Lambeau even asked Will whether he had photographic memory. Will could solve difficult math and science problems in under an hour. Will was able to analyze a painting that his therapist had done and he concluded that it meant that his therapist was suppressing his feelings about the death of his wife. He is very loyal to his friends. Will also has good survival instinct.
Psychological Defenses Used
Will uses anger, denial, and sarcasm as defense mechanisms to push people away from him. He told people that he did not have a problem and that they were the ones with the problem. He used
The movie Good Will Hunting exploits many points of psychology in the character Will Hunting, a janitor at MIT who has a knack for math. Some of the points of psychology include how a character develops after a lot of child abuse during his childhood. It exploits the idea that a child who becomes secluded may never allow an attachment, or when an attachment finally starts to occur, pushes them away. It also exploits the idea that Will Hunting has Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Because of the post-traumatic stress disorder it seems that Will is unable to function normally in society, and because of this, carefully plans out his future as to not have to worry about encountering many people.
His presenting self was the safeguard to his private self. Will was very much aware of his gift and his enormous potential but shunned it like some burden, or at least that's what he wanted others to believe. He often told Sean Maguire, his shrink with whom he had developed a bond, that his gift was something he didn't ask for, and he'd be perfectly fine working an honorable blue-collar job with his buddies. Despite his assertion regarding his gift as an aggravation Will's actions contradict, for he is asked why he just so happened to get a custodial job in the world's foremost institute for technology, M.I.T if he wanted nothing to do with his genius. Maguire sees behind Will's visage, he realizes Will is a wounded soul who really knows nothing about life for he hasn't experienced it, it is so much more that what he read in a book. It is hard to say what Will should have done for he had a difficult past one that most cannot relate too, or have any idea what it may be like to live it. However, If Will had been a little more open to the people who wanted to love him he would have been much happier. In his quest to never be hurt he was headed for a life where he would never be loved. His thoughts were becoming a self-fulfilling prophesy; where one's expectations of an event make that event more likely to occur (Adler, 65). Had Will been honest with himself and more willing
Will 's group of friends seem to pick on him and judge him, which questions if they are truly his friends or not and if he truly fits in with him.
Good Will Hunting explains story of a young man who goes by the name of Will Hunting. He is a very intelligent man who has had a troubled life and lets it control him day to day. He doesn’t want anybody to know about his talents because he thinks they’ll think differently about him and he doesn’t want to get hurt. Like Will, almost all of us in college and even in life go through blocks of trouble, big or small, in our life and can relate to him. I myself can relate to Will in many aspects of his life.
In the 1997 indie drama film Good Will Hunting, the protagonist, Will Hunting, is a young man of genius intelligence that chooses to work as a janitor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. A victim of child abuse, Will takes his past and uses it in a form of self-sabotage. He works labor jobs, deters himself from women and any form of love, and spends time with his low-life friends. One night at a bar, a Harvard student named Clark brags of his comprehension of the market economy evolution to Will’s best friend, Chuckie, and attempts to make him appear ignorant for not knowing of such. In Chuckie’s regard, Will steps into the conversation. Through a strong sense of pathos, he makes Clark feel guilty and small for how he treated his
Both of these men have different character traits though. Will has character traits of a sherif or a Marshal. He has a very kind and loving heart devoted to his work. On the other hand, he still has his rough patches.
Will’s experience being dropped off at that residential school, scarred him for life and it created a disconnection between Will and his father. Will lost pride in being a son to a father who “… was too old to fight anymore, and that’s why he let me be taken away” (94). The loss of confidence in his father leads Will to not trust other people and not ask for help when situations get tough. For example, he was unwilling to ask for help when Marius began beating him. With losing his pride, it left Will feeling lonely and desperate to resolve the situation, he eventually took matters into his own hands and he shot Marius, thinking he killed him.
Will makes many decisions himself, which is why Will starts to be like everyone in the society and goes against his traditional ways. Will says, “The only substance I could think about was Alcohol …” (Joseph Boyden, Pg. 113). Will even stops speaking in Cree, his mother tongue; instead starts to use slang and has become more like all the others. These are only a few parts of what cause him to lose his identity. Will is so much of an alcoholic that even though his career is being a bush pilot, Will drinks alcohol before each flight, which is the reason of his three plane crashes.
In the beginning of the novel, Will asks his father "Dad? Am I a good person?" "I think so. I know so, yes." "Will – will that help when things get really rough?" "It'll help.” (RB Ch.28.4) With the guidance of Charles Halloway, Will is able to acknowledge that goodness and joy is the key to overcome evil. Also, Charles Halloway tells his son “ I could tell that today, at the cigar store. I'm afraid of him but, I could see, he was afraid of me. So there's fear on both sides."(RB 39.6) Through the help of Charles Halloway, Will is acknowledges that happiness can overcome evil, and he learns more about the essence of
Shocking from a kid like Will because he is a straight as a nail type of guy, loves being around people that bring positive energy and living life
Susan Cooper shows that at the beginning of the book, Will didn’t believe anything was special about him. He couldn’t understand why he had powers. He states,” I haven’t any gift, really I haven’t. I mean there’s nothing special about me.” But at the end he realizes that he’s the only one that can do the job.
The character Will Graham is a very brilliant, intelligent, and loyal FBI agent who is after the serial killer. The only thing he desires is justice for all the victims who died. Throughout the whole novel, Will’s determination to find the murdered becomes almost obsessive. Not knowing the killer was the person his closet to, his best friend
As the "lovable jerk," Travis portrays the smooth-talking, forward-thinking Will who is often looking for a means to an end. Unfortunately, he is not overly principled in his business dealings nor his relationships. He sees the attractive, vivacious Maya, and he decides to woo her right from the outset. He is not as interested in her brains per se. Thankfully, he is open to discovering a new world with Maya at times, but when he sees his chance to get ahead, no matter the
Will Hunting is a 20-year-old male living in South Boston. He worked as a janitor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is now working as a construction worker. Will is an orphan at birth and has been through many foster homes, one of which is where he experienced major abuse and domestic violence by his foster father. He has a hard time forming and maintaining new relationships and has only been close to his long-time friends. He also has a hard time forming and maintaining romantic relationships for a sustained amount of time. He seems to have a mild temper and has an affinity towards risky behaviors. Despite all these attributes, Will Hunting possesses an exceptional intellect and
One of the two main characters in John Green and David Levithan’s co-written book Will Grayson, Will Grayson, is the very character the book was named after; Will Grayson. Will faces a constant struggle between following his heart or abiding to his rules; “Don’t care too much and shut up.” Following these two rules eventually leads Will to hurt others around him and the ones he cares about the most. From this we learn that Will is a character who often times puts the needs and feelings of himself before others.